CONTINENTAL STATES. 177 



Tun. The scenery in the neighbourhood of the stream was often 

 highly interesting. There was an admirable diversity of woods, 

 meadows, orchards, and villages. In some places I passed, I stood 

 for half an hour at a time, and gazed upon the landscapes with 

 intense interest. When fixed in this manner one laments the 

 poverty ^of language : even the pencil cannot e represent that out- 

 ward picture which fills m the eye and imagination, nor express 

 those confused, those delicious sounds of rural life, nor make us 

 breathe that fine air, winch renders the spirits so buoyant and 

 lively. We feel the necessity of transporting the reader to the very 

 spot itself, and give up all attempts to paint natural beauties which 

 are inimitable. 



"At Turi 1 met with two Prench anglers, officers of the army, 

 who had been rambling on the river's banks for two or three clays. 

 They had each a very fine basket of trout, which they kept in a 

 moist state, by occasionally dipping it in the water. They showed 

 me the flies they were using ; and what ugly and grotesque things 

 they were ! They were full as large as bumble-bees, and were very 

 rudely tied on the gut. Cast lines they had none. They made a 

 regular splash at every throw of the line. Their great object was 

 to mark whenever a fish rose, and then to post off to the spot, 

 throw a little above the spot ; a mode of proceeding often attended 

 with success. I displayed my stock of flies, at which they seemed 

 quite astonished and delighted.. Being fine, agreeable, and gentle- 

 manly men, I begged they^vould accept half a d9zen each of any 

 colour and size they fancied; a proposition which was politely 

 accepted, and which united us into the closest bonds of angling 

 brotherhood. 



" Passing down the river to Vieux, I had some good days' sport ; 

 sometimes using the fly, sometimes the minnow, and occasionally 

 the worm, which, when the weather is hot, the river low, and there 

 is a goodly portion of shady spots, near or over deep pools, is by 

 far the most interesting and exciting mode of angling. It is often, 

 likewise, the most successful mode. The flies I used on this 

 section of the Ome, were of a miscellaneous cast ; sometimes large,, 

 sometimes small, with sometimes light gray, and some dark brown 

 wings. I happened to have a good breeze ; and when this is the 

 case, the labour of the sportsman is comparatively easy, and his 

 success more certain. In the ground I travelled over, there were 

 several very long reaches of still water, occasioned by corn and 

 other mills on the river ; and in these there seemed to be vast 

 collections of trout. In some of the more shallow and stony parts 

 of these reaches, where trout delight throughout the day tolpask 

 and gamble, I could often see scores of them darting in all direc- 

 tions for shelter, whenever my presence was detected. This was 

 proof that they were pretty numerous in most sections of the 

 river. There had been several fine trout taken out of the 

 Orne, a little above the town, and all by minnow and worm one 

 about a week before I arrived, of nearly seven pounds and a half. 



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