74 By Stream and Sea. 



inconveniences natural to the position ; small boys claim a 

 share in the fisherman's privileges, and lessen his chances of 

 sport by their clumsiness, and still oftener by their deliberate 

 attempts to disturb the water ; and all the waggon and cart 

 drivers who journey that way make it a point of honour to 

 drive through the stream rather than keep to the high-road. 

 This they have a perfect right to do, and the legs of the 

 horses, it is true, receive no injury from a temporary lave. 



As a lesson of patience, I never saw a finer trial of temper 

 than came under my notice while lolling over Hackbridge, 

 observing the trout, especially the beauties rising and 

 frolicking in the upper and forbidden part. A gentleman, 

 who had been drawn all the way from London by the 

 rumours he had heard of the trout to be caught in the 

 Wandle, was most skilfully whipping the ford. The water 

 rushes in the finest style from beneath the bridge, where it 

 escapes in force from an obstruction on the private side, and 

 there were three or four trout, as one would expect in the 

 streams, on the look-out for a meal. An idle urchin, how- 

 ever, took it into his head to perch upon one of the parapets 

 directly above and swish the stream with a heavily-leaded 

 line, to which I discovered (having nothing better to do 

 than interfere with other people's business) he had no hook 

 attached. As in duty bound I promptly informed the 

 angler that the young scoundrel was not even pretending to 

 fish, and the latter was requested to desist. He refused, and 

 was threatened with switching ; in reply to which he inso- 

 lently laid down the law to the angler, discussed general 

 principles of " right," and defied the aggrieved fisherman on 

 pain of the " perlice " to lift hand against him. 



The gentleman, seeing the manner of creature the boy 

 was, turned to the lower part of the ford, and by a series of 

 artistic casts managed to throw the fly at least fifteen yards 



