JULY 171 



was administering the coup-de-grdce to a noble salmon 

 weighing 56 Ib. 



Of course there was much curiosity on that riverside as 

 to the lure which brought this noble quarry to its doom ; 

 but to all inquiries Tim gave but one answer, ' Ah ! that 's 

 a mysthery.' When at last the secret leaked out (for was 

 there not a woman in it ?), the pink-bodied, yellow- winged 

 fly took its place among standard patterns as ' the Mystery.' 



Now I must scramble back from this unpardonable 

 digression to the banks of the Erne, where I stood one 

 fine evening last July prepared for action. The day was 

 far spent, for it was afternoon before the Belfast train, 

 loitering through leagues of verdure, had deposited me 

 upon Belleek platform. A couple of miles on a car to my 

 riverside quarters ought not to have taken long, but the 

 greater part of the distance had to be performed at a 

 walk, by reason of the excruciating nature of the metal 

 with which my landlord had thickly coated the ' boreen,' 

 or tortuous lane leading to his cottage; for he had 

 inherited some money from America, and was bent on 

 improving his property. This metal consisted of slabs of 

 waste pottery great shards from the Belleek works. 

 ' Oh, the finest matarial in the created earth for making 

 up a road,' explained Rogan ; ' it '11 take a thousand years 

 to wear it away.' So it might, methought, being by 

 nature imperishable, and deposited in such impregnable 

 lumps as seemed to defy, rather than to invite, traffic. 

 At last we arrived at the cottage where a friend had 

 secured accommodation for me, and excellent the quarters 

 proved to be, with the river quite handy. It did not take 

 me long to unpack my kit, don my waders, and hurry off 

 under a burning sun to the waterside. 



