BOAT FISHING 87 



the belly. On the left side was a corresponding half- 

 moon-shaped gash seven inches long by four high, 

 with outlying tooth-marks. Though practically 



;*.««** £ 



healed and filled up, these marks were nearly half-an- 

 inch deep in some places. I should think the seal 

 must have dived under him and gripped him from 

 below. We fished the pool again, and tried two flies 

 over the one that had risen above the bridge, before 

 we left to catch our train. Goodfellow met us at the 

 stables, and was much elated by my success. He 

 constrained us to take our fish with us ; and as we 

 had no bag or baskets, they created some sensation 

 among the tourists at St. Boswell's station. I weighed 

 the biggest at the parcel office, as my little steelyard 

 only worked up to eighteen pounds, and found him a 

 few ounces over twenty pounds. Both fish were 

 much admired by my travelling companion in the 

 carriage to Hawick — a commercial from Bradford, 

 who said I had earned a good day's wage — and 



