176 LINES IN PLEASANT PLACES 



the water, but an adventurous person might let him- 

 self down from crag to crag, and have his rod lowered 

 to him from above. This part of the Mandal I tried 

 twice, but " Sarcelle," who had been accustomed to 

 some such exercise in the mountains of Italy, tried it 

 later with much perseverance, when the white foaming 

 water of the rapids had become moderate pools of dark 

 water. 



We were often told that they always held salmon, 

 and when the river is in ordinary volume probably 

 they do so. Very exciting it is to hook a fish in one 

 of these cauldrons, for the salmon must be held by 

 main force, and prevented from rushing into the rapid 

 below. With the strongest tackle, and a firm hold for 

 the hook, it is amazing what a strain you can put upon 

 rod and fish when the playing must be confined within 

 a space of 100 yards by 50 yards. As a matter of fact, 

 we did badly in these rapids ; the beat above had the 

 advantage of a number of long resting pools, and the 

 fish apparently ran past us with scarcely a halt. They 

 seemed to know that the river was dropping ; instinct 

 told them what the inhabitants were told by memory 

 and eyesight, namely, that so low a river had been 

 seen but once before in this generation ; and they 

 said, " Let us hasten until the rapids be passed ; in 

 beat No. 9, lo, we may rest from our labours, and, free 

 from anxiety as to the future, perchance lie at ease in 

 the tranquil flow of the pools, and push on to the lake 

 at our leisure." 



Whereat the anglers of No. 9 rejoiced, for they had 

 lovely wading ground, with probably a minimum of 

 rock trouble, and so killed fish day by day. The rapids 

 and passes to which I have been referring as constituting 

 the upper length of our beat were, I may add, not 

 continuous, but had to be approached by repeated 



