242 LATE OCTOBER GRAYLING FISHING. 



The still air, the stiff line, and the new fine 

 points favoured long casts, while the small fly 

 was certainly to trreir liking. None of the three 

 were equal to the first, but all were over a 

 pound and a half, and all behaved most 

 sportingly. Neither the fly nor the point failed 

 during some two hours of casting. Only one 

 fish got off, from not being struck quickly 

 enough ; and he was perhaps the smallest of 

 the lot. 



Had I roamed up the meadows in the fore- 

 noon I doubt whether I should have obtained 

 anything as good as the two brace which lay 

 on the grass alongside me for they were much 

 too pretty to squash into the canvas bag caught 

 upon the opening sixty yards of water. The 

 sun was hot on my back, the air as still as in 

 a room, and the smoke from a cigar which I 

 found in my pocket had scarcely the energy to 

 move away. I arranged those grayling, and 

 rearranged them, head and tail, opening out 

 their dorsal fins and sprinkling them with water, 

 until they shone mauve and golden in the sun- 

 light. All jealousy of passers-by disappeared : 

 indeed the sight of the fish and the flattering 

 comments as to their size became quite pleasant. 

 ' Did you ketch those out of the river mister ? ' 

 asked one lanky youth. ' No, Juggins 'e 

 bought them at the fish shop ' answered his 

 friend, who had a fine taste in sarcasm. 



Where does the name thymallus come from? 

 I remember on that occasion trying my best to 

 extract any sniff of thyme from these freshly 



