196 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN. 



which you went by a very steep ascent of stone steps, 

 and vv^hen at the top of the tower you stepped out 

 upon tlie ground again. The fact was, the house was 

 let into the side of a hill, and you stepped from the 

 roof itself beneath the trees of a fir-plantation. The 

 few trout left in the lake, from their scarcity, thrived 

 in the beautiful water rising but a mile away in the 

 chalk of the downs, till they were as red and good as 

 little salmon ; and as they sailed, in warm weather, 

 beneath the shade of the trees, I could always insure 

 a ofood fish for dinner baitinor with a worm. The water 

 was so clear, that while at Teff^ont I made myself 

 master of the nature and habits of the trout, and dis- 

 covered that every large trout keeps a space of the 

 water as a beat for himself, and when intruded on by 

 another fish immediately attacks, and drives him off. 

 When the water-meadows were re-flooded after the re- 

 moval of sheep, and the trout from the river ascended 

 the narrow ditches to feed on the small red worm 

 collected by the presence of the flock, I used to tickle 

 them, as it is called, and having captured them they 

 were put into the lake. This I rather over-did ; for 

 I so filled the lake, that the condition of the trout 

 became impaired, though the angling was all the 

 better. In addition to the tricks played by my land- 

 lord as to furniture and other things, I found to my 

 cost he had leased to me a portion of the river to which 

 he had not the slightest right. No one was good enough 

 to explain this to me at the first onset, and every one 

 for a time abstained from fishing in the river, and, by 

 so doing, favoured the error into which my landlord 

 had led me : however, one day my keeper, John 

 Savage, came running breathless into my room, to say 

 that a number of men were dragging the river with a 



