72 BROADLAND SPORT 



one is reminded of Holland so strongly that it is difficult to 

 realise one is not again in that interesting country. Whilst 

 the number of watermills that can be counted upon the horizon 

 is astonishing. 



As the course of the winding river is pursued, unmistak- 

 able signs of salt water are encountered, and as the river widens 

 more and more so do the mud banks show themselves, until, 

 rounding a low point, a glimpse of Breydon Flats, left almost 

 bare by the fast-ebbing tide, presents itself. To the right, 

 two or three miles distant, are the ivy-clad ruins of Burgh 

 Castle, or all that now remains of it. Its walls stand out 

 bright against a background of dark-foliaged trees, which 

 show up more prominently against a blue sky, and with the 

 lime-kilns at the foot of the hills, and the green flat marshes 

 in the foreground well studded with the yellow marigold, 

 form a picture long to be remembered. 



At this junction of the three waters Breydon, the Waveney 

 and the Yare is situated the Berney Arms, a marsh tavern, 

 unlike any other inn, because of its peculiar situation and its 

 uninteresting surroundings. Queer company one meets with 

 within its smoke-begrimed walls, and many a good punting 

 yarn the old benches could tell if they had but tongue. The 

 quarters are not to be recommended, although the wildfowler 

 may be glad at times to avail himself of whatever poor hos- 

 pitality the inn can afford. In the " good old days " many a 

 cargo of contraband goods found a temporary resting-place 

 here ; the situation being most auspicious for its distribution. 



A little further into Breydon, on the left-hand bank, is a 

 breakwater of wooden piles, locally called the Dicky Works, 

 and further on, in a small harbour leading to a sluice-gate, a 

 fleet of house-boats of the poorest kind, used by the fishers 

 and gunners of Breydon Water. This bleak and exposed part 

 of the flats is the most sought by the professional gunner, and 

 it is capable of affording more sport than at first would be 

 anticipated. At due season of the year smelts are to be 

 obtained in large quantities, which many consider the finest 

 fish that come to table from inland waters. Codling, coal fish 



