60 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



not be exaggerating in saying that as I stood on a 

 stone projecting into a long turbulent pool of snow- 

 blue water, every cast which fell not less than seven 

 yards distant was followed by a dashing rise ; and in 

 half an hour with a couple of flies (I think a red and 

 black palmer, though anything else might have done 

 equally well), a sack held by one of the men was 

 filled with thirty pounds weight of all sizes, from half 

 a pound to a pound and a quarter by scale. With 

 half-a-dozen ducks these formed quite a decent load 

 for one man. When fairly hooked the play of these 

 trout was most determined, here, there, and every- 

 where in a moment, now leaping a full yard out of 

 the water, now boring down among the stones. I had 

 no landing net, and to save time landed them by 

 walking away from the water when their frantic 

 rushes permitted, and thus persuading them gently 

 towards some stones in shallow water, instead of wind- 

 ing up the line in the usual method on the reel, and 

 so losing time by having to pay it out for each fish 

 afresh. 



About this point the Arctic circle was crossed, and 

 some miles lower the Shellefteo Eiver reaches the 

 Great Horn Lake, where grayling are found. Heavy 

 trout up to twenty pounds in weight are sure to lie at 

 the point of the river's inflow into the lake, but ascend 

 they cannot, for it descends in a series of cascades. 



At Gaikvik I was presented with dried skins of 

 fishes from the lake which I had professed myself 

 curious about, and which are used to clear coffee 



