Non-Fiction > Books > London, 1878 - Inland voyage

44 ^^ Inland Voyage.
play. A moment after I heard a loud plunge,
and, turning my head, saw the clergyman
struggling to shore. The bank had given way
under his feet.
Besides the cattle, we saw no living things
except a few birds and a great many fishermen.
These sat along the edges of the meadows,
sometimes with one rod, sometimes with as
many as half a score. They seemed stupefied
with contentment ; and when we induced them
to exchange a few words with us about the
weather, their voices sounded quiet and far-
away. There was a strange diversity of opinion
among them as to the kind of fish for which
they set their lures ; although they were all
agreed in this, that the river was abundantly
supplied. Where it was plain that no two of
them had ever caught the same kind of fish, we
could not help suspecting that perhaps not any
one of them had ever caught a fish at all. I