54 FRESH WOODS. 



and the males of course lighted up their pipes. 

 The compartment was crammed to suffo- 

 cation, and I lamented that I had thrown my 

 money away on a first-class ticket, when less 

 than half would have given me the same ac- 

 commodation. 



I was not before aware that all the carriages 

 are "mixed promiscuous like" on Bank Holi- 

 days, and the greatest fun of all is to get a first- 

 class seat for a third-class fare. My destina- 

 tion was nowhere in particular, so I landed at 

 Isleworth ; and seeing before me a piscator 

 laden with creel on his back and rod and 

 landing-net in hand, I followed his lead, know- 

 ing he would lead to some pleasant place. 

 After two miles plodding through rain and 

 mud, he reached the gates of Osterley Park, 

 and there he vanished from my sight. 



Osterley Park Lake was besieged on Bank 

 Holiday by a small army of, say a hundred, 

 piscators, all armed to the teeth. Their sport 

 was not the most exhilarating ; but every- 

 body knows what British perseverance 

 means : it is exhibited alike among the 

 Afghans of Asia, the Zulus of Africa, and on 

 the banks of rivers and lakes in Old England. 

 On entering the park I was guided in the di- 

 rection of the lake by perceiving in the dis- 

 tance (at very frequent intervals and forming 



