6 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING 



to mount his tilbury, and to flourish his rod over 

 the rivers and lakes of Wales, and to lash also with 

 zeal all the waters of Westmoreland and Cumber- 

 land. He is not a mere angler, but somewhat of an 

 artist also ; at least he thinks so himself. So when 

 the sun rides high, and the lake lies hot and motion- 

 less, " and the flies make strange streaks, albeit 

 skilfully thrown, on the mirror-like surface of the 

 water/' as that most capital penman, " the organist/' 

 has described it, he plants his sketching stool in some 

 shady nook, and, armed at all points with the 

 necessary implements, imagines that he transmits 

 to his canvass a vivid impression of what he sees 

 before him. 



Well skilled to select his subjects, he does not 

 take a general view of the broad expanse, but gets 

 a glimpse of the lake between the bolls of the trees 

 opposed to it in shadow. Proud of his ultramarine, 

 he touches in the distant mountain, and the rugged 

 brae nearer the foreground he paints rich and sunny ; 

 nor does he forget those accessories that give interest 

 and character to the scene the smoke issuing from 

 the cottage lying in some shady nook, the boat 

 hauled up on the gravelly beach, or the cattle that 

 stand listless on some point of land that juts into 

 the lake. Perhaps, too, some shepherd lies sleeping 

 with his flock around him in a sequestered glade. 

 Thus he paints the images of rural life ; and who 

 happier than himself, when he retires to the clean 

 little inn, and selects the trout for his dinner, giving 

 a cut behind the dorsal fin to descry those of the 

 reddest tint ? Self-complacent are his regards when 



