ON THE ITHON 33 



planks a good, substantial bridge crossing a most 

 picturesque part of the river, replacing the ancient 

 one. 



I was too tired to fish, but on a subsequent 

 visit I fished up from the Suspension Bridge to 

 this romantic dell, on a bright day, when there 

 was no hope of catching a fish ; but I saw a rise 

 in one of those pools below the bridge, and tried 

 him with three flies successively. He would not 

 look at my pretty Red Ant, nor my Cock-a-bondhu, 

 but when I threw Yellow Dun his way he seized 

 it greedily, and I thought I had him. A big 

 trout he was (I fancy about i lb.), but he did not 

 give me the pleasure of putting him in the scales. 

 He broke away between two of those big boulders 

 to be seen in the picture. 



It is needless to remark that it is labour thrown 

 away to fish in bright sunshine when the water 

 is clear and low, and there is no sign of a rise. 

 This is knowledge gained by the experience of 

 this and many similar days ; but what matters 

 it ! We did not come here solely to catch fish. 

 We came here to be merry, and to revel in the 

 sweet scenes around us, and we laughed at our 

 misfortunes. 



The fishermen's tracks by this river show what 

 bold and determined men they are. There are 

 many places where your only chance of getting 

 on is to cling to the grass on the upper bank, and 

 stick your toes in any crevice you can find in a 

 ten-feet height of crumbling mould if anything 



