OULTON BROAD AND NEIGHBOURHOOD 15 



Broadland at sunset. From one end of the Broad comes the 

 lowing of cows faintly echoed from the marshes beyond 

 Whitecast ; from the other the noise of children playing in 

 the street, or bathing in the sheltered bays. We as visitors 

 are enchanted beyond measure how can we fail to be other- 

 wise ? 



We drift with other idlers through the fleet of yachts, 

 round the quaint old warehouses with barges and wherries 

 moored to their quays, in and out of silent bays, and past 

 gardens which abut upon the water's edge, noting every- 

 thing and everybody. 



Our oarsman is an interesting specimen of East Anglia. 

 He is a professional yachtsman according to his own descrip- 

 tion ; an unknown quantity according to ours. His age 

 might be anything from forty to eighty years. He tells 

 how he has witnessed more fish caught, more fowl killed, 

 more exciting races with yachts and rowing boats, more 

 hairbreadth escapes from drowning and other accidents, and 

 knows more about everything connected with that neigh- 

 bourhood than any man living. We are interested listeners, 

 and do not interrupt the flow of his conversation, except now 

 and again to inquire upon the merits of a likely-looking swim, 

 or a corner for wildfowl. He well earned all the beer and 

 baccy given to him, for which the soul of every Broadland 

 waterman (not a Blue Ribbonist) seems to yearn. 



Having beguiled several hours of supreme enjoyment in 

 this manner, it behoves us to move a question of inquiry 

 respecting the morrow What to fish for, and where to fish ? 

 The debate is not a long one, and it is soon arranged that 

 we shall try in the early morning for some of the perch, 

 which are reported to exceed 41b., but in reality rarely reach 

 half that weight. Four a.m. is the hour fixed for the sortie 

 to meet at Banker Gooch's shed, where everything is to be 

 in readiness, including a patent cooking apparatus for early 

 morning coffee. 



The Broadland mists, now beginning to rise, add a weird- 

 ness to the scene which we feel both loth and glad to leave. 



