280 THE SPORTSMAN IN FRANCE. 



the musquitoes and a little damnable 

 black fly. These infernal enemies to re- 

 pose and comfort assail in myriads, with 

 their probosces, the unprepared stranger. 

 The major, like an old soldier, had pro- 

 vided an antidote, and before starting, 1 

 was anointed, as well as my brother fisher- 

 men, with a mixture of oil of turpentine 

 and hog's-lard, over the face and hands, 

 the ears and neck having been previously 

 protected by a silk handkerchief tied over 

 the head and fastened behind. 



Away we sallied, rod in hand, and 

 about a quarter of a mile below the bridge 

 we came to a large sheet of smooth water 

 at the foot of a short rapid. I was abso- 

 lutely riveted to the spot for a time ; a 

 more enchanting scene I never beheld. 

 I could have fancied myself hundreds of 

 miles from the haunts of man ; the wild- 

 ness of the surrounding landscape, the 

 distant murmuring and subdued roar of 



