A Fishing Expedition. 47 



lads use a long ' gicks ' cut between the joints as a 

 tube to blow haws or peggles at the girls. When 

 thirsty, and no ale is handy, the men search for one 

 to suck up water with from the brook. It is difficult 

 to find one free from insects, which seem to be re- 

 markably fond of anything hollow. The haymakers 

 do not use the hemlock, thinking it would poison the 

 water ; they think, too, that drinking through a tube 

 is safer when they are in a great heat from the sun 

 than any other way. 



Nor is it so easy to drink from a stream without 

 this simple aid. If the bank be flat it is wet, and what 

 looks like the grass of the meadow really grows out 

 of the water ; so that there it is not possible to lie at 

 full length. If the bank be dry the level of the water 

 is several inches lower, and in endeavouring to drink 

 the forehead is immersed ; often the water is so much 

 lower than its banks that it is quite impossible to drink 

 from it lying. By the edge grasses, water-plantains, 

 forget-me-nots, frequently fill the space within reach. 

 If you brush these aside it disturbs the bottom ; and 

 the mud rises, or a patch of brown ' scum ' comes up 

 and floats away. A cup, though gently used, gene- 

 rally draws some insects in with the water, though the 

 liquid itself be pure. Lapping with the hollowed 

 palm requires practice, and, unless the spot be free 



