44 Recreations of a Sportsman 



as truth is concerned. But let us strike a moral 

 when we can, and here is the song of Mynheer 

 Vandunck, written by some Dutch wag in 1603, 

 slightly paraphrased. 



Mynheer Vandunck, though he never got drunk, 



Sipped brandy and angled gaily; 



And he quenched his thirst with two quarts of the 



first, 



Hooking lots of fine salmon daily: 

 Singing, " Oh that a Dutchman's draught could be 

 As deep as the rolling Zuyder Zee ! " 



Water well mixed with spirit good store, 

 No fisherman thinks of scorning: 

 But of water alone he drinks no more 

 Than to help him bring his fish on shore 

 Upon the market-stall in the morning, 

 For a fishing Dutchman's draught should be 

 As deep as the rolling Zuyder Zee. 



The wind rises and we pile on the wood and 

 tell about the catches of to-morrow ; then we call 

 upon the author, who has been looking into the 

 fire, doubtless on a long still hunt for inspira- 

 tion, and we demand a song or story. 



" I don't know whether you know," he began, 

 "but not far to the south of us, over the Sis- 

 kiyous in Plumas and Sierra counties, Cali- 

 fornia, they have the deepest snow in the 

 world; not always, but at times. In Plumas, 



