Xll PREFACE. 



concord of warm hearts and full heads ; the kind 

 sidelong turning up of the patient anxious ear; 

 the gentle half-whisper of smiling consent and 

 regard; whilst all the time the merry fire is 

 blazing and crackling with the brisk clearness 

 of a frosty season ; the candles are shining 

 brightly, the windows closely shut; the bottles 

 and glasses sparkling on the table; the kettle 

 bubbling and singing, and steaming on the hob ; 

 and, in short everything seeniing to urge the 

 cosey settlers, in such a pleasant and happy fix, 

 to do nothing but " talk talk talk." 



Well, we have been rambling up and down in 

 France and Belgium for many years ; with our 

 rod in our hand, and fishing-basket on our back, 

 dropping a line in this canal, or that river, and 

 throwing the light fly on the surface of yon 

 pebbly stream ; some days sporting with the 

 bright tiny bleak; on others with the greedy 

 pike ; and ofttimes with the dazzling salmon and 

 the playful trout. We have trudged over hill 

 and dale, mountain and valley, and through city 

 and village, with great glee and some profit, both 

 to our bodily frame and mental powers; and 



