on
their jack-boots, and winding and unwinding their tackle. The clicking
noise of their reels awoke me.

The Toptdal River is uninterrupted by rapids from Christiansand up to
our cottage, but as I mentioned, there is before the door a tremendous
fall, and a pool of great depth has been formed, by the eternal force
and action of the tumbling water. This pool is nearly circular, and
about a quarter of a mile in circumference. A large rock, considerably
above the level of the water, stands in the middle of this pool; and
perched on it the sportsman may presume that he has attained the most
choice position for angling. From this rock, made slippery by the
ascending spray of the cataract, Mr. H----, the gentleman to whom I have
referred as the proprietor of this river, is wont to fish; and he is
allowed to be one of the most distinguished and sagacious anglers in the
vicinity of Christiansand or Boom.

Pursuant to the mode of the country, and the recommendation of the
natives, my two companions embarked in a pram to seek the piscatory
treasures of this pool. The surface of the water was not so clear and
smooth as at Larvig; for it boiled and eddied, and the wrath of the
thundering cataract made it white as Parian marble. R---- and P----,
notwithstanding the difficulty of throwing their flies daintily, from
the uneasy motion of the pram, discovered another more serious obstacle
to this united possession of the same pram; for, now and then, P----'s
silver pheasant fly would buz very close to R----'s right ear, and
R----'s white moth fly would hover around and settle at last on P----'s
pepper-and-salt cloth cap, and whisk it into the water. In short, the
danger of proximity in fly fishing was as obvious as the deductions of
any mathematical problem. The union could not exist. A remedy was to be
found; and P---- sat down on the grating over the well of the pram, and
gave himself to contemplation. His inquisitive mind lost no time.

"Hollo!" he suddenly exclaimed, "there's that rock; can't I get on it?"

"Let's pull and see," assented R----; and the boatman was desired to row
towards it. When the pram was driven by the force of the whirling stream
against the rock, P---- jumped on it, but nearly slid off on the other
side.

"Oh! ah! this is capital," he said, raising himself cautiously by the
aid of both hands. "This will do."

And having, after several efforts, stood upright, he commenced
untwisting his line from the ro