A LUCKY EASTEB HOLIDAY. 173 



a while, until a change seemed to him desirable, when 

 he came in just under the rod point and took a dive 

 straight down to the bottom, running out about twenty 

 yards of line. 



"VYe could only conjecture as to his whereabouts, but, 

 on account of the boulders which jutted out below, 

 thought it best not to be too hard on him at first ; but 

 as he gave way we soon landed him, a fish of 9 lb. 

 weight only, but better than nothing at all. 



We foolishly had left the net with our man before 

 descending the cliff, so lost time while he climbed along 

 to a spot from which he could drop it down to us. 



He was a fresh-run fish, and, although small, fought 

 gamely ; the surroundings also made his capture accept- 

 able. 



We then moved up to a pool which was netted regu- 

 larly ; but at the lower end the presence of a large flat 

 reef of rock some depth below the surface prohibited 

 such devices, flanked as it was on either side by similar 

 projections from the banks. The narrow guts so formed 

 on either side of the reef allowed the fish to exist 

 without annoyance from drift-net or coracle, and when 

 hooked by rod and line materially assisted their escape. 



We were soon rewarded with a tug, and away he went 

 with the bit in his teeth, fortunately clear of the rocks, 

 and in the most obliging manner possible kept to the 

 open water, where he was shortly killed — a fresh-run fish 

 of 18 lb. ; and, as it turned out, we were rather lucky 

 to get him, as the hook had the most slender of holds 



