CHAPTER XII 



THE ROUND OF THE SEASON 



A NORTHERN river such as the Eden does not, as a 

 general rule, begin to fish well before April. The 

 trout are in poor condition in March, when trie 

 season first opens. 



Wintry weather prevails in Westmorland and 

 Cumberland from the beginning of November, but 

 heavy snowstorms, and hard frosts, seldom occur 

 before Christmas. It is after Christmas that the 

 Pennine Fells are really stormbound, and covered 

 with snow either right down to their feet, or along 

 the whole length of their high tops. 



The tributary becks of the Eden, which have 

 their sources in the high mountain gorges, are not 

 often actually frozen up, but their shallow edges are 

 fringed with ice. The deep, lying snow melts 

 slowly in the great hollows of the hills, and, 

 excepting after heavy rains, only finds its way 

 gradually into the becks, but for this reason it keeps 



them cold and clear far on into the month of April. 



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