ENGLISH EITEK SCENEKT. 107 



country gentlemen have even larger sheets than twelve acres, I 

 recommend this plan of stocking them with carp to their at- 

 tention. There is only the expense of construction to look to, 

 as an under-keeper or gardener could do all that was necessary 

 in looking after the fish. A gentleman having a large estate in 

 Saxony, on which were situated no less than twenty ponds, 

 some of them as large as twenty-seven acres, found that his 

 stock of fish added greatly to his income. Some of the carp 

 weighed fifty pounds each, and upon the occasion of draining 

 one of his ponds, a supply of fish weighing five thousand pounds 

 was taken out ; and for good carp it would be no exaggeration 

 to say that sixpence per pound weight could easily be obtained, 

 which, for a quantity like that of this Saxon gentleman, would 

 amount to a sum of £125 sterling. Now, I have the authority 

 of an eminent fish-salesman for stating that ten times the 

 quantity here indicated could be disposed of among the Jews 

 and Catholics of London in a week, and, could a regular supply 

 be obtained, an unlimited quantity might be sold. 



I have been writing about Highland streams and northern 

 lochs ; but the river scenery of England is, in its way, equally 

 beautiful, and no river is more charming than the Thames. It 

 is a classic stream, and its praises have been sung by the poets 

 and celebrated by the historian. After Mrs. S. 0. Hall and 

 Thome, it were vain to repeat its praises : — 



"Glide gently, thus for ever gMe, 

 Thames ! that anglers all may see 

 As lovely visions hy thy side, 

 As now, fair river, come to me. 

 Oh, glide, fair stream, for ever so 

 Thy quiet soul on aU bestowing, 

 Till all our minds for ever flow 

 As thy deep waters are now flowing." 



The total length of the river Thames is 215 miles, and the area 

 of the country it waters is 6160 square miles. It has as aflBu- 

 ents a great many fine streams, including the river Loddon, 

 as also "the Wey and the Mole. I am not entitled to consider 

 it here in its picturesque aspects — my business with it is pisca- 

 torial, and I am able to certify that it is rich in fish of a certain 

 kind — 



" The bright-eyed perch with fins of Tyrian dye, 

 The silver eel in shining volumes rolled, 

 The yellow carp in scales bedropp'd with gold, 

 Swift trout diversified with crimson stains. 

 And pike, the tyrants of the watery plains. " 



