57 



ture of a mag-uificeut salmon and telling her it was on its 

 way to lier home. The clever little woman wrote an 

 ecstatic letter, eulogising- the beauty of the fish and the 

 prowess of her lord and master. And he fairly beamed 

 with delight over this successful piece of deception; but 

 Nemesis is sure, though slow of foot. That man at the 

 " cuts " not only forwarded the fish, but he subsequently 

 sent a note, explaining that he found that the 

 sahnon did not Aveigh quite so much as they 

 supposed, and he therefore enclosed 2s. 6d. in 

 stamps, as change out of the sovereign ! The AA-ife 

 kept this communication to herself until fully a week 

 after her husband's return, and until he had involved him- 

 self in a labyrinth of falsehood as to the full details of 

 how he caught that first salmon. Then she gave him the 

 letter and the stamps, and then he wanted to go straight 

 off to the " cuts," at Coleraine, and pitch that wi'etched 

 man over the weii% into the whirlpool below ! But, in 

 justice to my chum, I must say that wdiat he told his w^fe 

 about the catching of that fish was what happened when 

 he really caught his first salmon. Only he did not tell 

 her that it was only a poor little eight-pounder, nor did 

 he say that he trembled so much with excitement that he 

 could scarcely hold his rod and begged me to take it from 

 his hands. He also omitted to mention that he went down 

 on his knees before his prize as it laid upon the bank 

 and stroked it lovingly, declaring it to be the very finest 

 salmon he ever saw in his life ! A woman's first baby 

 is not to be compared with a man's first sahnon. 



The free water between the weir and the town of Coleraine 

 holds some very fine trout, but they are not much fished for, 

 and, considering the size of the town, I was astonished at 

 the absence of local anglers. We put up at the Cloth- 

 workers' Arms during our stay, and were infliienced in 

 doing so by the fact that some members of the Eoyal 

 Irish Society were stopping at this house. I relied \ipon 

 the sound judgment of these London Aldermen, and was 

 not disappointed. This committee of the London Cor- 

 poration come over once a year to inspect their possessions, 



