171 



empties its maw, in which nothing is ever found. In 

 this it resembles the woodcock and the snipe, which void 

 their excrement whenever they take wing. 



Before I quit this part of our subject, I must inform 

 my readers, that great numbers of salmon are taken in 

 the Highlands of Scotland, in those pools generally 

 formed by the impetuosity of the current, under falls, by 

 means of what is cale'd the st anger. 



This is a stiff pole about 12 feet in length, with a me- 

 tal loop at its end, and .rings along it, as in rods j through 

 these a strong hair line is passed, having at its end a very 

 strong double hook, very sharp at the points, and deeply 

 barbed. The superfluous line is wound on a cross stick, 

 as before described. The operator lets down the hook 

 into the water, to the depth of 12 or 15 feet, holding 

 down the point of his rod as low as he can reach. After 

 allowing it to remain in this position for a litttle while, he 

 raises the point of his rod, as far as lie can .reach, with a 

 sudden pull. 



It has sometimes happened, that a salmon lias been o 

 each hook ! This would appear a very improbable man- 

 ner of catching fish j nevertheless, I have seen seven 

 caught in an hour j and know for certain, that the man 

 who caught them did, in the course of one day, thus ob- 

 tain upwards of seven scores of salmon, weighing from 

 six to fifteen- pounds each: some were caught by the 

 head, others by the belly, or near the tail, just as they 

 chanced to be in the way of the hooks when they v/ere 

 jerked up. 



Even in this mode of catching, some skill was required 

 to get the fish safely out of the water j it being impossible 

 to judge how far the hook had penetrated. Each sH 



