154 WATERSIDE SKETCHES. 



reader who would care to know where to obtain, without 

 much trouble or expense, and with some reasonable chance 

 of success, heavy troiit and salmon fishing in October. If 

 disked where such a spot is to be found, I reply — " Randals- 

 town, near Lough Neagh." 



There is a choice of routes from England to Belfast, and 

 Belfast is well worth spending a day or two in for its own 

 sake. Ulster is not only a flourishing province, but is inter- 

 esting in its picturesqueness, and rich in historical associa- 

 tions. After the rapid railway travelling to which we have 

 • been used at 'home, the Irish lines doubtless are apt to be 

 tedious ; and the short journey from Belfast to Randalstown 

 is one of the most wearisome of any. 



It is safest to purchase your flies at Belfast, for they are 

 of a particular pattern, and the tackle makers there understand 

 precisely what kinds are suitable for existing circumstances, 

 A salmon licence may be obtained either at Belfast or 

 Randalstown, but by all manner of means do not forget to 

 include the wading stockings and brogues in your kit, else 

 a beautiful piece of the river which, by stopping at the 

 O'Neill Arms, you are at liberty to fish in the grounds of 

 Shane's Castle, will be altogether beyond your reach. 



The O'Neills have been mighty kings in Ulster, and their 

 emblem, the red hand, will often meet the eye in Antrim. 

 There are two inns well known to anglers visiting this part 

 of Ireland, and they are both O'Neill Arms, the one being at 

 Randalstown, and the other at Toome Bridge; and the 

 angler who cannot make himself at home at either ought to 

 be kept on short commons until he comes to his proper 

 senses. There is a delicious sense of freedom and coming 

 })leasure on entering the passage of an angler's hotel, and 



