BFOJKENAU FISHING. 2G3 



some of the deep holes and eddies inaccessible to the very 

 primitive nets of the German fishermen. 



After the lapse of a few weeks, I was tempted by the 

 offer of a gentleman, then as celebrated as a sportsman as he 

 is now as an able and accomplished statesman, to take a seat 

 in his carriage to Brukenau, then the lovely and favourite 

 summer residence of Louis, the late King of Bavaria, who 

 was alike celebrated for his taste for the fine arts and his 

 admiration for fine women. 



Nothing can be more picturesque than the approach to 

 this little watering-place. The richness and variety of the 

 foliage, the beautiful undulations of the landscape, the noble 

 forest trees, and the artistic and tasteful manner in which 

 the drives, glades, and avenues are formed, all tend to 

 create a coup d'ceil seldom equalled. Upon passing through 

 the valley in which the village is situated, en route to our 

 hotel, I was greeted by a sight of more interest to me than 

 all the scenery I had previously witnessed, which was a 

 small river, meandering through the richest and most verdant 

 meadows, and disclosing in its course all those beauties and 

 attributes in which an angler delights. Rapid falls, swift- 

 running shallows, curling eddies, were all significant of the 

 favourite abodes of trout and grayling, and the frequent 

 rises and some very heavy ones we observed whilst passing 

 over a bridge, tended to establish this presumption. 



Upon making inquiries at the hotel as to the possibility of 

 fishing in the stream in question, we were informed that ifc 

 was a royal preserve ; that the king only allowed a certain 

 quantity of fish to be taken from it by privileged fishermen, 

 in order to supply the tables-d'hote of the place, and that no 

 individual could fish without the express permission of his 

 Majesty. 



It was the custom at that period for all visitors at these 

 baths, on their first arrival, to pay their respects to the 



