OF A SALMON. 11 



but for bis bright green eyes, apparently lifeless, 

 basking in tbe shallow water at one side of the 

 pool, and seemingly indifferent to all that past 

 around him. Up and down the stream before 

 and behind him nearer and nearer we ventured, 

 in idle curiosity, nor dreamt of danger; until 

 suddenly, with a rush that sent the waters eddy- 

 ing from his tail, he dashed among us, his white 

 belly gleaming in the sunshine ; and never shall 

 I forget the thrill of despair with which I beheld 

 those enormous jaws extended to devour, and 

 felt myself, for the moment, at the mercy of a 

 ravenous Pike ! Fortunately for me his desires 

 were fixed on one of my brother samlets, at that 

 moment close to my side, and those frightful 

 rows of teeth having closed with a snap on the 

 bleeding sides of his wretched victim, he bore 

 him off in triumph, to discuss the feast at leisure, 

 in the deep waters which soon hid him from our 

 view. 



Time would fail me did I attempt to recount 

 the thousand and one perils from which I escaped 

 during the first year of my existence ; the two I 

 have related must serve as specimens of the 

 dangers and disasters which surround the young 

 salmon. Suffice it to say, that escape I did, 

 the repeated snares of the angler; the nets and 

 night-lines of the poacher ; the attacks of pike, 



c 



