THE GARONNE. 245 



Dordogne is, notwithstanding, a fine stream; and the 

 angler who will ascend it and equip himself properly for 

 the ramble, will have no cause to regret his excursion on 

 the score of sport. The river, estimating roughly all its 

 numerous windings, must traverse a distance of full two 

 hundred miles. 



The Dordogne takes its rise in the department of the 

 Puy-de-dome, near mount Dore, in Old Auvergne; some 

 of its early feeders running within four or five miles of 

 the beautiful Cher, which we have already noticed. 

 When near its origin, the Dordogne receives many small 

 auxiliary streams; and it is not until the angler gets 

 fairly below these, that the qualities of the river for the 

 purposes of angling fully develop themselves. Above 

 and below the small pretty town of Argental, the river 

 becomes very fine indeed; the streams rushing over 

 pebbly beds, and bubbling and sparkling with the most 

 fascinating ripples on their clear shining surface. The 

 surrounding country, all the way down the river, is of a 

 very charming description ; but the angler will find fewer 

 villages on the banks of the stream, than he has been in 

 the habit of falling in with on most of the other rivers 

 of France. This, however, to the genuine enthusiast, 

 will be no source of disgust ; for no small portion of his 

 exquisite enjoyment as well as his success, arises purely 

 from his solitary wandering where there is no human eye 

 to see him, and no human impertinence to interrupt the 

 free current of his lonely thoughts. 



For thirty miles below Argental, a place not worth any 

 particular notice, the river continues to roll along its pure 

 and limpid waters, and great quantities of the finest trout 

 are to be found in these parts of the stream. As the 

 angler descends the river, he will find the population 



