THE "OLD SOLDIER." 35 



found dead on the banks of the river Teme. 

 He was 22lb. in weight, and 43 inches in 

 length, and terribly out of condition ; if in 

 good condition he would have weighed 

 between 40lb. and 50lb. They called him an 

 " old soldier" a very fit name,* for many of 

 his scales were of that peculiar dull red 

 which so often adds charms to the rural 

 scenery at that most delightful of all places, 

 Aldershot. The physique, moreover, of our 

 salmon reminded one of an " old soldier " a 

 fine old fellow, plucky and brave to the last, 

 but who had served his time, and bearing 

 many scars and wounds upon his person, to 

 say nothing of a great bit of his upper jaw 



* A Thames fisherman tells me his father used frequently 

 to find salmon in this condition in the Thames, and they were 

 called " old strikes." 



D 2 



