Brook scenery-The kingfisher hovering over the water and catching a fish-The willow tree-Fallows, the fisherman, hooks a large pike, and at last lands him on the bank of the stream-The otter-hunters and their dogs-The otter and the brown dog-Encounter between the otter and the brown dog-The otter is speared by a hunter.

"THERE is something so quiet and soothing in brook scenery, Edwin; so tranquil and peaceful, that we must have a few brook pictures. The cool freshness of the breeze, the waving of the overhanging trees, the

gentle rustling of the leaves, and the soft melodious gurgling of the shallow water over the bright red sand, all dispose the mind to happy musings and sober thoughts. We feel neither anger nor hatred, and are disposed to encourage kindly emotions.”

"Yes, it is very nice to wander by the brook-side, when the fish are jumping up every minute, and the dragon-fly is skimming along the water."

"If brooks are so pleasant here, how much more so must they be in the hotter climate of the East! No wonder that Holy Scripture should so often allude to them. Moses said to the children of Israel, 'The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills,' Deut. viii. 7. And David says, in the fervour of his spirit, 'As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O Lord,' Psa. xlii. 1. You must now have a brook picture. Did you ever see a kingfisher, with his shining green head and wings spotted with light blue, his azure back and tail, his breast white, the under part of his body orange, and his legs and toes red? Look! look! there is one sitting on a twig, every now and then fluttering his wings; now he is hovering in the air like a hawk, and now he has darted into the water after his prey. He

has brought up a fish, fled with it to the side of the brook, and is beating it to death against the ground before he swallows it. The kingfisher has the finest plumage of all British birds."

"I never saw a kingfisher.

How quick he must be to catch a fish in that manner!" "A poetic writer says

"The halcyon flew across the stream,

And the silver brooklet caught the gleam;
The glittering flush of his dazzling wings
Was such as the gorgeous rainbow flings.'

Here is another picture, Edwin. A willow is gracefully bending over the brook from the jutting point of the grassy knoll. How the long hanging boughs sweep along the surface of the stream! Though the spring is not yet come, yet is the tree lovely to look on.

'See the soft green willow springing,
Where the waters gently pass;
Every way her free arms flinging,
O'er the moist and seedy grass.

Long ere winter's blasts are fled,
See her tipp'd with vernal red,
And her kindly flower display'd
Ere her leaf can cast a shade.

Though the rudest hand assail her,
Patiently she droops awhile;
But when storms and breezes hail her,
Wears again her willing smile.

Thus we learn contentment's power
From the slighted willow bower;
Ready to give thanks and live

On the least that Heaven may give.'"

"There is hardly a prettier tree growing than the willow; and your picture is a good one, though you have only sketched the tree and the brook."

"In the forty-fourth chapter of Isaiah, the Lord says of his people, I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses.' And I dare say that you remember what is said of the children of Israel in their captivity: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof,' Psa. cxxxvii. 1, 2."

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"Yes, I do remember that; and a sad picture it is, though a sweet one.'

وو

"As you say, it is both sweet and sad. A poet says of the willow

'The willow that droops by the side of the river,

And drinks all its life from the stream that flows by, In return, spends that life in the cause of the giver, And shadows the stream from the heat of the sky.'

But I dare say that you would have no objection to a more stirring brook picture than those I have yet drawn."

The more bustle

"Not at all; not at all. there is the better; it will make a change."

"Fallows, the fisherman, who has been

standing for an hour in the quiet nook by the deep hole of the brook, has just hooked a pike. What a rush the creature makes through the waters! Mind-"

"Mind what you are at, Fallows, or the pike will break your line."

"Oh, Fallows knows what he is about very well; for, many a pike has he caught in his time, though not so large as this is, perhaps. See how the fish darts about! now upon the stream, now down; now in the middle of the deep water, and now under the roots of the trees. Fallows lets out more line to give him play, and then winds it up again: the fish gets weaker and weaker. Now he allows him to go his length. Now he is pulling him up against the stream; he lets him have no respite. There! he has landed him at last. What a fish! Why, it must weigh at least a dozen pounds."

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"I do not like that Fallows, because he let the poor fish have no respite.'

وو

"But Fallows is a fisherman, and gets his living by his employment; at one time using the line, and at another the net. You remember, I dare say, that the apostle Peter and his brother Andrew were fishermen."

"I forgot that. Another picture now, if you please."

"The otter-hunters are at the brook, with their dogs. What a dashing and splashing