26 ON THE ITHON 



fishing-tackle maker near the bridge, it was not in 

 good order for fishing, owing to its peaty colour 

 and flavour, inimical to fish. " Come here," said 

 he, " in April or September, and I will promise you 

 some good sport." So I gave up the idea of fishing 

 in the Wye. 



The next day, Tuesday, July 6, fine, bright morn- 

 ing ; fogs or mists are said to be unknown here. 

 Llandrindod is seven hundred feet above the sea ; 

 it stands on an elevated plateau, and all round 

 in the distance the horizon is outlined by the 

 irregular tops of mountains. I went down to the 

 river. There was a fair rise, but I could not get 

 at the fish lost three good flies in the bushes, and 

 got one good trout, nearly I lb., and two smaller 

 ones. 



The next day I started off for the river below 

 Lovers' Leap (so called, I understand, on account 

 of the tragic end of two young lovers, who fell 

 from the slippery rocks above into the pool below, 

 and were drowned), a prominent rock, beneath 

 which is a very deep salmon pool. I found the 

 river running in a deep bed, from ten feet to twenty 

 feet below the level of the meadow, and the same 

 characteristics of perpetual alders, with very few 

 open spaces for casting. Two meadows down I 

 came upon a high wooded precipice, over which I 

 had to climb with endless troubles. This brought 

 me at length down into a secluded glen, a little 

 paradise of solitude, only enlivened by the shrill 

 musical note of a curlew, a big brown bird with a 



