ST. JOHN'S BECK. 255 



such as our sandwiches afford, before entering 

 on the difficult part of our way ; and you must 

 allow me then to be your guide. 



AMICUS. I am glad you have overtaken me. 

 It is now two o'clock, and our sandwiches will 

 not come amiss. Shall I confess that I have 

 been disappointed in the river, both as to fish- 

 ing and beauty. I have risen very few fish, and 

 taken only some small trout and two or three 

 smolts ; nor am I surprised, there are, since 

 leaving the upper portion of the beck, so few 

 pools of any promise, and hardly a rock to break 

 the even flow of the water over its gravelly and 

 artificially embanked bed. 



PISCATOR. You passed too rapidly where you 

 should have lingered and fished diligently. I 

 speak of the upper portion of the beck, there 

 the very perfection of a trout stream, flowing 

 as it does amongst rocks and over rocks, deep 

 and shallow in succession, keeping its natural 

 course, having good bottom feed, and also 

 surface feed, from flies bred in the adjoining 

 wood, and not without good trout, of which in 

 my pannier you may see a half-a-dozen, one 



