32 Fishcraft 



with safety not an ounce more, nor 

 an ounce less and I believe that I 

 measured the pressure so exactly that 

 the strain upon my rod did not vary 

 half an ounce from the first to the last 

 of the struggle. Toward the close of 

 the fight, when it was evident that the 

 'jig was up/ and I felt myself master 

 of the situation, I took my stand upon 

 a projecting point in the river, where 

 the most favorable opportunity possi- 

 ble was afforded the gaffer to give the 

 struggling fish the final death thrust, 

 and so end the battle. It was skill- 

 fully done. The first plunge of the 

 gaff brought him to the greensward, 

 and there lay before .me, in all his 

 silver beauty and magnificent propor- 

 tions, my first salmon. He weighed 

 thirty pounds, measured nearly four 

 feet in length, and was killed in fifty 

 minutes. It is said that when good 

 old Dr. Bethune landed his first 

 salmon, 'he caressed it as fondly as he 

 ever caressed his first-born,' I could 

 only stand over mine in speechless ad- 

 miration and delight panting with 

 fatigue, trembling in very ecstasy." 



