A Dn/-F/t/ Purist 9 8 Advice to a Met/inner. (M 



consider, an excellent arrangement, indeed, far 

 preferable to the beat divisions described above ; 

 more free, even with less fishing. I adopted 

 the plan when I rented the St. Cross water a 

 decade ago, for three years, and it was satisfactory 

 to all. 



I have, during some past seasons, been most 

 fortunate in receiving invitations to fish for a few days 

 in the strictly private and highly preserved portions 

 of the Bourne and Test at Hurstbourne Priors, of the 

 Test at Longparish, the Avon at Lower Stratford 

 beyond Salisbury, and most frequently of late 

 years (twenty-five in regular sequence), in " the 

 cream of the Itchen," at Winchester. But perhaps 

 the place on the Itchen most worthy to be called 

 " an angler's paradise " is found in Shawford Park, 

 and a description of a day's fishing there in utter 

 solitude as to man's companionship will, I think, 

 serve somewhat to illustrate the title to this article. 

 The main stream meets the back stream at the 

 lower boundary of the demesne. Let us begin 

 there. It is June, but the Mayfly is over (never 

 any attraction at anytime for the writer), the day is 

 perfect, and overhead the magnificent arched canopy 

 of illimitable space is glorious in mountainous 

 masses of pure white clouds, with azure spaces 

 between like mysterious lakes, or wider expanses 

 like seas. 



