t'livrr. xxiv. Tfie Po&neh and Jhdum. 319 



"aoath of the Kashmir Valley, and after a course of li!" miles or so, 

 " falls into the Jhelum. lu spring time, the Poonch is about I he siae of 

 "the Tweed at Coldstream, but the pools aiv deeper, and the streams 

 '• more rapid ; 1 fancy they run about a mile an hour quicker than in the 

 "Tweed. We reached our camp about five in the evening, in high 

 "spirits, the weather looking very promising, though the water was 

 " lower than we quite liked. Our tents wire pitched close to the 

 "junction. Our servants had all arrived, and were busily preparing 

 "dinner; so we employed our time in putting our rods together (Irish 

 " rods, preferable to all other, when ready, but troublesome to put 

 "together), aud strolled up the river to view the scene of our exploits 

 " of the previous year. As fishing from a boat was more effective than 

 •" wading, we were made a little anxious by the non-arrival of a native 

 " boat from some miles up the river, as we had sent a man for it several 

 " days before. 



" Early to bed and early to rise was the order of the day, and next 

 '" morning we were both up by daylight. A. commenced fishing in a 

 " grand deep pool, with a high bank on one side, and I began at the 

 " junction a quarter of a mile below him. Neither of us had even a 

 " rise; so at nine we returned to breakfast, and after our meal, to our 

 " great delight, the boat appeared in sight. It was a huge, cumbersome, 

 '• flat- bottomed, square ended machine, with two enormous oars, roughly 

 " hewn out of a tree. We had two men for each oar, besides a steerer. 

 '• We were soon on board and at work. My third try with spoon in the 

 " pool was successful, hooking a fish of 30 lbs. or so; but after playing 

 " him for some minutes, and just as I was about to land him, a swivel 

 " broke, and he was seen no more. When I had somewhat recovered 

 " my equanimity, 1 began again with a phantom minnow, about the size 

 " of a ^ lb. fish, hooked another, and had him a short time, when after a 

 " vigorous run, the rod straightened, the line slacked, and I discovered 

 " the hooks drawn, an instance of how silk and cobbler's wax dry up in 

 " India. No sooner had I put on another phantom than I lost it, and a 

 "whole casting line, by fouling a rock. This last disaster most eflectu- 

 " ally disgusted me, for our supplies of phantoms, lines, etc., though 

 " very ample, could never last at my rate of expenditure. However, I 

 " persevered, and our bag for the day consisted of five fish, of 35 lbs., 

 "29 lbs., 17 lbs., 7 lbs., and 3 lbs., respectively, which was not bad, as 

 " we had not a rise before three in the afternoon, and it was dark by 

 "six. The water was rather thick, especially in the pool. At dinner, 

 'we discussed the failures and successes of the day, repaired our 

 " damaged tackle, devised fresh schemes for capturing the wily Mahseer, 

 " and then turned in, so as to be up and ready by daylight. 



