and not endanger a papillotte. The bent* roof is impervious to the rain: - the rooms are neat, well arranged, and comfortable. In the parlour, if the evening be chilly, a turf fire sparkles on the hearth ;—and when dried bogdeal is added to the embers, it emits a fragrant and delightful glow, superseding the necessity of candles. The long and measured swell of the Atlantic would almost lull a troubled conscience to repose; and that rural hum, which attends upon the farm-yard, rouses the refreshed sleeper in the morning. In the calm of evening, I hear the shrill cry of the sandlark; and in the early dawn the crowing of the cock grouse. I see the salmon fling themselves over the smooth tide, as they hurry from the sea to re-ascend their native river; and while I drink claret that never paid the revenue a farthing, or indulge over that proscribed beverage-the produce and the scourge of this wild district-I trace from the window the outline of a range of hills, where the original red deer of Ireland are still existing. None of your park-fed venison, that tame, spiritless, diminutive, which a boy may assassinate with his "birding-piece," but the remnant of that noble stock, which hunters of other days, * The customary thatch in parts of Enis. † Appendix, No. III.

O'Connor the *Cus Dhu, and Cormac Bawn Mac Tavish once delighted in pursuing.

The offices of this wild dwelling are well adapted to the edifice. In winter, the ponies have their stable; and kine and sheep a comfortable shed. Nor are the dogs forgotten; a warm and sheltered kennel is fitted up with benches, and well provided with straw. Many a sporting-lodge in England, on which thousands have been expended, lacks the comforts of my kinsman's unpretending cottage. Where are the coach-houses? Those, indeed, would be useless appendages; the nearest road on which a wheel could turn, is ten miles distant from the lodge.

* Blackfoot.

LETTER VI.

Periodicals. Cockney sports and sportsmen. Mountain angler and his attendant-Fishing-tackle.-Antony the otter-killer.-Visit the river.-Flies.-Hooking my first salmon.-Return to the Lodge.-Sporting authors.-Sir Humphrey Davy.-Col. Hawker.-Salmonia.-Criticisms.

66

THE last post-bag brought a large supply of newspapers and monthly literature. Gado'mercy!" what notions the fishermen of Cockaign must have of the "gentle art!" It is amusing to read the piscatory articles so seriously put forth in the sporting periodicals. No persons on earth suffer more personal inconvenience than the Cockney artist, or submit so patiently to pecuniary imposition; and, like virtue, their trouble is its own reward: punt-fishing and perch-fishing, baiting-holes and baiting-hooks, appear to the mountain fisherman so utterly worthless, that I do not wonder at the sovereign contempt with which

he regards the unprofitable pursuits of the city angler.*

What a contrast to the Cockney bustle of a Londoner does my cousin's simple preparation for a morning's sport exhibit! If the wind and clouds are favourable, the rod, ready jointed and spliced, is lifted from beneath the cottageeave, where it "lay like a warrior taking his rest," on a continuation of level pegs. The gaff and pannier are produced by a looselooking mountaineer, whose light-formed but sinewy limbs are untrammelled by shoe or stocking. Fond of the sport himself, he evinces an ardent interest in your success; on the moor and by the river he is a good-humoured and obliging assistant; traverses the mountains for a day, and lies out on the hillside through the long autumnal night, to

* To induce fish to come to any particular spot, boiled wheat, grains of malt, graves (from the tallow-chandler's) cut small, should be thrown in plentifully two or three times. A composition of ground malt, blood, and clay is the best for salmon and trout; to which some add ivy-gum.-Daniel.

Laughable as this practice may appear to us, in 'olden time' much more ridiculous expedients than Daniel's, were resorted to by the ancient anglers. Some of these vaunted recipes were so absurd, that it is hardly credible that rational persons could be persuaded to employ them. They are set out, however, with great gravity in many antiquated books, and were no doubt commonly used by our forefathers. Some of these prescriptions will be found in Appendix No. IV.

watch the passage of the red deer as they steal down from the mountain-top to browse on the lower grounds by moonlight.

How different from this wild and cheerful follower are the sporting attendants of the unhappy Cockney; he must consort with "baconfed knaves," be the companion of some brawny, jolter-headed, porter-swollen waterman, who, in sulky silence paddles his employer into some phlegmatic pool, where the disciple of Walton is secure of the lumbago but by no means certain of a sprat.

In truth, dear George, I am half ashamed of myself; I came here loaded with rods, flies, and baskets, with the "thousand and one" nameless et cetera furnished from a city tackleshop, in their uses and appearance various as the cargo of the ark. When I displayed yesterday this accumulation of "engines and cunning devices," my cousin burst into a roar of laughter, and enquired, " if I intended to annihilate the fishery?" Then turning, leaf by leaf, three immense fly-books over, he praised the pretty feathers, commended the brightness. of the tinsel, and good-naturedly assured me that this rich assemblage did not possess a fly of the value of one farthing. I fear his verdict was a true one; I have tried two days consecutively and never hooked a fish. But no,