40 



where, at other times, the angler is most certain to 

 meet with success. The fly-fisher who is confined to 

 apiece of water of one character, though well stocked 

 with trout, for instance, where the stream runs in 

 an uniformly gentle current for a couple of miles, will 

 be more frequently disappointed of his sport than 

 one who fishes a stream of greater variety, though 

 the fish may not "be so plentiful. This part of the 

 Colne also contains pike, roach, perch, and the finest 

 dace of any stream within twenty miles of London. 

 The Trout Inn, at Drayton, is frequently visited by 

 anglers from the metropolis, for the sake of pike- 

 fishing, which is here at the best from the middle 

 of September to the middle of November. The coun- 

 try is flat and low, and the breadth of a field is com- 

 monly the extent of the prospect. Except the ivy- 

 mantled tower of Drayton church, there is not much 

 to fill a leaf in the Angler's sketch-book, to make 

 amends for a light creel 



Denham, a village near the Colne, about two 

 miles from Uxbridge, has, from Sir Humphry Davy's 

 account, in the " Salmonia," of his angling there, 

 acquired a high character in the annals of fly-fishing ; 

 but there is neither free nor subscription water, 

 and a day's fishing can only be obtained by per- 

 mission of some one of the gentlemen through 

 whose property it flows, and by whom it is strictly 

 interdicted to intruders. Besides the Colne, another 

 stream runs past Denham, through the grounds 

 of Mr. Drummond, at Denham Fishery; and of 



