SALMON 241 



offered to be my companion to the sea, and, as this was his 

 fifth descent of the river, many perilous adventures with hair- 

 breadth escapes did he relate. From him I quickly gained much 

 useful knowledge, even learning the titles of some of the Foes 

 and the names of many parts of the river. The next morning 

 we saw two of our enemies stop on their way over the bridge 

 to peer into the depths below, but this was such an ordinary 

 occurrence that neither of us had previously paid any special 

 attention to the matter. These two Foes were big, striking- 

 looking specimens, while the moment my companion saw 

 them I noticed his sides turned a shade blacker, the red 

 streaks on his cheeks deepened in colour, while the great hook 

 at the end of his lower jaw shook with evident terror. Giving 

 me a nudge, he whispered — 



" ' It is time for us to be off, youngster, for those two Foes 

 looking down on us are perhaps the most terribly persistent of 

 all our enemies ; year by year they return to destroy us, so now 

 take a good look at them. The heaviest goes by the name of 

 Digby Cayley, and the other is just one George Whitehead ; so 

 if ever you see either of these, or any others of the Foes I will 

 presently point out, then, as you value your life, keep your 

 mouth shut and make a fast day. Ugh ! to my shame be it 

 spoken, I must admit both of yon devils have had me by the 

 tail as a kelt.' 



" At the end of this speech we at once commenced to drop 

 down stream, passing Ballogie, Woodend, Cairnton, Blackball, 

 and Inchmarlo, all of which are favourite haunts of the Foe, 

 for on account of the numerous deep holding pools in that part 

 of the river, many of our sea-comers were tempted to rest some 

 time ere facing the rush of the rapids above, and this massing 

 of our numbers ever gave the Foe a better chance of using 

 their lures. On the way down my counsellor pointed out to me 

 ' Muster ' Drummond, standing on the Bridge of Potarch, Tom 

 Farley, and David Rae were by the side of ' Ferracht,' and 

 ' Muster ' Hay with Frank Farquharson stood at the ' Big 

 2 I 



