Introductory. xiii 



impressed on one; for the greater your 

 speed in endeavouring to escape the cane, 

 the faster the master must make his cut 

 to avoid missing the victim. It was 

 better to hasten slowly in close single file 

 better for all but the last man ! 



One of my first essays in fly-fishing 

 was for dace in the Thames from the 

 meadows opposite Kew Gardens. These 

 meadows are intersected by deep dykes. 

 There was a school of girls walking 

 along the towing-path on the opposite 

 side of the river. As I was moving 

 along the bank, I suppose I must have 

 been looking at the girls, or I should not 

 have suddenly gone bodily into a dyke 

 six feet deep. Luckily, the tide was low, 

 and the mud was soft; but I did not 

 venture to reappear until the ripples of 

 laughter from across the water had grown 

 faint in the distance. But I caught some 

 fine dace, I remember; for on my way 

 home, when I got to Waterloo Bridge, 

 which then had a toll-gale on it, I had 

 not even a half-penny to pay the gate- 



