CONTINENTAL STATES 275 



ately refused to have aiiytliing to say to my bait, though 

 I presented them in succession with nearly the whole 

 range of my fly-book. The next day was highly favour- 

 able in point of weather, being rather dull, with a gentle 

 breeze playing on the still pools. Here I had better 

 success. I took eight trout, six of which I gave to one 

 of the cottagers of a small village by the river-side, and 

 the other two I had cooked in my tin digester; and 

 a delicious meal they made. But the English must 

 remember that the women who cooked the viands put 

 nearly half a pound of butter along with them. How 

 fond the French are of this article ! 



" I went to Coufanees, a fishing station of some little 

 note in- Normandy. There are two streams in this 

 vicinity, both well stocked with trout, but not of a 

 large kind. The waters were rather thick and puddly, 

 from some recent showers of rain, accompanied with 

 very loud thunder ; and this rather spoiled the attempts 

 at fly. I took out my artificial minnow, and got four 

 with it in less than half an hour ; and for other three 

 hours I never saw a single fish. There was a good 

 deal of brushwood and jungle about some spots in the 

 streams ; and this, among other things, put me some- 

 what out of humour with the place. I determined, 

 therefore, to set out for the Orne, in its higher waters, 

 and to go down till I came to the city of Caen, where 

 1 knew I should meet with some kindred spirits of the 

 angle. 



" After a pretty stiff journey, I reached the Orne about 

 five miles above Argentan. I stopped here two days, 

 and had some fair sport ; but I obtained the largest of 

 the trout by minnow and worm. I was much puzzled 

 here about flies. The fish rose greedily each day I was 

 out, about three o'clock in the afternoon, for about half 

 an hour, at some little insect ; but with all my efforts 

 I could not get to see what it really was. I tried with 

 all the small flies I could muster, but they never deigned 

 to notice me. What I did catch, I got with large-vringed 

 bait, and at the tail of strong and rapid running streams. 

 I fished down the river till I arrived at Turi. The 



