JASPER ST. ACHYN. :^07 



" Hut his strenj;tl» is (leparting — the vijjour of his rush is 

 hrokoii. Thr anj,'U'r ^'ives him the hutt uhumhiutly, strains on 

 him uith a heavier pull, yet ever yii Ids a littkr as he exerts his 

 failing powers; see, his broad, silver side has thriec turned 

 up, even to tlic surfaee, and thou^'h eaeh time he has recovered 

 himself, eaeh time it has bien with a heavier and more sickly 

 motion. 



" Hrave fellow ! his last raee is run, his last sprini; sprunt; — 

 no more shall he disport himself in the hritrht reaches of the 

 Tamar ; no more shall the Naiads wreathe his clear silver 

 scales with river-greens and flowery rushes. 



"The crml iratf is in his side — his cold hlood stains the 

 eddies for a moment- —he flaps out his dt^ath-paug on the hard 

 limestone. 



" ' Who-wiioop ! a nineteen pounder ! ' 



" .Meantime the morning had worn onward, and ere the great 

 tish was brought to the l)asket, the sun had soared dear above 

 the mist-wreaths, and had risen so high into the summer 

 heaven that his slant rays poured down into the gorge of the 

 stream, and lighted up the clear depths with a lustre so trans- 

 parent that every pebble at the bottom might have been 

 discerned, with the large tish hen- and there floating mid depth, 

 with their heads up stream, their gills working with a (piiek 

 motion, and their broad tails vibrating at short intervals slowly 

 but powerfully, as they lay motionless in opposition to tlie vcrv 

 strongest of the swift current. 



"The breeze had died avray, there was no iml ni.i.n the 

 water, and the heat was oppressive. 



" I'nder such cirenmstanccs, to whip the stream was little 



X 'J 



