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pany with Monsieur D, and two men who carried eatables, and, as our entertainer whispered, something else to keep the cold out.' On our way we called for Rapaz, the fisherman, and his two sons, who live in a large house he has built among his own rich meadows, that stretch to the woods skirting the river. Down in the valley there he lives, after the manner of a patriarch, with his sons, their wives and children, and surrounded by possessions of land, and flocks and herds.' The old man is known to have been a terrible fish-poacher in his time, and is still believed to follow his darling sport, whenever an opportunity offers of eluding the vigilance of the gendarmes, against whom, as we wended our way through the woods, his curses, not loud but deep, through fear of the owl-like ears of Monsieur D—, were vented in pretty strong language, mingled with tales of fishing in the good old time, when the gendarmes could be bought for a trout, and would even help him to haul in his net; and trout that now sells at two francs a pound could be bought for thirty centimes, for there were more caught weighing thirty, forty, and even fifty pounds, than there are now of ten or twelve.

When we reached the Rhone, we walked nearly a mile by its side before we arrived at the place

selected by the old man; as for this mode of fishing it is necessary to choose those spots where the trout have made large holes, and are observed to congregate during the day. Our first care after our arrival was to light a fire for the accommodation of those who rested till their turn came, only one person being able to fish at a time. The next thing to be done was to erect a sort of landing stage; and for this purpose a plank, about twenty feet long, was shoved over the water, the nearest end resting on the shore, while the farthest was propped above the water by means of an upright piece of wood, and placed in such a position that anyone standing on it could get a good view of the hole below. About the middle of this bridge a lantern, darkened at the back, threw a brilliant light on the water, while it revealed nothing of the figure of the fisherman standing behind. The trident is a heavy iron instrument, from fifteen to twenty feet long, weighing at least thirty pounds, shaped exactly as you see Neptune's sceptre in Hort's mythology, but with six teeth instead of three. With this formidable-looking weapon in hand, old Rapaz took his stand on the plank in the rear of the lantern; and as I stood listening eagerly for the sound of the trident falling in the water, I thought what a strange scene it was. All around, save the two spots

illuminated by the fire and lantern, was wrapped in darkness, and glancing from the party encamped round the blazing fagots in the wood, to the motionless figure of the old man, who, grasping his long weapon, looked like a sentinel on duty by a watch-fire, Cooper's exciting description of Indian warfare rose up before me the fisherman was La longue Carabine, and we were the party he was conducting through the wilderness.

Sitting on the bank, I kept my eye fixed on Rapaz, whose figure was clearly visible to me, though perhaps not to the fish. Several times he stooped a little, as if about to essay his skill, but as often drew himself erect as before; and after an hour's waiting and watching, I was on the point of thinking it rather a slow affair after all, when splash, dash went the iron in the water, and the cry of 'Il est harponné' told me there was some chance of a supper. If the fish struck be a large one, it often requires the help of two or three people to assist the fisher; and Rapaz told me that more than once it has happened to him to lose his fish and trident together. But this time, unfortunately, no such assistance was needed, for in a few moments it lay struggling on the plank, and after unscrewing the teeth of the trident, which are formed like fish-hooks and cannot be drawn back,

the old man politely presented me with the capture, that, after the small trout I had been accustomed to see in the English markets, looked to me quite a formidable fellow.

We remained out till midnight, when, the water becoming muddy and swollen from rain or avalanches higher up, we returned home, having caught in all seven trout, weighing from one and a half to four pounds, the first captured being the largest. M. went several times to these night-fishings; but though I was glad to have seen how the business was managed, I cannot say I enjoyed the fun so well as to make me brave the cold and damp the second time. I dare say I shall be accused of English prejudices if I say, that none of the trout I have eaten in Switzerland, not even at Basle, where at Les Trois Rois you may stand on the balcony and see hooked the very fish that a quarter of an hour after grace your table, has the same flavour as our island trout; the flesh is coarser, with a slightly muddy taste, very unlike the delicate sweetness for which ours is so much esteemed.

CHAPTER XV.

Winter-Fires and Fire-brigade-Sledging-Swiss Gallantry - Balls-St. Sylvestre-Fairs

- Christmas

New-Year's Amusements-Burying the Carnival-False Shame-Marriages-Christenings—St. Bernard Dogs—A Word of Advice.

A WINTER in Switzerland! Do not the words conjure up in the imagination of my readers frightful snowstorms, avalanches, houses destroyed, whole villages buried beneath the snow, and all the miseries put so prominently forth in the papers to excite the compassion of a feeling and liberal public? When we first wrote to our friends in England announcing our intention of spending the whole winter in the place, their replies might have been in answer to an intimation that, before this reached them, we should have put an end to our existence by means of a 'cup of cold poison,' so full were they of commiseration for our fate. One who lived in the North, where they do know what severe cold is, said, 'I shudder when I think of you shut up among those snow-clad mountains, for I am sure I never could survive it.' Know