PIKE FISHING. 331 



the brilliant tints of autumn are wanting to the landscape and the 

 song of birds is no longer heard, Nature is never without some 

 compensating charm to her lover. For him there are inner beauties 

 in the reaches of the Thames beyond those that lie in scenery, 

 even when the land is frost-bound and the January north wind 

 blows. The good angler is always more or less independent 

 of weather or scenery ; and the chances of taking a heavy fish are 

 quite enough for him, even were the scene as disconsolate as the 

 shores of Acheron, or the banks of the Manchester Canal. 



