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piko the oracles of Killaloe are never weary of 

 discoursing- in London angling papers. Here I did 

 get hold of a veritable monster, hooking him in thirty^ 

 feet of water, on a huge spoon ; and after having him on for 

 upwards of an hour, he either weeded me, or else got round 

 a rock, and it took the united efforts of two men to break 

 the tackle. This fish only showed himself once, and he was- 

 4ft. Gin. long if he was an inch. Next day my friend killed 

 a 201b. i^ike, spinning a pound jierch for a bait; but we 

 were in search of forty pounders, and our man Mike vowed 

 that the lough was just paved with such monsters ! He 

 further assured us that when the salmon smolts came down 

 on their way to the sea, these big pike moved in a pack to 

 the neck of the lough, wdiere the Upper Shannon enters, and 

 there congregated in thousands, to feast upon the young- 

 samlets. This story we repeated in due course to the man 

 whose life was dedicated to the capture of a mighty pike. 

 Forthwith he equipped himself, as if about to start in 

 search of the IN'orth Pole, and off he went to Ireland. We 

 heard of him first from the quaint old town of IN'eenah, and 

 then he was lost to us for many months, until one day a 

 telegram arrived, saying, " I have got him at last, 351bs." 

 This grand fish was killed on a large spoon bait, of native 

 manufacture, carved out of a cow's horn ! I saw that pike, 

 after it was mounted, and it took me months to recover 

 the attack of envy, hatred, malice, and uncharitableness, 

 which the sight produced. In fact, there has been a cold- 

 ness between us old cronies ever since. You can forgive a 

 man almost everything else, except beating you at fishing. 

 After all, it was only an Irish pike, and 351bs. was nothing- 

 of a fish for a country whose pike had swallowed grey- 

 hounds when swimming in the lough, and who thought 

 nothing of a 101b. salmon for a meal. At least, that is what 

 several Irish boatmen have assured me ; and if they are not 

 to be implicitly relied on, our confidences in such matters 

 are nowhere safe ! There was some small consolation to 

 be got out of such disparaging remarks, and we used them, 

 as we set to work again in search of an English thirty 

 pounder. Whilst on this quest, I had one of the very best 



