THE SEINE, MARNE, AND OISE. 269 



of about forty miles. In both these streams good trout 

 will be found, We have heard several English anglers 

 declare, that they have caught fish in these waters of 

 seven and eight pounds in weight, and of most exquisite 

 flavour. They were all taken with the minnow. 



There are a few salmon in the Seine occasionally, but 

 these gentry are seldom or never caught with the rod. 



The MARNE is a splendid stream, and a beautiful river 

 of fishing water; and with its tributaries, traverses a part 

 of the country exceedingly picturesque, and historically, 



most interesting. 



The Marne takes its rise near the town of Langres, in 

 the department of Haute-Marne. This place is situated 

 in a mountainous district; and several other rivers derive 

 their origin at no great distance from its walls. Langres 

 is one of the most ancient towns in France, and was an 

 important place in the time of Julius Caesar. The 

 cathedral was built in the early part of the ninth century, 

 and is a fair specimen of ecclesiastical architecture. There 

 is, in the exterior wall of the town, a triumphal arch, 

 which antiquarians conjecture to have been erected in the 

 time of Marcus Aurelius. There is a public library 

 containing seven thousand volumes, a museum of natural 

 history, and several paintings in the church of St. Martin, 

 which deserve a special notice. 



Soon after the Marne leaves its source, it becomes a 

 respectable fishing stream ; and before it flows fifteen or 

 twenty miles, it presents a most tempting appearance to 

 the experienced angler. 



The river from Chaumont to Virty, a distance of more 

 than sixty miles by the course of the stream, is full of 

 good fishing waters, well adapted either for fly, minnow, 



