A FIRST SPRINGER AND SOME OTHERS 85 



sun of the forenoon had no doubt melted it. We harled 

 for two hours, and with neither pull nor sign of fish. 

 To-morrow ought to bring the river into fair order; 

 though, even so, a foot less would be more to my mind. 

 The next day opened with a heavy storm of wet 

 snow, and this continued, with intervals of sleet, till 

 the afternoon. It was not expected that this would put 

 the river up, and she was in fact falling very slowly. 

 At this point, however, every inch of drop is to the 

 good. I landed six fish that day, only one a springer. 

 The boats had done better in the reaches where the 

 clean fish lie in such high water, and two gentlemen at 

 night brought into Malloch's five grand springers, 

 caught on the beat which was to have been mine on 

 Friday. The Tay still remained a foot too heavy : 



Strong without rage, 

 Without o'erflowing full. 



The novel experience (to me) of salmon fishing in a 

 heavy snowstorm is worth a few words of amplification, 

 for all new experiences add to the interest of the 

 game. It was snowing at breakfast time, and Mr. 

 Malloch was so kind as to snatch a day from the 

 demands of his own affairs to share my boat, and from 

 the way he and the boatmen took the storm as a simple 

 matter of course indeed, as not calling of a casual 

 comment I take it that up here, at the foot of the 

 Grampians, they are used to this sort of pleasure. But 

 sea and fresh water anglers all over the world need 

 not be reminded that a wet boat is an abomination ; 

 what, then, must it be when it is caused by hours of 

 snowfall, large flakes softly wet ? Everything gets 

 drenched and sopping, and it really appeared as if 

 these white hazelnut flakes were possessed by an elfish 

 desire to baffle your most careful efforts to keep them 



