202 WILD LIFE OF SCOTLAND 



season. The trout escape out of the sweep, and 

 gather into the eddies, often far from the ordinary 

 channel of the river. 



If the wind blows down from the source up at 

 Tweedsmuir, the water often rises several feet 

 before the clouds are overhead; and cases are 

 known, where anglers have been surprised in some 

 shallow in the centre of the stream, and exposed 

 to considerable danger. All night it rains, and all 

 next day, and by the second morning the Tweed 

 has overflowed its banks. Rain ceases, and the 

 water begins to fall, as rapidly as it rose. 



I take my stand by a grassy hollow, where lovers 

 are wont to sit in the twilight, and repeat the old, 

 old story, now covered over with brown water. 

 The life of the adjoining pool and stream seems all 

 to be assembled here ; and, to have forgotten the 

 caution which makes their capture, under ordinary 

 circumstances, a well-nigh impossible thing. No 

 sooner is the bait in than the rug; comes ; and such 



O * 



a rug ! The excited fish makes for the current, 

 and is swept down, carrying the hook with him. 

 A little stronger gut will not matter; and the 

 next is held, and the next, and guided up the slope. 

 Trout retreat along with the shrinking stream. 

 They are never taken by surprise, or stranded ; 



