BRETON TROUT STREAMS 35 



Then there is Pont-Aven, with its 

 delightful mill-strewn river. A few fish 

 may be taken on the higher waters in the 

 early spring above the third mill from the 

 village up to the bridge at Pont, but as a 

 whole the fishing is disappointing. That 

 around Quimper is even worse. We have 

 now arrived at the metropolis, where a 

 dinner at the Epee cannot console us for 

 spoiled waters and an empty creel. Quim- 

 per must also be eliminated as a fishing 

 centre. In Brittany we shall come to realise 

 that poverty and sport go hand in hand ; 

 that the farther we pass from civilisation the 

 better will be our fishing. We shall only 

 begin to know la vraie Bretagne when we 

 get beyond the inroads of modern repub- 

 lican France and the tracks of the summer 

 tourist. But there we shall find no well- 

 served table d'hote nor cf^oissants with our 

 early coffee. 



Far in the interior of this grey land 

 are hamlets which cannot boast a single 

 auherge. except those at whose doors hang 

 bunches of mistletoe. These have only 

 one general room, and cater for the needs of 

 thirsty peasants rather than for those of the 



