ore difficult in all respects than he had expected; but what
then? Was he going to give way to disgust at the first disappointment?
Certainly not. Was he going to fail in perseverance now, after having
established a reputation for that quality during a long commercial life
in the capital of England? Decidedly not. Was that energy, that
vigour, that fervour of character for which he was noted, to fail him
here--here, in an uncivilised country, where it was so much required--
after having been the means of raising him from a humble station to one
of affluence; after having enabled him to crush through all
difficulties, small or great, as well as having caused him to sweep
hecatombs of crockery to destruction with his coat tails? Indubitably
not!

Glowing with such thoughts, the dauntless man tightened his cap on his
brow, pressed his lips together with a firm smile, frowned
good-humouredly at fate and the water, and continued his unflagging,
though not unflogging, way.

So, the hot sun beat down upon him until evening drew on apace, and then
the midges came out. The torments which Mr Sudberry endured after this
were positively awful, and the struggles that he made, in the bravery of
his cheerful heart, to bear up against them, were worthy of a hero of
romance. His sufferings were all the more terrible and exasperating,
that at first they came in the shape of an effect without a cause. The
skin of his face and hands began to inflame and to itch beyond
endurance--to his great surprise; for the midges were so exceedingly
small and light, that, being deeply intent on his line, he did not
observe them. He had heard of midges, no doubt; but never having seen
them, and being altogether engrossed in his occupation, he never thought
of them for a moment. He only became aware of ever-increasing
uneasiness, and exhibited a tendency to rub the backs of his hands
violently on his trousers, and to polish his countenance with his cuffs.

It must be the effect of exposure to the sun, he thought--yes, that was
it; of course, that would go off soon, and he would become
case-hardened, a regular mountaineer! Ha! was that a trout? Yes, that
must have been one at last; to be sure, there were several stones and
eddies near the spot where it rose, but he knew the difference between
the curl of an eddy now and the splash of a trout; he would throw over
the exact spot, which was just a foot or two above a moss-covered stone
that pee