140 DAYS AMONG THE PIKE AND PERCH 



say again, that I am not boasting ; don't think it for a 

 moment ; but " my lines have been cast in pleasant 

 places ; I have had a goodly heritage." 



In all probability this will be my last volume, so be as 

 kindly disposed to it and to me as you can, remembering 

 that my schooldays were few, and my workdays many. 

 I claim to be an all-round angler, one who has fished for 

 the love of the thing, with never a thought of gain or 

 profit, content when the day has been blank, content 

 when the bag has been overweighted, content when the 

 fierce and sudden winter storms have upset all calculations, 

 content when I could hear " a noise, like a hidden brook, 

 in the leafy month of June," when the trout were flapping 

 on the surface in joyous freedom, and content when the 

 fierce hail and snow storms beat full in my face, and 

 altered in a few hours the whole face of Nature. Boasting, 

 no ! I am too thankful for the memory of it all to boast. 



THE PIKE AND PERCH OF THE DUKERIES 



In all my wanderings by river, lake, and stream, I never 

 found any preserves that contained better pike and perch 

 than the network of lakes, some of them connected by 

 streams, that are to be found in the very midst of the 

 stately homes of England known as the Dukeries. 



Clumber Lake, under the very shadow of the Duke of 

 Newcastle's stately pile, has pike in its depths, the finest 

 in the kingdom and not a few of them either. A day 

 on that lake only comes once in a privileged person's life- 

 time ; but generally it is a day never forgotten. The 

 grand old woods and forests, with all their old associations, 

 stretch away for miles ; the well -stocked and preserved 

 rivers flow down the valleys, the lakes gleam under a 

 summer sun, or glisten with frost under that of the winter. 

 The drive through the forest and wood is a treat to be 

 dwelt on ; while a day's fishing is sublime. 



What can I see in my mind's eye just now ? The sport- 



