224 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



angle, the river then teeming with large fish as it does now. Our 

 catches were phenomenal, and the chief difficulty was as to how 

 best to carry the fish home. Perch, Rudd, Tench, Roach, Pike, 

 Carp, and other coarse fish fell to our rods in large quantities. I 

 must have been very young when we angled at Brocket Hall, 

 because I distinctly remember on my first expedition seeing in the 

 river there what I, in my childish imagination, believed to be a 

 small Crocodile basking near the surface. It sent a kind of terror 

 through my boyish frame, and I fled from the water's edge in 

 great distress. I now know, of course, that Crocodiles (either 

 small or big) do not inhabit the River Lea, and the object account- 

 able for my perturbed state of mind was a small Jack sunning 

 his dappled body in the motionless way these fish are wont to do. 



FIG. 91. RUDD. 



I remember, too, the Grey Wagtail, which always haunted the 

 waterfall on the right of the fine stone bridge where the water 

 leaves the park to form the broadwater at historic Hatfield, 

 where I have also angled. 



The keeper at Brocket Hall used to be a very accommodating 

 person in those days of long ago, for he always invited us to put the 

 written permit into our pockets again, as it would serve another time! 



I was, like my father and grandafther, a bottom angler (the 

 Cuckoo is calling so persistently as I write that I find it difficult 

 to concentrate my thoughts upon bygone fishing days !), and 

 although I am aware that, to those who pursue the more noble 

 art of fly-fishing, the former is regarded as a discreditable pastime, 

 as such I have caught a variety of fishes, and angled in deep 

 ditches, small ponds, and other situations where it would be 

 difficult for a fly fisherman to successfully make a cast. 



Lake fishing was always a strong favourite with me, especially 

 if the water was fringed with aquatic herbage, and there were 

 cool recesses between the lily leaves where I could discover a 

 likely hole. Back waters of rivers, such as the sluggish Colne 



