4 Rambles with a Fishing-Rod. 



the landlord of Seeauers Hotel at Hallstadt; 

 but except for the last two miles there is next 

 to no fishing, for the river runs between tre- 

 mendous precipices of limestone rock, the Par- 

 stein descending hundreds of feet to the right 

 bank of the river. It would not, however, be 

 easy to find a finer walk than that above this 

 turbulent stream; still, it is rather an expedition 

 for the pedestrian than the angler. 



It would be out of place to describe our walk 

 across the mountains from Ischl to the hamlet 

 of Alt-Aussee : the character of such a path is 

 familiar to any one who has passed his holidays 

 in the Alps. But intending it to be an easy 

 beginning to our mountain scramble, we lost 

 our way, got utterly out of our reckoning in 

 the thick mist which came down upon us, and 

 had about two hours' extra walking of a rough 

 and fatiguing kind, made more troublesome by 

 having to carry a knapsack and a fishing-rod. 

 An incident of the walk was not without a 

 strange interest. Near its end we met a fish- 

 erman just about to begin in a small stream. 

 He was fishing with a minnow : an ordinary 

 double hook appeared from the body near the 

 tail, and the head was half hidden by a bell- 



