CHAPTER XIX 

 ALONG THE RIVIERA 



' 'Twas where o'er the sea 

 Delicious gardens hung, green galleries, 

 And marble terraces in many a flight. 

 And fairy arches flung from cliff to cliff. 

 Bewildering, enchanting, . . .' 



IT is not well to become wildly excited regarding the angling 

 possibilities of tlie Eiviera. I remember when going from 

 Paris to Marseilles having with me what tackle the porters in 

 Paris had not devastated or broken. I intended to fish aU along 

 the shore — ^Marseilles, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Menton, and so on to 

 Italy ; but I fished MarseiQes from a cabriolet most comfortably. 

 I had an abundance of time, so devoted myself to a psychological 

 study of the driver, whose ingenuity in lengthening out the 

 drive, isolating me on places where the drawbridge went up, and 

 taking me to the points I did not wish to see, were more than 

 remarkable. 



The fish market was interesting, but most of the game was 

 brought in from the outer waters, and I found that almost every 

 mile of sea coast was zealously dragged day and night with 

 seines ; between times men and boys hunted for aU kinds of sea 

 game and poached on the rivers. Lax game laws, or none, over- 

 netting, have destroyed the opportunities of the man with the 

 rod, though at certain localities where deep water comes in- 

 shore, as at Biarritz, there is some sport. The fishing-boats 

 with their lateen-sails are extremely picturesque. I watched 

 them from the old church JTotre Dame de la Garde at Mar- 

 seilles, where there is one of the most interesting collections of 



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