56 FISHING FOR PLEASURE 



of trout, and were very happy. I had a hot bath, 

 and " so to bed," as old Pepys says. 



IN THE NEW FOREST. 



Thursday, September 3rd, a gloomy morning, 

 did not betoken a fine day for our last excursion. 

 I was up early, as fresh as ever, and like the 

 bright sky of last night, had already forgotten 

 the storms of yesterday. The New Forest, for 

 which we were bound, is all new to me. The 

 gloom of the morning for once belied its promise 

 of a bad day, for it proved to be one of the few 

 ideally charming days this precarious season has 

 bestowed upon us. 



" All is blue again 

 After last night's rain, 

 And the south wind dries the hawthorn spray." 



BROWNING. 



We started, fifteen of us, for Bolderwood, one 

 of the centres of the Forest most attractive and 

 least accessible. Our drive through Ringwood 

 was about twenty-two miles from our starting- 

 point, and a delightful drive it was sometimes 

 through pine woods, sometimes over heather- 

 clad downs commanding grand views all round. 

 Our driver was not well acquainted with the 

 windings and cross-roads of the Forest, and, 

 missing the right turning, we were lost in the 

 woods. Through the energy and activity of our 



