SALMON. 93 



when he finds sport which he believes he 

 has a right to, and which perhaps he gene- 

 rally enjoys without interruption, taken away 

 from him by entire strangers. There is, I 

 know, a disputed point about fishing with 

 the rod, between him and the Laird; and it 

 would have been too much to have antici- 

 pated a courteous greeting from one who 

 considers us as the representatives of an 

 enemy. But I see there is a large fish 

 which has just risen at the tail of the pool. 

 I think he is fresh run from the sea, for the 

 tide is coming in. My fly and tackle are 

 almost too fine for so large a fish, and I will 

 put on my first fly with a very strong single 

 gut link and a stretcher of triple gut. He 

 has taken my fly, and I hold him — a powerful 

 fish : he must be between 10 and 15 lbs. 

 He fights well and tries to get up the rapid 

 at the top of the pool. I must try my 

 strength with him to keep him off that rock, 

 or he will break me. I have turned him, 

 and he is now in a good part of the pool: 

 such a fish cannot be tired in a minute, but 

 requires from ten to twenty times as long, 



