THE TROUT STREAM 37 



the trees of the great wood hard by — Harewood 

 Forest, Wherwell, or "Horrel" as it is locally called 

 • — and darker alders nearer the stream. Then in 

 the front of all, even of the moist trunks of the 

 willows, there was a tall hedge of water plants. 

 Purple loosestrife prevailed in quantity among the 

 blossoms ; but the brilh'ant yellow loosestrife, one 

 of the handsomest flowers that grows in marshy 

 spots, claimed greater attention ; and in sheer bulk 

 of bloom, though scarcely in beauty, the great hemp 

 agrimony was easily foremost — these and other less 

 striking flowers all packed and pressed together 

 with aromatic water mints, with sedges, rushes, and 

 the river-loving grasses. The branch was on my 

 right, while the main stream, here more broken 

 than usual, hurried round the left side of the islet 

 and presently formed the splendid shallows. 



Standing about the same place earlier in the year 

 before this great mass of green had reached its 

 prime, you might just see the toned-down red brick 

 walls and the latticed windows of the fishing cottage 

 on the bank of the main stream, with the thatched 

 fishing hut hard by. A perfect picture this, if 

 one could only paint it in words, and one out of 

 hundreds equally beautiful to be seen on a summer 

 day by the banks of most of our trout streams of 

 the south. 



Many a day spent by the angler in this land 

 of chalk may be Ashless, despite his skill with 

 the rod ; but few days which offer to him no fresh 

 delight for eyes, ears and mind. Even in the 

 absorbing time of the May-fly there are intervals 

 when the angler may turn his attention to what is 

 going on outside the stream, as well as within 

 it. One day in early June I came upon the pretty 



