THE ANGLERS SOUVENIR. 



249 



we saw several floats of wood on the surface of the 

 water. We at once jumped to the conclusion that 

 some poacher had been at work setting night lines, 

 and with a laudable desire to frustrate his evil 

 designs, we attempted to haul the supposed lines 

 in. Fortunately for ourselves, we could not move 

 the weight at the bottom, for the pieces of wood 

 turned out to be the floats of the eel nets which are 

 nightly set in the river by parsons who make a 

 regular trade of it, and whose take that night we 

 might have spoiled. We did not guess what the 

 floats were, however, until we came to a turn in 

 the river, where, on the bank, a mysterious frame- 

 work rose from the rushes, and there loomed against 

 the olive sky the large circles of the eel nets which 

 were hung up to dry. 



The next day we sped before pleasant breeze 

 swiftly up to Ranworth. We were to meet our 

 friends at an inn on the banks of the adjacent 

 Broad, and turning up a wide channel we ran 

 between lofty reeds, between the stems of which 

 the coots and water-hens swam and nodded their 

 heads, and the reed- wren suspended its purse-like 

 nest. We could see the Broad every now and then 

 through narrow openings on our left, and as we 

 seemed to be running parallel to it we conceived 

 the idea of taking a short cut. Entering one of 

 the narrow channels, we steered boldly for the 

 open water, which appeared to be only a lumdred 

 yards off. The passage presently dwindled away, 



