ST. OMER. 183 



the bottoms of the lakes and rivers which environ them. 

 Sometimes, even the top soil of one island is carried away 

 in boats, to elevate or enrich the crumbling or expanded 

 surface of another, in a distant part of the marais. These 

 islands are cultivated down to the water's edge; and as 

 spade husbandry is invariably employed, they are rendered 

 fertile and prolific in the extreme. The produce is carried 

 off to the market at St. Omer, in flat-bottomed boats, 

 admirably adapted to these peculiar waters; and it 

 is curious to see the enormous quantities of cabbages, 

 potatoes, cauliflowers, and other similar produce, which 

 crowd the canal in the fauxbourg called the Haut-Pont 

 every Saturday morning. All the cultivation is done by 

 human labour ; a cow, or a horse, in the marais, being 

 almost as rare a sight as a loose tiger in the Strand. 



The waters which surround these islands are literally 

 crammed with fish. Carp, tench, eels, pike, etc., etc., 

 may be caught in the marais in prodigious quantities. 

 But the ponds and lakes being, for the most part, private 

 property, can only be fished by special permission; yet 

 the fishing can be hired by the year or month on very 

 reasonable terms. The rivers and gullies which penetrate 

 the marais in all directions, and which feed the lakes and 

 ponds, are entirely open to the angler, and will afford 

 him capital sport; but as the marais can only be pene- 

 trated by water, and it is forbidden to tread the soil until 

 the cropping is off, the angler will be compelled to hire a 

 boat for this purpose. As the navigation is very intricate, 

 he will require a guide ; and we can confidently recom- 

 mend to his notice, Monsieur Flandrin, who resides in the 

 Haut-Pont. Flandrin is one of the authorised " Gardes- 

 de-peche," is perfectly familiar with the localities, and 

 knows the laws on the subject of trespass, as well as of 



