WHEN THE NIGHT FALLS. 231 



the whole mirrored in the lake below. Flags and 

 giant reed-mace, or bulrushes, fringe it round, in 

 some instances spreading out for some distance 

 from the shore into the water : there is not now 

 a breath of air to move the tip of a reed-tassel. 

 Swallows dip and make large circles of light, and 

 large trout rise, causing smaller circles. All is 

 quiet, except for the chattering of sedge-warblers. 

 Other birds are about, aquatic fowl, but they have 

 left the water to feed in some distant water-meadows, 

 where their food will be of a more solid nature. In 

 the daytime they use the mere for safety ; at night 

 they leave it to feed elsewhere. 



The feeding-stream discharges a vast quantity of 

 water into it, passing out at the other end of the 

 lake, to finally empty itself into the river, four miles 

 away. A grand trout-stream this is, running in no 

 small volume, and at a rapid rate, through some of 

 the finest woodland meadows in England ; and best 

 of all, there are plenty of fine trout in that stream 

 — genuine, lusty, brown brook-trout, with crimson 

 spots. 



We follow the track under the hill, go through 

 some fir-woods, and rise again. It matters not 



