134 BY HOOK AND BT CEOOK. 



that he had refused again to be tempted, and were 

 swinging the fly round for the last time when up he 

 rushed from his stronghold, dashed at it like a bull-dog, 

 and was fast as a clothes-line. 



Without a moment^s hesitation he seemed to dart off 

 to the far side of the river, at least so it appeared to 

 us, but it was impossible to tell in the pitch darkness 

 which had set in ; at all events we knew he had run off 

 about fifty yards of line. 



Standing in darkness upon the bottom of a swift 

 river, at the same time playing a big fish, is no fooFs 

 play, and we are not at all sure that we have any desire 

 to repeat the experiment, as, besides the difficulty of 

 threading one's way over the rocks, except from what- 

 ever information may be derived from the fish, the 

 angler cannot be certain if he is wading towards the 

 bank or the centre of the river. 



We managed, with considerable difficulty, to gain 

 the bank, the fish all the time running about and 

 fighting as if to take every advantage of our predica- 

 ment ; then matters were a bit easier ; yet it is no 

 light task to play a fish, when his position is uncertain 

 and one cannot accurately judge how much line is 

 out. 



We could feel and hear that he several times jumped 

 clear out of the water, then inflicted upon us a very 

 tedious and uncertain half-hour, during which we hung 

 on, not caring much if the line parted or not, and 

 at length got him, as far as we could judge, close 



