THE SALMO FEROX. 355 



intermission for eight days ; so that with the exception 

 of an hour or two, it was ahuost useless to take gun 

 or rifle in hand. AYe did, however, seek all sorts of 

 Sfame; and when the rain came down in torrents, 

 rather than do nothing, I tried the lake. The burns 

 being swelled, as well as from other causes, small 

 trout for bait were scarce; so, having salted some 

 dace, and brought them with me, I spun those in the 

 hope of tempting the " salmo ferox," but in vain, the 

 triumph was kept for the artificial pectoral fin 

 gudgeon, or minnow as it more decidedly represents, 

 and to this I had a rise. My gillie was pulling the 

 boat when the fish seized the bait, and at once it was 

 evident that a mighty customer tried the line; having 

 checked him a little, to insure the hold of the hooks, 

 ere he descended into the depths of the lake, he gave 

 the water a lash with his tail that at once denoted 

 his size ; and at it we went, winding up and running 

 out for upwards of three quarters of an hour. I dared 

 not land to play him for fear of the rocks and sunken 

 trees, and so strong and resolute was the fish, that 

 he would not let himself be lifted to the light till the 

 three quarters of an hour had expired, soon after wliich 

 we gafi'ed him into the boat, where the purple monster 

 broke one or two of my hooks before, with the ham- 

 mer belonging to my rifle, I could give him the coup 

 de grace. Had I killed this fine specimen of the fish 

 in earlier season, he would not have been a fraction 

 under twenty pounds ; the servants weighed him in 

 my absence, and said, that in his present condition 

 he was but fourteen. Lord j\lalmsbury pronounced 

 him the largest fish that had been caught for ten 

 years, and sent him to be stuffed, as a perfect spe- 

 cimen of the sjreat lake trout. In the little time that 



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