97 



pleasure. Acting- upon this principle we conimenced 

 operations one day this week at noon, in a lovely length of 

 the Darentli valley, which shall be nameless, for obvious 

 reasons. The cold north-east wind was tempered by a hot 

 sun, and these conditions are always the most favourable 

 on the river in question. Whatever may have been the 

 case, when the old song originated about 



" When the wind is in the south. 

 It bloT\-s the bait in fishes' mouth." 



Such has never been our experience. With a cross-stream 

 wind, the flies drifted close to the opposite bank, and the 

 feeding- fish were all there, sucking them in as they came 

 down. We were limited to five brace, and as there are 

 plenty of big- trout in the waters, we make it a point of 

 honour to put back all but well-fed fish that are over a 

 pound apiece. To kill small trout with a May-fly is un- 

 sportsmanlike, and should be strongly discountenanced. 

 The chief charm of this fishing is to get hold of the big 

 fellows, who seldom rise to a fly at any other time ; and to 

 accom])lish this we pass all the shallows, and only fish the 

 deep pools and the eddies formed by projecting alder 

 stumps. From such a stronghold came our first really 

 good fish, and he took the fly, making- only a dimple on the 

 surface of the water. But a wild dash up stream followed 

 the strike, and then he came back with a rush to his old 

 quarters, boring into the alder stump, but vainly en- 

 deavouring to foul the cast. After a stubborn fight in the 

 deep water, away he went down stream, making for a weedy 

 shallow below, but he never reached it, and the little seven- 

 ounce split cane rod won the unequal battle, for the gallant 

 two-pounder was laid quiA'ering upon the grass. A broad 

 belt of trees shelters us from the wind, and the sun makes 

 himself felt, so we go back to the deep water, smoke the 

 pipe of peace, and wait for signs of another big fish. The 

 swallows are busy amongst the May-fly, swooping down 

 U]wn them as they float by on the surface of the stream, 

 and seizing them with a snap of the beak, that can be heard 



