79 



expert angler, who uses it only with a single 

 hook. 



* There are a few salmon in the Wansbeck ; 

 hut the bed of the river, being almost entirely 

 composed of freestone, is not adapted for the 

 propagation of this fish. 



The scenery by the river side from Morpeth 

 to Bothal Castle is the most picturesque in the 

 north of England. There are two woods skirting 

 the sides of the stream for three or four miles. 

 They are composed mostly of oak timber of 

 natural growth, and are both about the same 

 breadth, occupying the rugged and rocky banks 

 to the extent of one hundred and fifty or two 

 hundred yards. These woods are almost in- 

 accessible, arising from the steep and precipitous 

 nature of the ground, which towers above the 

 bed of the river in some parts fully two hundred 

 feet. Both banks are one continued body of 

 freestone, which, almost every winter, crumbles 

 down in detached fragments into the stream 

 beneath, leaving abrupt prominences of rock, 

 whose edges are covered with the elm and moun- 

 tain-ash; affording a secure habitation for the 

 raven, the owl, and other birds of prey, which 

 retire from the intrusion of man. A visit to 

 these woods on a fine morning in April or May, 

 when the air is filled with the notes of thousands 



