A LONDON TROUT. 73 



then one by itself, then another bunch. The marsh 

 was a foot deep in water, which could only be seen 

 by parting the stalks of the sedges, for it was quite 

 hidden under them. Sedges and flags grew so thick 

 that everything was concealed except the yellow bloom 

 above. 



One bunch grew on a bank raised a few inches above 

 the flood which the swollen brook had poured in, and 

 there I walked among them ; the leaves came nearly 

 up to the shoulder, the golden flowers on the stalks 

 stood equally high. It was a thicket of iris. Never 

 before had they risen to such a height ; it was like 

 the vegetation of tropical swamps, so much was every- 

 thing drawn up by the continual moisture. Whc 

 could have supposed that such a downpour as occurred 

 that summer would have had the effect it had upon 

 flowers ? Most would have imagined that the ex- 

 cessive rain would have destroyed them; yet never 

 was there such floral beauty as that year. Meadow 

 orchis, buttercups, the yellow iris, all the spring 

 flowers came forth in extraordinary profusion. The 

 hay was spoiled, the farmers ruined, but their fields 

 were one broad expanse of flower. 



As that spring was one of the wettest, so that of 

 the year in present view was one of the driest, and 

 hence the plantation between the lane and the brook 

 was accessible, the sedges and flags short, and the 

 sedge-birds visible. There is a beech in the plan- 

 tation standing so near the verge of the stream that 

 its boughs droop over. It has a number of twigs 

 around the stem — as a rule the beechbole is clear of 

 boughs, but some which are of rather stunted growth 



