"They lives in muddy watter in rivers.

Our watter here's clean and clear." It was a bright pleasant journey over the mere, in and out of the lanes of water to pool after pool, till Dave suddenly halted at a canal-like spot, where the water ran in between two great beds of tender-growing reeds, which waved and undulated in the soft breeze.

Here he thrust down his pole and steadied the punt, while he shook out his light net with its even meshes, securing one end to a pole and then letting the leaden sinkers carry it to the bottom before thrusting the punt over to the other side of the natural canal, to which he made fast the second end of the net in a similar way, so that the water was sealed with a light fence of network, whose lower edge was close to the black ooze of the bottom, held there by the leaden sinkers of the foot line, the top line being kept to the surface by a series of tightly-bound little bundles of dry rushes.
"Theer," said Dave as soon as he had done, his proceedings having been carefully watched; "that un do!" "Will the fish go into that net ?" said Marston.
"Nay, not unless we mak 'em, mester," said Dave, smiling.

"Will they, Mester Dick ?" "Not they," cried Dick.

"Wait a minute, Mr Marston; you'll see." Dave took his pole and, leaving the net behind, coasted along by the shore of the little island formed by the canal or strait, which ran in, zigzagging about like a vein in a piece of marble; and after about a quarter of an hour's hard work he forced the punt round to the other side of the island, and abreast of a similar opening to that which they had left, in fact the other end of the natural canal or lane, here about twelve or fourteen feet broad.
"Oh, I see!" said the engineer.