LALLAL. 351 



"England, with fixed rings, a strong salmon-reel, and waxed 

 line, and some large hooks hung on gimp, so that I con- 

 sidered myself a match for any eel in the world below a 

 conger. 



I rose early, and not wishing to disturb any of the inmates 

 of the house, strapped my rod across my shoulders, placed 

 my tackle in my game-bag, and took my gun with me with 

 the hopes of killing a duck or a few snipes on my way to 

 the falls, or at all events, having resort to a little shooting 

 should my piscatory experiment fail. 



Having arrived at the edge of the ravine that formed the 



o o 



boundary of the first fall, I was completely at a loss how to 

 descend to the pool below. The sides were nearly pre- 

 cipitous, and completely covered with a thick growth of 

 matted underwood, in fact nothing but a monkey would 

 have attempted the descent. I followed the course of the 

 rocky fissure for some distance lower down, and at length 

 discovered a spot where, with some scrambling and diffi- 

 culty, I thought I could descend to the bed of the stream, 

 but against which, full of large and slippery stones, and 

 small islets covered with thorns and matted creepers, I 

 should have to make my way for several hundred yards 

 before I arrived at the deep circular pool, immediately be- 

 neath the waterfall. Another, and to me very disagreeable 

 objection was the probability of meeting with snakes, for 

 which reptiles I have always entertained an unconquerable 

 dread. Depositing my gun in some long grass, and marking 

 the spot with a peeled branch, I commenced a very difficult 

 and tortuous passage to the realms below, using my rod as a 

 staff when I missed my feet, and had to depend upon another 

 part of my person in contact with terra firma, and at length, 

 but not without some severe scratches and bruises both 

 before and behind, found myself knee-deep in the stream 

 below, but with my rod and tackle safe and uninjured. I 



