32 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



ounce from the tirst to the last of the struggle. Toward the 

 close of the fight, when it was evident that the 'jig was up,' 

 and I felt myself master of the situation, I took my stand 

 upon a projecting point in the river, where the water was 

 shallow and where the most favorable opportunity possible 

 was afforded the gaffer to give the struggling fish the final 

 death-thrust, and so end the battle. It was skillfully done. 

 The first plunge of the gaff brought him to the greensward, 

 and there lay out before me, in all his silver beauty and 

 magnificent proportions, my first Salmon. He weighed 

 thirty pounds, plump, measured nearly four feet in length, 

 was killed in fifty minutes. It is said that when the good 

 old Dr. Bethune landed Jiis first Salmon, 'he caressed it as 

 fondly as he ever caressed his first-born. ' I could only stand 

 over mine in speechless admiration and delight — panting 

 with fatigue, trembling in very ecstasy. 



"This victory was a surfeit for the morning. With other 

 fish in full view, ready to give me a repetition of the grand 

 sport I had already experienced, I made no other cast, and 

 retired perfectly contented. The beautiful fish was laid down 

 lovingly in the bottom of the canoe, and borne in triumph to 

 the camp, where fish and fisher were given such a hearty 

 welcome amid such hilarious enthusiasm as was befitting 'the 

 cause and the occasion. ' " 



In America there is no winter Salmon fishing, as there is in 

 some rivers in Scotland, for our Atlantic streams are ?.ll 

 closed by ice. Once in a while, however, some tough old 

 angler who has become inured to the vicissitudes of weather 

 and hard knocks in general, and who "knows the ropes," will 

 venture down to the Port Midway and other rivers of Nova 

 Scotia in February, and capture some fine Salmon while the 

 ice is running. The game, however, is hardly worth the 

 candle. Most professional anglers make it a point to be on 

 the Bay Chaleur streams by the first of June, and on the 

 Lower St. Lawrence River about three weeks later. Tlic 



