42 BY MEADOW AND STREAM. 



picturesque old stone bridge of two arches spans it 

 in the middle of the narrow valley, and through it the 

 river winds its way now in rippling stream, and now 

 deep and slowly flowing. The hillsides come down 

 to the valley in a garment of green velvet. Every- 

 thing is bright and green. A most remarkable object 

 one might almost call it a phenomenon, owing to its 

 singularity suddenly presented itself at the farther 

 end of our valley, which here forms a very perfect V 

 shape, formed by the sides of two hills. In the very 

 centre of this V-shaped opening a most lovely rainbow 

 had set its foot straight down upon the green foliage of 

 the valley ; from this valley it shot up, casting a very 

 perfect halo of all its glorious colours over the conical 

 hill, its right limb falling in the centre of another 

 similar valley. 



Its coruscations and gradations of colour were abso- 

 lutely perfect in the whole semi-circle, lighting up the 

 green hill with wonderful effect. 



The next day found me and a gipsying party on the 

 banks of the Teme, where we fished, and the ladies 

 boiled their kettle, and laid out a pleasant " tea " 

 under a greenwood tree. 



It was a lovely day, and the river in good order, and 

 towards evening, after our tea, grayling began to rise 

 freely, and we captured a satisfactory number of them. 

 I refrain from describing the capture of each fish, or 

 the fly which did most execution. I can only say that 

 on one occasion two flies of a totally different style and 

 character, viz., a " Wickham's Fancy " and a very small 

 light blue gnat brought me in at one cast each of them 

 a nice grayling. During the time of drought I 



