'The Confessions of a 'Poacher. 163 



of the attacking party. We were a bit burnt, 

 we lost the game and nets, but were quite 

 content to have escaped so easily. 



There is another incident which I have 

 good cause to remember all my life. It is of 

 a somewhat different nature to the foregoing, 

 and occurred on the estuary of the river which 

 I used frequently to net with good results. 

 Someone who was certainly not very friendly 

 disposed had seen me and my companion start 

 for our fishing ground, and had made the most of 

 their knowledge. After getting to the near 

 vicinity of our work, we lay down beneath a 

 hay-rick to wait for a degree of darkness. 

 Then we crawled on hands and knees by the 

 side of a fence until it brought us to a familiar 

 pool which we knew to be well stocked with 

 salmon and trout. As we surveyed the water 

 we heard voices, and knew that the pool was 

 watched. These sounds seemed to come from 

 the lower limbs of a big tree, and soon one of 

 the watchers hidden in the branches stupidly 

 struck a match to light his pipe. This not 

 only frescoed two forms against the night, but 



