SEPTEMBER, 1894. 



XIX. WITCHDORTER'S DEATH IN MEMORIAM ! 



7Wl R. Hopper's old and valued friend Witchdorter must 

 / V P ass out of these notes for ever, for on the loth of 

 December last he was called to the bourn whence no 

 traveller returns. He loved this beautiful world, and all of 

 good that it contains, but in one sense he was prepared for the 

 dark journey all must take. Gladly would he have stayed yet 

 awhile here below had it been willed he should do so, but he 

 was found ready. It is with quiet and assured conviction that 

 these confident words are written by the friend and comrade 

 he left behind him, for truly Witchdorter's life on earth 

 had long been but a cheerful and happy preparation for the 

 great "hereafter." No friend more steadfast and constant, 

 more true, could be found than Mr. Hopper's angling com- 

 panion for a dozen years on Trent side. And he is gone ! his 

 memory cherished by those nearest and dearest to him, and, 

 as a man true and good, mourned by all with whom business 

 engagements or social intercourse brought him in contact. 

 Three days' illness (complications of influenza and pleuro- 

 pneumonia) sufficed to lay him low, and then King Death 

 reigned supreme over his mortal remains which, midst sorrow- 

 ing relatives, friends, and numbers of his late fellow workers 

 midst beautiful emblems of loving regard and warm respect 

 and admiration for his qualities as a man were laid to rest 

 " till the shadows flee away." Poor old Witchdorter ! Trent 

 side ne'er knew a clumsier angler ; ne'er a more contented or 

 genial one ; ne'er a better boatman in all that pertains to the 

 management of a boat. Ever ready to pull an oar or do a bit 

 of sculling from the stern ; to do a bit of sheering if he could 

 capsize friend Brown into two feet of water and mud when the 

 latter was too intent upon the coppers for harvest measuring, 

 but ne'er a bit ready to do a bit of hauling on the bank in the 

 teeth of the wind. No, he was not strongly inclined that way, 

 but preferred seeing Mr. Hopper trudge the bank with 



