176 SOUTH COUNTRY TROUT STREAMS 



the Test — a small light-coloured one and a small dark- 

 coloured one for use when the water was clear and still, 

 and two large ones of the same shades for morning and 

 evening hshing, when there was " a good curl on the 

 water, or a strong stream." 



At one time the Leckford was the leading club, it 

 would seem, on the Test. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 

 if not a member of the club, was to be seen there ; 

 whilst Tom Sheridan (who had the unenviable reputa- 

 tion of taking undersized fish sometimes) was a member 

 and a regular frequenter. Very gay and frolicsome 

 must gatherings of the members often have been, and 

 one at least of their rules points to a good deal of chaff 

 and fun. This rule read thus — "No drawing, painting, 

 sketch, or model of any trout shall be taken at the 

 general expense, unless such a fish shall have exceeded 

 5 lbs., and shall have been bo7ia fide caught by one of 

 the party, and not privately bought at Stockbridge." By 

 another rule a fine of ten and sixpence was imposed on 

 ''any member who described the strength, size, &c., of 

 any immense fish which had just got off at the point of 

 being landed." 



In his interesting and instructive book on Water and 



Water Supply (Messrs. W. H. Allen & Co.) Mr. Ansted 



gives an excellent general description of what 



" Water he calls the " drainage area of the south of Eng- 



y^^ land," from which I take the liberty of making 



Supply." ^^ following quotation, though the whole book 



should be studied by those who wish to 



thoroughly understand our river system : — 



" I. General Account of the District. — The country here 

 understood as the south of England consists of two parts : 

 One is the long narrow strip south of the Thames basin, 

 extending from the South Foreland at Dover westwards 

 for nearly 150 miles to the Isle of Portland, very narrow 

 at the eastern extremity, but widening towards the west 

 to about 40 miles. This forms the eastern district be- 

 yond it, and still more to the west there remains the pro- 

 montory of Cornwall Devon, reaching for nearly 180 

 miles further in the same dirc:tion. The breadth of this 

 latter part, at first about 60 miles, gradually narrows to 



