320 Fishing Localities. CiiArT. xxiv. 



" Our custom was to fish from daylight (about half-past five o'clock) 

 " till nine or ten, and not start again till between two and three, when 

 " we fished till dark. Our time between breakfast and our start in the 

 " afternoon was always fully occupied in repairing tackle, whipping 

 " fresh hooks, or making entirely new lines, so that the time never hung 

 " heavy on our hands. 



"Next morning, A. tried the junction with fly, as the water was 

 " somewhat clearer, but without success. At times, however, Mahseer 

 " rise well ; by far the most deadly fly — indeed, the only one that 

 " appears to tempt them — was Madras jungle-cOck feathers in the wings, 

 " if with silver body all the better. While A; was Wading at the 

 " junction, I fished from the boat in the pool, and landed one of 18 lbs. 

 " Shortly afterwards we changed places — A. fished from the boat, and I 

 " waded. I first tried fly, but not getting a rise, put on a phantom. 

 " Hooked one, played him for some time, and lost him; so then, as it 

 " was quite breakfast time, I walked back to camp, where I found A. in 

 " great glee, having just brought home a splendid fish of 40 lbs. In 

 "addition to this monster he had hooked five others, all of which got 

 " away. As the day turned out cloudy, and our keenness was redoubled 

 " by the sight of the 40-pounder, off we started soon after breakfast, and 

 " made a brilliant beginning by landing a 30 lbs. and -10 lbs. between 

 " us. Then came a lull, and we did nothing till the afternoon was 

 " well advanced ; then we had sport indeed. On our return to camp 

 " there was laid Out before our admiring gaze, as the result of our 

 " day's sport, seven fish, of 44 lbs., 40 lbs., 36 lbs., 18 lbs., and 14 lbs., 

 " making a total of 210 lbs. — a feat as regards actual weight for num- 

 " ber of fish seldom, if ever, surpassed in rod fishing, and as regards sport 

 " certainly unequalled. I have never seen salmon run as vigorously or 

 " as long as these fish ; they are game to the backbone ; and, bearing in 

 " mind that we were fishing with treble gut, it will be seen that their 

 "powers of endurance are very great, for I never spare my fish — in 

 " fact, I fear, I lost some by being over-severe with them. During 

 " their run they take out the line so very quickly, that one has the 

 " greatest difficulty in preventing it from hanking on the reel, in 

 " consequence of the bar on which the line is wound revolving after 

 "(he fish stops running. At first I fished with reel and rings under 

 "the rod, but 1 found that did not answer, as some of the rings 

 "were cut through in a couple of days by tin- friction of the line; 

 "so I was speedily converted to the Irish fashion of reversing the 

 " rod as soon as a fish was hooked, thereby having the reel and 

 " rings uppermost, and so placing all the strain ami friction on the 

 "rod itself. Another advantage was, that by so doing one was 



