172 THE ANGLER'S GUIDE. 



not long before their hooks were baited, and 

 into the water they threw them, though from 

 the nature of that part of the stream any jack- 

 fisher would have seen, that the water was no 

 more likely to contain a jack, than they were 

 to catch one. But plump into the water 

 they threw them then they pulled them out 

 then they threw them in again as far as 

 ever they could sling them ; then they examined 

 them to see if any jack had been biting at them, 

 and gave their opinions as to their appear- 

 ance ; and thus they went on, until the poor 

 frogs had struggled their last, and Rigings' 

 piece of beef-steak had changed colour and 

 hung down from the hook, like a piece of 

 dirty rag. As may be expected, the anglers 

 in the punt had no little diversion in looking 

 at them and watching their conduct. Had 

 they been three boys, they would not have 

 been surprised, but their age, appearance, 

 dress, contrast and conduct, all combined to 

 render them the objects of ridicule. Rigings,, 

 too, was spouting every now and then on the 

 bank, and once attempted a soliloquy in 

 rhyme for the occasion, which pleased them 

 not a little, and ran thus : 



