KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



at any price." On hearing this, we marvelled; 

 but before we had time to collect our thoughts 

 we received a poke in the ribs from an um- 

 brella. A sly fellow in the corner, who knew 

 the overseer by sight, and had been enjoying 

 our freedom of speech, squeaked out, 

 " D — o — n — t you know him ? he is the 

 overseer, just going down to the Works ! !" 



We will end this discursive sketch, with 

 a glance at the " California Tea Gardens ;" 

 situate on the Common, and known as the 

 Gipsy Hill, Norwood. Fortunate indeed 

 is Mr. Sparshott the lucky owner of this 

 most beautiful spot, — we say lucky, because, 

 in addition to his already large business 

 (for all visitors flock here in multitudes to 

 get a view from these extensive heights), he 

 will be within a few moments 1 walk of the 

 mammoth building of which we have spoken. 

 The workmen too, during the progress of the 

 operations, will here find excellent accommo- 

 dation. We had the pleasure of an hour's chat 

 with the intelligent MaitreoV Hotel] and seldom 

 do we remember to have been more agree- 

 ably and profitably entertained. He was pos- 

 sessed of much information on a multitude 

 of matters, for which we had long thirsted; and 

 he threw much light upon what with us had 

 long been dark. Full of anecdote was he 

 too ; and withal of an honest, kind, and 

 friendly disposition. We shall see him again. 

 Let us note here, for the benefit of tra- 

 vellers, that at this house also is to be 

 obtained a glass of excellent ale — or, as one 

 of the landlord's sons relishingly expressed it, 

 " a drop of the right sort." We " mended 

 our draught" — by way of experiment ! 



The loam at this spot is of the finest and 

 richest character (superseding the use of 

 guano altogether) ; and most of our potted 

 plants in London, and their suburbs, owe 

 their beauty to its fertilising powers. We 

 learnt from Mr. Sparshott, that the demand 

 for it was very considerable. It lies in 

 abundance on the slopes, which are charac- 

 teristically called the " diggings." From 

 this lofty eminence, you may distinctly see 

 Harrow, Hampstead, Highbeach, Camberwell, 

 the Docks ; and indeed the whole vicinity of 

 London. Hence is it so universally resorted 

 to by visitors. 



We picked up an ornithological anecdote 

 here. A friend of the landlord, hearing a 

 noise one day in a neighboring hedge, put 

 up his hand and caught a chaffinch, which 

 was engaged in a dispute with some other 

 bird. Watching his opportunity, he made 

 a dash at the adversary. It was a cuckoo. 

 The chaffinch had a nest hard by, with four 

 eggs in it. The cuckoo was busy sucking 

 these eggs, when the fracas took piace. The 

 chaffinch, the cuckoo, the nest, and the four 

 eggs, are all safely preserved. We saw them, 

 nicely arranged in a glass case ; and also a 



second large case of valuable birds, equally 

 Avell " set up." On quitting " California and 

 its diggings," we found ourselves in sight of 

 a homeward-bound omnibus ; into which, 

 after a day of unmixed pleasure and socia- 

 bility, we consigned ourselves. 



Thus did we quickly reduce the distance 

 (some fourteen miles) between ourselves and 

 our " household gods." Would that every 

 emigrant from " California" could reach 

 " home" with as little difficulty, — and enjoy 

 himself as much when he got there ! 



PGPTJLAE, DISCUSSIONS.* 



NO. VI.— ON TROUT BREEDING. 

 (Continued from page 356.) 



The particulars which were furnished 

 me by the party who waited on the gentle- 

 man of fortune in Yorkshire, with reference 

 to stocking his lake with trout, are as fol- 

 lows : — 



He said ; " When I came near a spawning 

 bed, I sometimes examined it to see how the 

 eggs were going on. If I disturbed it too 

 much, and the roe floated down the stream 

 below the loose gravel, it was not two minutes 

 before the little trout began to come up to 

 the tail of the spawning-bed evidently on the 

 look-out for spawn. In wading up the brooks 

 with a light, at night, in search of spawning 

 fish, wherever we found them we found the 

 little trout waiting below, some of which we 

 caught, and found them in all cases with roe 

 in them, in many instances full of it up to the 



throat. When I got back to Mr. 's, I 



examined the feeder of his lake, and found 

 trout spawning in no more gravel than I could 

 hold in my two hands. How could the spawn 

 get covered in this little morsel, which, when 

 one pair had spawned in it, was taken pos- 

 session of by another pair ? Indeed, in all 

 the brooks I visited, I found a sad deficiency 

 in this respect, and I am as certain as I am 

 of my existence, that thousands upon thou- 

 sands of the eggs which would otherwise hatch, 

 are destroyed for the want of gravel at the 

 time of spawning. When I had seen how 



deficient Mr. 's feeder was in gravel, I 



immediately directed two or three cart-loads 

 to be put in the stream, and levelled down, 

 and next morning I found fifteen pairs of fish 

 spawning in the new gravel." These are 



* Under this head, we invite Contributions 

 similar to the present. The advent of our 

 Journal is, we know, hailed with delight by 

 many who take an intense interest in matters of 

 the kind ; and it finds its way into so very many 

 channels at home and abroad, that the Discus- 

 sions likely to take place give promise of much 

 profitable as well as instructive entertainment. 

 Our columns are open to debate; but conciseness 

 is recommended on all occasions. —Ed. K. J. 



