CHAP. II.] THE TIRST DAT. 307 



my neck to the fidelity of my own feet, rather than to those 

 of my horse : for I have no more at home. 



Pise. 'Twere hard else. But in the meantime, I think 

 'twere best, while this way is pretty even, to mend our pace, 

 that we may be past that hill I speak of, to the end your 

 apprehension may not be doubled for want of light to discern 

 the easiness of the descent. 



Viat. I am willing to put forward as fast as my beast will 

 give me leave ; though I fear nothing in your company. But 

 what pretty river is this we are going into ? 



Pise. Why this, sir, is called Bentley brook, 1 and is full 

 of very good trout and grayling ; but so encumbered with 

 wood in many places, as is troublesome to an angler. 



Viat. Here are the prettiest rivers, and the most of them 

 in this country that ever I saw : do you know how many 

 you have in the country ? 



Pise. I know them all, and they were not hard to reckon, 

 were it worth the trouble : but the most considerable of 

 them I will presently name you. And to begin where we 

 now are, for you must know we are now upon the very 

 skirts of Derbyshire ; we have, first, the river Dove, 2 that we 

 shall come to by and by, which divides the two counties of 

 Derby and Stafford, for many miles together ; and is so 



1 A narrow swift stream two miles beyond Ashbourn, on the old road : 

 still pretty well supplied with trout and grayling. ED. 



- Mr. Rhodes, in his elegant work entitled "Peak Scenery," says, that 

 the river Dove is one of "the most beautiful streams that ever gave a charm 

 to landscape ; and that whilst passing along the first, and least picturesque 

 divisions of the dale, the ear is soothed with its murmurings, and the eye 

 delighted Avith the brilliancy of its waters. In some places it flows smoothly 

 and solemnly along, but never slowly ; in others, its motion is rapid, 

 impetuous, and even turbulent. The ash, the hazel, the slender osier, and 

 the graceful birch, hung with honeysuckles and Avild roses, dip their 

 pensile branches in the stream, and break its surface into beauteous ripples. 

 Huge fragments of stone, toppled from the r^cks above, and partly covered 

 with moss and plants that haunt and love the water, divide the stream into 

 many currents : round these it circles in innumeiable eddies, which give 

 life and motion to a great variety of aquatic plants that grow in the bed of 

 the river. Occasionally large stones are thrown across the stream, and 

 interrupt its progress ; over and among these it rushes rapidly into the pool 

 below, forming, in its frequent falls, a series of fairy cascades, about which 

 it foams and sparkles with a beauty and brilliancy peculiar to this lively 

 and romantic river.'' ED. 



