A DAY ON THE LEA 1 07 



attractions for London anglers and boating men, 

 the river Lea has (or rather had in the days of 

 its purity) an almost unique claim on the affec- 

 tion of millions of the dwellers in the great city. 

 Early in the seventeenth century Sir Hugh 

 Myddelton, that worthy benefactor, expended 

 his time, his money, and his indefatigable 

 energies in creating the New River, and so 

 drawing water by an artificial canal of about 

 thirty-eight miles from the Chadwell and Amwell 

 springs, near Ware, to a great reservoir at 

 Clerkenwell. King James joined him in the 

 enterprise, on the condition of finding half the 

 capital and taking half the profits. Sir Hugh 

 lived to see the fruition of his grand scheme, 

 but he did not live long enough to receive any 

 dividends from his invested capital. He died 

 in embarrassed circumstances ; those unpro- 

 ductive shares are now worth many millions. 

 In after times the channel was widened and 

 deepened, the distance shortened, and the river 

 Lea has long contributed its share to swell the 

 great reservoirs which surround the north-east 

 of London. As a grateful consumer of its water, 

 when analyzed and filtered, and contributor to 

 water rates which a fabulously wealthy company 



