FISHES AND FISHING. 197 



their inexperience. Next evening I went with them, 

 and my gut line was broken by a large fish ; these I 

 thought must be eels, who had entangled themselves 

 in the weeds, and so broken the line ; I therefore laid 

 an eel line across a clear part of the pond. I obtained 

 some minnows from London, with which I baited a 

 few of the hooks, but they remained untouched, 

 whilst those baited with worms, were picked clean. 

 My groom, and our gardener, proposed to get in and 

 mow the weeds, it being very hot weather, and the 

 pond not being deep, if I would hire or borrow a net 

 in London. They cut the weeds, and tying ropes to 

 the two ends of a long heavy chain, they thought to 

 pull out the weeds; but the chain began to roll, 

 gathering up the weeds, until, when about one-third 

 of the length of the pond from the end they were 

 proceeding to, the mass of weeds became high above, 

 the water, and immoveable. Two teams of horses 

 were at work, drawing timber; I boiTowed their 

 assistance, and drew the weeds out. We then put 

 the net through, and took as many tench, from three 

 to seven pounds each, as filled a large clothes basket, 

 which two men with difficulty carried up to the 

 house ; we threw in all that appeared under three 

 pounds, and all the perch. Just as we had finished, 

 Long John, one of the foresters, upon his white 

 horse, with his gun across the pommel of the saddle. 



