ioo Rambles with a Fishing-Rod. 



dark-blue monk's-hood. It would have been a 

 charming picture for one who possessed the 

 brush of a Hunt. There were eleven bright 

 and shapely fish, which turned the scale at 4| 

 Ib. Fully a couple of dozen others had been 

 returned to the water, many of them but little 

 short of a quarter of a pound. The sport of 

 the afternoon but whetted my appetite for the 

 evening, so at six o'clock I was again throwing 

 the fly with equal success. In half an hour I 

 had taken nearly a dozen trout, from half a 

 pound to 2 oz. But enough is as good as a 

 feast, and I began to grow tired of the ease 

 with which trout after trout was hooked ; so at 

 half-past six I climbed up to the castle, well 

 satisfied with my first day on the Argen. 



The following day was brilliantly fine : white 

 clouds flew across the sun, but in the intervals 

 he shone with a power which we do not know 

 in our cooler climate. This is one of the draw- 

 backs to Continental fishing in the summer 

 or autumn. It is impossible to stand under 

 a big white umbrella ; and after half an hour's 

 roasting, one becomes wholly disinclined for 

 more fishing. However, during the worst part 

 of the day some two dozen and a half of trout 



