44 In Pursuit of the Trout 



protruding root of an old willow, with heavy- 

 foliaged boughs that gently touch, in sum- 

 mer time, the face of the stream ; to rest 

 motionless, and listen to the sound of the 

 water rippling, here most gently, almost 

 imperceptibly, but breaking into loud chorus 

 a hundred yards or so further down, as it 

 forces its way over a bed of shingle. Thus 

 reclining, you may presently attune yourself 

 to nature, provided the fish are not stirring. 

 If they are, and you be an angler, the 

 instinct of sport must predominate, and the 

 one supreme question be how best to present 

 your lure. 



A day on a choice stretch of the Wye 

 above Ashford, and amongst the most beau- 

 tiful and wooded of the Derbyshire dales, is 

 an invitation not to be lightly refused by 

 the angler, or the man to whom fine scenery 

 is a perpetual feast. So when such an in- 

 vitation was one spring day made to me, I 

 accepted it with delight. We, my host and 

 I, started one bright May morning, taking 

 in the dogcart with us a well-tried cane 



