THE MAY FLY. 31 



My luck was not considerable ; the rise of dun was insignificant, the 

 wind was simply abhorrent, and my baskets, naturally, were not as heavy 

 as I could have wished. The water was in perfect order, the fish 

 abundant, but sport indifferent. One day I went up one of the upper 

 feeding streams, where I had often, poor performer though I may be, 

 secured a really good basket of good fish. After rising and pricking more 

 than a dozen fish, all of which rose short, and turning over and getting a 

 short run out of a three-pounder which had permanently taken up his 

 position above a bridge by a garden-side under some sedges in a difficult 

 position — rendered more difficult by the violence of the wind — I had 

 to content myself with a poor brace of 1% pounders, going home feeling 

 regretfully that I had done that day a good deal in the way of 

 educating fish ! 



The last day of my visit (June 10) I had somewhat of a more 

 interesting experience. The wind was still high, though warmer, and, 

 though no rain fell, there was a feeling that rain was not far off. The 

 report that the May fly was up and in quantity had brought out a number 

 of anglers, and when I got to the water-side, armed with a box of May 

 flies given me by a prince among anglers, I found all the 'vantage spots 

 (in the small extent of the water where the fly hatched in any quantity) 

 duly occupied by an ardent angler ready for the fray. So I quietly gave 

 that game up and retired to a small island between two branches of 

 the river near the keeper's cottage. I had but a couple of hundred yards 

 to fish, while the ground where I was standing was sedge covered elbow- 

 high with charmingly and conveniently placed bushes here and there 

 behind me, ready to hitch up any fly that, in the backward cast, should be 

 driven by the wind into their embrace. The only chance was to keep up a 

 kind of steeple cast, as the stream was a fair width across. The charm of 

 the position, however, was that on the other side was a high bank with a 

 plantation on it, which shed a welcome shade over the bank fish on 

 that side. It was very difficult to locate a rise, but the stream was 

 even and there was no drag. Nor was it an easy matter to land a fish, as 

 the fringe of sedges was wide and thick, and the water deep ; my landing- 

 net was also over-short — a bad fault — and caused me to lose three good 

 fish, one well over 2lb. I spent nearly all the day on this place, and 

 managed to hook every fish I saw rise, and that was not a great number, 



