34 EEMIXISCE^X•ES OF A SPORTSMAA^ 



his artificial bait, made by himself, scarcely the size of a 

 minnow, was composed of brilliant colours, and called 

 by him a " kill devil," on account of its attractive powers 

 to ensnare the fish. Our conversation turned on the 

 fishing in the various rivers in England, when he in- 

 formed me that the Thames afforded him the greatest 

 pleasure ; that most years he spent a month on the banks 

 of this river, for fly-fishing and trolling for trout, in the 

 neighbourhood of Pangbourne, Eeading, and lower down 

 the river ; and that he had sometimes the good luck to 

 capture monarchs of the stream, that is, trout weighing 

 eight or nine pounds, red as salmon, and a rival to that 

 fish on the table. On further conversation with Mr. 

 Grirdlestone (for that he told me was his name) I found 

 him very agreeable and particularly well-informed on 

 all field sports. I was much struck with his counte- 

 nance, which was weather beaten and deeply furrowed 

 by old Time, and led me to the conclusion he was on 

 the wrong side of sixty. His eyes were of a light 

 blue, lively, intelligent, and with a peculiar cast in 

 one of them, the nose aquiline and forehead prominent. 

 Years had made considerable havoc in what were once 

 probably flowing locks, and in its colour of grey and 

 light brown the former predominated. He might be 

 about five feet six or seven in height, square built, 

 strong and muscular, and, as I found a few months 

 afterwards, fully equal to the fatigue of walking six or 

 seven hours shooting on a warm day in September. 



I confess I am not a disciple of Lavater, whose 

 Treatise on Physiognomy has for its object to make 3^ou 

 believe that you are enabled to judge of the good and 

 bad qualities of person's hearts from the features or 

 general expression of their countenance. Now we have 



