A DAY'S FLY-FISHING. 9 



with their perfume ; and the music of the birds, 

 and the hum of insects, mingle with the bubblings 

 of the stream which flows rejoicingly at their feet. 

 Upwards, their view ranges through the tree- 

 filled valley, catching glimpses of the shining 

 stream, and here and there of the gable of some 

 snugly nestled farmhouse, from the chimneys of 

 which those "windpipes of hospitality" the 

 blue smoke wreathes so gracefully ; and also of 

 old village towers, among their clusters of thatched 

 cottages. Eanging still wider, over fields of every 

 hue, and away among the undulating hills, is their 

 own distant town, thrown prominently out by a 

 gleam of sunshine which now happens to rest 

 upon its slated roofs. Parallel to this, on the 

 opposite hill-side, are seen other objects which 

 add a charm to the landscape some 'squire's 

 seat, perhaps, surrounded by its park and groves ; 

 and, far beyond, is the extreme distance, where 

 the hills look blue and undefined, and seem to 

 melt into the cloudy sky. At their back, on 

 the highest point of the range of hills which 

 bounds the valley in that direction, are the re- 

 mains of an ancient British fortification, which 

 furnish them with matter for instructive con- 

 versation about remote and savage times. On 

 the slope between them and this old fortress 



