THE THAMES. 55 



and the Thames fishermen- as a body do understand the 

 river, and the habits and haunts of its fish. It does not of 

 course follow that they will give e.^ez-y stranger the benefit 

 of their knowledge ; why should you expect them to be 

 above favouritism and scheming when Society, from its 

 Alpine heights of fashion to its plebeian base, is full of it? 

 The fisherman, naturally too, sometimes loses patience with 

 the amateurs who frequently occupy his punt ; they are out 

 for a day's jollity, and he fools them to the top of their bent. 

 On the other hand, nothing can be more irritating than to 

 be pestered by a talkative fisherman, or a man who will 

 meddle and dictate. 



Last year a friend persuaded me to join him in a day's 

 punt-fishing at one of the higher stations. I was warned 

 that I should find the fisherman a most disagreeable neces- 

 sity, and the anticipation quite spoiled that pleasure of hope 

 which every angler knows is not the least ingredient of a 

 happy day. The man introduced himself to us at our hotel, 

 .and ordered breakfast at our expense — not at all bad as a 

 beginning. Bottled ale was good enough for our hamper, 

 but the fisherman, volunteering to pack the meats and 

 drinks, coolly told us he could not drink beer, and must 

 have whisky. A pint of Kinahan's was forthwith added for 

 his special consumption ; he was, I remember, particular as 

 to Kinahan. 



He punted us down the river, and brought up at a 

 notable "pitch." Till then we had rather enjoyed the 

 young man's cool, and not in manner at all offensive, 

 'assumption, but when he proceeded to forbid my com- 

 panion to bait his own hooks, plumb the depth, or 

 4:ouch a fish ; when a jack hooked himself upon my 



