fifty, challenging me to jump the wide ditches, which challenge I declined, on account of an ankle still weak from an old sprain. The baits consisted of small gudgeons, too small for our tackle and the clouded water, and one small bream, which Mr. G- put on his flight, with the object of tempting a big fish, which lay in a bend of the river above the mills. The boat was taken through the lock to a broad reach of water, above where the "channel" was from six to eight feet in depth, and the "fleet" (Norfolk for shallow) was free from weeds. It was past eleven o'clock when we embarked, and the wind had risen to a regular gale, which blew up stream, and sent us along at such a rate that it was sometimes necessary to back water to prevent the baits coming to the surface. We trailed this reach up and down through pouring rain, and hard work it was for the man who rowed us. Mr. G-and I sat one at each end of the boat, and when one or other of us stood up, the wind would "slew" the boat around, to our boatman's intense disgust. Landing Mr. G— by the boathouse to spin for his big fish, which had escaped him some time ago, I went on, and soon struck and landed a nice little fish of three pounds. This appears to be an excellent reach for pike and perch, and Mr. G— told me of an enormous catch of bream he once had there. The day was so wretched that we could not possibly expect good sport, yet I had two or three more runs there, and Mr. G-landed another small jack. At half-past one we left off for a feed, and afterwards drove to Brampton, a spot higher up the river; and in the tail water below Burgh Mills it seemed as if we were going to make up for the previous ill luck. It was well on in the afternoon, and the rain had ceased. Almost at the first cast I had a run, and landed a fish. A few yards lower down another fish broke away three times, and I hooked and landed him the fourth. In another half-dozen yards I got hold of "the largest fish of the day," and of course he broke away, the gimp parting at a strain of certainly not over two pounds. I could not get a sight of the fish, so I could not speculate as to his weight. With him went the only spinning flight I had that would do for the small baits we were using, so I put on a gorge hook, and immediately had a run in the same spot, and I believe from the same fish; but he refused to pouch it. I signalled to the boy who carried the gudgeons (which were in a pail half full of water), and who was some distance off, and proceeded to unloose my trace. Looking around again, I saw Mr. G— and the boy engaged in groping among the grass. Fearing the worst, I hurried up, and found that the unlucky urchin had got the pail between his legs in his hurry, and tumbled over it, shooting its contents into a ditch. All our bait was gone just as the pike were on the feed. It was no use crying over spilt milk," so I rummaged up an old bait, and with it caught another jack. Then we had to leave off. Mr. G— had caught two in the mill-tail; and if our bait had not vanished we might have had several more, as the pike had suddenly commenced feeding well. They refused, however, to look at the spoon bait, although the American pattern, with a tuft of red wool over the hooks, is generally very killing among the pike and perch in Norfolk waters. As it was, we left off with seven jack; none of them large. I saw enough of the water to believe that it contains some heavy fish, and I am informed that such is the case. As the river is navigable some distance further up, the weeds are kept down, and the absence of bushes on the bank renders it delightfully easy work spinning. Above Burgh Mills is a long reach of water, where some heavy fish lie. The season had been so mild, that the fish were even then heavy in spawn and inactive, and the pike season closed much earlier than usual that year. Several very heavy fish were caught in the preserved waters in Norfolk the same season, the heaviest in those waters, where it is the custom to turn in all those under three pounds or so. In the borderland of Wales and other districts, where the scenery is varied and interesting, it is no great hardship to have poor sport; but in Norfolk one depends entirely on the sport for pleasure, especially in the winter. At eventide there is certainly some beauty in the undulating fields and woods half shrouded in the gloaming, and in the long stretch of ploughland rising in gradually deepening purple, until it is outlined with a line of intense black against the stormy orange sky, on which a long low line of olivegreen cloud is resting. Undoubtedly there are many pretty spots in Norfolk, but they do not usually come in the way of the angler, and, failing a heavy catch, he has nothing but sluggish stream and steaming marsh with which to solace himself. I should mention a formidable instrument found in the bottom of the boat, and sent to me afterwards by Mr. G―, who thought it belonged to me. It consisted of a large bullet fixed to the end of a strip of whalebone from an umbrella, and had evidently been used for stunning fish, for which it is admirably adapted. I would recommend its adoption by the humane angler. In spite of wind and rain I had a most pleasant day. I can certainly say one thing in favour of the Norfolk people, and that is, that they are extremely hospitable |