34 ON THE ITHON 



gives way, down you go ! I had more than one 

 such a tumble, and one desperately risky piece of 

 work for such an old customer as the "A. A" I 

 saw footholds here and there worn in the banks 

 by a succession of bold anglers, and some points 

 of rock above ; the descent was at least twenty-five 

 feet, quite smooth but for these footholds, and all 

 but perpendicular above a bed of rocks and gravel. 

 I made the attempt, rod in hand. I clung to 

 the points of rock above my head till half-way 

 across, when it was far more impossible to recede 

 than to progress, a big block, to which I was 

 clinging, to my horror, began to crumble under 

 my pressure, and fell over me in great lumps. I 

 felt myself going, and all but gone. My fishing 

 rod had to go, and luckily I put my hand on a 

 firm bit of stone. To this I clung with all my 

 weight till I could get another foothold, and so I 

 managed by the tips of my fingers and the tips 

 of my toes to get across this horrid place and 

 down to the waterside. The girls were alarmed, 

 and, of course, they could not attempt to follow. 

 By searching out, another long way round route 

 was found for them. This is only a sketch of one 

 of the many perils to which anglers on this lovely 

 river are liable. 



