IRTON HALL. 69 



the delight of the angler, those little falls 

 and rapids giving life to its waters. 



PISCATOR. It is, indeed, a spot of beauty ! 

 Would that the trees, those silver firs that 

 you admired, could be secured from the effects 

 of age. Did you not notice that they are 

 showing marks of decay ? 



AMICTJS. Do you speak of the largest trees, 

 the domicile of the innumerable rooks ? 



PISCATOR. The same; and let me tell you 

 that the rooks have the blame for their decay. 



AMICUS. And do you believe it ? May they 

 not, in this instance, as in many others, do good 

 rather than harm ? 



PISCATOR. Probably so. Their droppings a 

 kind of guano, abounding in lithic acid, a rich 

 manure cannot fail to fertilise the soil where 

 they fall; it is not unlikely, indeed, that the 

 trees owe their noble growth rather than their 

 decay to the very birds they shelter : this, at 

 least, is the more pleasing and grateful view of 

 the association. 



AMICUS. Pray, what were those small pro- 

 jecting platforms, which I saw by the margin 

 of the stream in several places ? 



PISCATOR. They are deserving of attention, 



F 3 



