38 SAFELY LANDED. 



manner that I again begin to experience those qualms of fear 

 and hope which, mingled with intense excitement, make the 

 sport of angling so fascinating to its votaries. My tackle, 

 however, is stout and trustworthy, and this enables me to 

 take a hard and steady pull on him, in order, if possible, to 

 keep him above the junction; so much so that Chundreea, who 

 is anxiously watching the tussle from the shore, seeing the 

 heavy strain on the bending green-heart, begins shouting, " Let 

 him run, Sahib, let him run, or he'll break the rod ! " But 

 under existing circumstances I well know that such a proceed- 

 ing will be as likely to prove fatal as holding him too taut. 

 After several more mad rushes and plunges for freedom, his 

 cantrips become somewhat subdued, and ere long he begins 

 to show signs of submission. As I gradually reel him in, I 

 can, for the first time, catch an occasional glimpse of his form 

 looming largely through the water, and the sun glints now 

 and again on his golden scales as he rolls helplessly about. 

 At length I am able to tow him towards a good landing-place, 

 where, after his making some of those last desperate wriggling 

 efforts to get free, during which a fish is so apt to be lost 

 after all, Chundreea bestrides him, and carefully lifting the 

 struggling, shining beauty by the gills from the shallow 

 water, proudly carries him ashore, and throws him kicking 

 among the stones on the bank. 



My scaly prize was at once weighed, and found to be 26 Ib. 

 This restored my flagging hopes, and I was soon fixed into 

 another fish, which took out the line with such a swish and 

 fought so hard, that at first I thought it equalled the first one 

 in weight, and not until it had been on some time did I dis- 

 cover that it was little more than half as big. But not even 

 another rug did I get that day. There is nothing like 

 patience for fishing, and nothing like fishing for trying it. 



Next day the river rose again from the effects of heavy rain 

 higher up, and somewhat resembled the colour of potato- 

 soup. We found, too, that it was not the best time for the 



