CONTRARIES OF WEATHER AND SPORT 199 



water must needs hustle one another in company into 

 a corner where they were suddenly caught by a strong 

 undercurrent, and almost hauled out into the current, 

 unnoticed by my boatman. For myself I was engaged 

 with a hooked fish, and fortunately for me he was not 

 large. The man had all he could do to fend off the 

 spars with his oars, and at that critical moment, when 

 the fish is either turned or allowed a new lease of life, 

 we had the honour of notice to quit from a spar on 

 either side. Mr. Salmon, without a fin-flick of apology, 

 taking a mean advantage, darted under the stick to the 

 right, and at express speed made across stream. One 

 does not, however, use Hercules gut for nothing ; the 

 log was travelling swiftly, and I ventured to clap my 

 rod-top down to and under the surface, thus saving 

 my tackle, and being presently able to land and gaff 

 my io|-lb. fresh-run salmon without risk or hurry. 

 This fish, I may add, rose in the fiercest of sunshine in 

 the forenoon, and some logs were coming down, but 

 only one here and there. 



The river in fact had only then begun to rise briskly, 

 and on Wednesday, when the lumbermen were hard at 

 work above, three salmon, one of them a certain twenty 

 pounder, fluttered up at the fly. They did not mean 

 business though. That pool I fished, with change of 

 pattern and abundant intervals, until I was not merely 

 fit but ready to drop, and rose two of the fish a second 

 time. On Thursday the river was so out of order that 

 I left the salmon rod in its rack in the barn and drove 

 up to Manflo lake, arriving there in time to see the 

 effects of an apparently innocent occurrence of thunder 

 and lightning. There was no storm or overcasting of 

 the heavens, only a single discharge from one wandering 

 cloud, yet it fired the forests in two places, and we saw 

 the columns of white smoke of the conflagration. 



