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moor-cock on the fell, and slinks after spar- 

 rows in the hedge although he may shoot 

 the latter with a double-barrelled Manton, 

 while he brings down the mountain-bird 

 with an old flint-and-steel. Give me the 

 clear streams of my native county, and my 

 own home-made tackle, and let who will fish, 

 with their well varnished rods and silken 

 lines, in the Thames, the Colne, and the Lea. 

 One day, when I was out at Hampton Court, 

 I saw such a specimen of Thames angling as 

 I shall not readily forget. A great stout 

 man, with top boots on, and his waistcoat 

 loose for the purpose of displaying his frill, 

 was seated on a chair in a flat bottomed 

 boat moored in the middle of the river, 

 angling, as he was pleased to call it. The 

 butt-end of the rod was under his toe, and 

 he enjoyed the intervals of a bite which, I 

 presume, was like an angel's visit in reading 

 a newspaper and smoking his pipe, occa- 

 sionally cooling his mouth with a draught 

 of porter; recreation pleasant enough, but 

 K 



