FISHES AND FISHING. 211 



N'ext day, Mrs. M., who, from her nephew's account 

 of what he saw the over night, began to think highly 

 of my piscatorial skill, proposed that we should make 

 a party to go and angle in the same river. I was 

 informed we should require worms, and lines with 

 floats. We went, but defend me from such trout 

 fishing : we killed about eight brace, of a pound to a 

 pound and a-half a fish. When we arrived at home, 

 Mr. M., who occasionally imitated the Somersetshire 

 dialect, began to jeer us, saying, " What, do'e call 

 thic things trout ? come along we' me, and 111 show 

 thee trout, and what's more, I'll gi' thee leave to 

 catch them if thee can, by any mode thee art master 

 of, except netting; and thee may'st begin after 

 dinner." Sure enough, he showed me, in an artificial 

 canal, two hundred yards long, ten feet wide, about 

 six feet deep, and the water so clear that a pin 

 thrown in would be seen at the bottom, some, but 

 not many, very large trout. 



During dinner and dessert, Mr. M. laughed, and 

 said he had shewed me trout, but defied me to catch 

 them ; if I could, he would acknowledge I was an 

 angler, but not without. After dinner, I found some 

 worms, and as I was going out, Mrs. M. said, " Catch 

 some of his trout, if you can, by any means, but do 

 not let him laugh at us and our angling." He and I 

 went to the canal, I taking with me a strong trolling 



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