78 By Stream and Sea. 



which a non-angling companion at the waterside provokes 

 you, flicking off the heads of the purple loose-strife and ox- 

 eyed daisies, comes and bids you admire the glorious tints 

 of the sky, newly forsaken by its tyrant king. 



" By Jove, sir ! " he says, " it's just the sort of thing 

 Turner would have painted." 



This is said at the moment when you have found glad 

 occasion for rapidly removing your thumb from the rod — any 

 fish may be struck by that simple process — and Turner and 

 sky and restless friend are as nothing against this twelve- 

 inch salmo fario. He is all the world, and the rest is a 

 China orange. 



The best angling portion of the Wandle is that which is 

 preserved by an association, numbering a few gentlemen, 

 who take the greatest care of their treasure, and conduct it 

 upon the soundest of principles. They are to be envied in 

 their possession, for, as any one standing on Mitcham bridge 

 and looking up to the picturesque mill, and sluice running 

 heavy with trout down by the garden side, may see for him- 

 self, it is full of fish. Each member is bound by certain 

 rules, and it is enough to make a hapless outsider's mouth 

 water to read that all fish of eleven inches and under must 

 be returned to the water ; that no member must take more 

 than three brace per day, and that the limit of fishing after 

 dusk must not extend over one hour. Three brace of fish 

 between a pound and a quarter and two pounds should, as 

 the association very properly deems, satisfy any man blest 

 with an ordinary appetite for sport. Walking over one idle 

 afternoon, I found one of the members — and a very accom- 

 plished fly-fisher he was — in despair because he had caught 

 his three brace in an hour and a half, and now sighed, like 

 the ancient monarch, for more worlds to conquer. 



The fish were rising "permiscuous." It appeared as if 



