The Norfolk Broads. 255 



have been reached by the hand-net then in use, which 

 was a small, wide-mouthed bag fixed to the end of a 

 walking-stick. 



The week's excursion gave Mr. Robertson unalloyed 

 pleasure, although he did not much admire the scenery 

 of the low, flat country where, he sarcastically observes, 

 the water had to be pumped up to keep the feet on 

 dry ground. Nevertheless the Norfolk broads and 

 the Norfolk rivers, unlike and unequal as they may 

 be to the grander and wilder features of Scotland, are 

 far from being without their own picturesque delights. 

 In the pursuit of ostracoda aesthetic pleasures may be 

 indulged, but they have to take a subordinate place, 

 and, on the present occasion, the merit of the scenery 

 was that it yielded a few new species and others that 

 were rare. The two colleagues were put in a position 

 to give a summary of that part of the fauna of the 

 broads which they were studying. 



Nothing indeed happened to hinder the progress 

 of their work, except a very temporary check at 

 Yarmouth. They there hired a boat, intending to go 

 up the river for a few days' work among the broads. 

 They took a strong man to do the rowing, laid in a 

 good stock of provisions and condiments, and trusted 

 to luck to find sleeping accommodation when it might 

 be needed. Their man said that he could shift for 

 himself. 



Unfortunately, the tide had just begun to ebb, and, 

 before they got their boat launched and all things 

 adjusted, the tide was letting the river down pretty 

 strongly. 



At starting the man had both oars, but, as they 



