54 FISHING FOR PLEASURE 



of hail, is pelting the earth and raising great 

 bubbles on the water. Our keeper is one who 

 maintains this position because he can call to 

 witness his eyes and his hearing. On the other 

 hand, to go no further than our experience of 

 to-day, we are obliged to say that during the 

 whole of it we found the trout sluggish and 

 motionless. 



We began fishing at 10.30 a.m.; the atmo- 

 sphere was heavy and leaden, with black clouds 

 low down on the horizon. Guns at Portland 

 were being fired constantly, but presently there 

 was no mistaking the low grumbling in the dis- 

 tance which could not be mistaken for guns. 

 Soon big drops began to fall, and then a small 

 deluge through which we fished and fished for 

 an hour or two with no success, and then with 

 sodden feet we wearily tramped back to the 

 welcome shelter of our host's residence. That 

 was our first soaking. 



After lunch the sky cleared a little and the 

 rain for a time thinned down to a Scotch mist; 

 sometimes even a small patch of blue appeared 

 here and there between the rolling clouds. We 

 sallied forth again, and by the time we had 

 reached an open part of the river down came the 

 rain in torrents, but we fished on in spite of it 

 with mighty poor results for a couple of hours, 

 and then, bedraggled and saturated, we betook 

 ourselves to tea. 



