THE SALMON FAMILY 



245 



is about to fish a favorite pool, and sees, at his first throw, 

 five or six of these rush at' it furiously — in which case there 

 is no alternative but to change the fly and kill them all off- 

 then you may fish in peace for your Salmon, but not till then. 

 I confess I never found this to be a very great punishment. 

 I am fond of all sorts of fishing, and never could consider it 

 to be any great misfortune to hook and play eight or ten 

 beautiful fish, vying with molten silver in their brightness, 

 and varying from one pound to seven pounds in weight, to 

 say nothing of their flavor when broiled for breakfast, all the 

 time having the conviction on my mind, that as soon as I had 

 done so I should in all probability kill two or three noble 

 Salmon in the same pool. 



" The best time for fishing for these beautiful fish is when 

 the tide is flowing, and the best place is that part of the 

 stream where the salt water unites with the fresh ; they come 

 up with the tide into the stream, and continue to roam and 

 play about it in immense sculls until the ebb comes on, when 

 they return to salt water ; in the mean time, however, they 

 take with much avidity, and afford most excellent sport if 

 fished for with light tackle. They are frequently accompanied 

 in their ascent of the rivers by the more weighty and more 

 cautious Salmon, who is often tempted in such circumstances 

 to take the fly. 



" I remember one morning in July, 1849, the yacht Iro- 

 quois was lying in the river Moisie, when about six o'clock 

 my friend the major came down from the deck, where he had 

 been performing his ablutions, and calling me a lazy dog 

 because I was still lying in bed engaged with a book, asked 

 me to accompany him on shore, as the tide was making, and 

 assist in getting some fish for breakfast. We started instanter, 

 the captain telling us we had no time to lose, as breakfast 

 was nearly ready. In less than an hour we returned, and 



