THE R1VEK LOIRE. 229 



parallel with the Loire, and nearly to the same extent. 

 The Allier flows above two hundred miles from its source 

 in the mountains of Ardeche, to its junction with the 

 nobler stream; and receives in its long traverse many 

 tributary waters, which abound with excellent trout. 



At the small town of Issoire, in Old Auvergne, which 

 has always been deservedly celebrated for its prolific 

 trout streams and the quality and size of its fish, the 

 Allier receives the waters of the Couse, which runs a 

 short distance through a beautiful and romantic country. 

 At a village called Ris, a short distance from Riom, the 

 river Dore loses itself in the Allier ; and lower down still 

 the waters of the Sioulle, flowing through a magnificent 

 country, and alive with trout, contribute to swell the 

 volume of this beautiful river, until it is itself swallowed 

 up in the mightier Loire. 



The town of Moulins is situated on the right bank of the 

 Allier, and is a place of some little note. To the English 

 angler it possesses a charm independent of its position ; 

 for here Sterne has laid the scene of one of his most 

 beautiful sketches ; and as we enter the gates, imagination 

 conjures up the affecting picture of " Poor Maria." 



The country round is very beautiful ; and the church 

 of Notre-Dame, the college, the bridge, and the public 

 library, containing upwards of twenty thousand volumes, 

 are entitled to the angler's attentive notice. 



From Moulins to its junction with the Loire, the 

 Allier receives several other small rivulets; but they are 

 scarcely worth the angler's attention, when finer waters 

 are in lavish abundance all around him. 



After receiving the waters of the Allier, the Loire 

 begins to be a very large stream ; and therefore becomes 

 less adapted for the purposes of the rod-fisher. At the 



