CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 399 



close by some jutting rocks. Here I landed a 4-pounder and a 22-pounder 

 with phantom and spoon. I then tried a stream a little higher up. I 

 suspect the water was rather too heavy at least, I stirred nothing ; so 

 having given the lower stream an hour's rest, I returned to it, and put on a 

 natural bait. I soon hooked and landed one of 14 Ibs., when I put on 

 a fresh bait, intending to have a few more casts before it got dark, it being 

 then a quarter to six, and rather cloudy. The bait had just come across 

 the stream and was entering the backwater, when I felt a vigorous tug, and 

 a monster rushed off down stream, with nearly 100 yards of line before I 

 managed to stop him.* Then he tried a run up stream to nearly opposite 

 where I was standing, then down again, then opposite me again, but on 

 quite the further side of the river, and there he sulked for the best part of 

 an hour, all' of which time I was keeping a very severe pull on him. Unfor- 

 tunately, I was fishing from a point of rock, and on my left hand, down 

 stream, was what is best described as ' a long bay ' of dead water, 50 yards 

 or so across, and between it and the stream was a bar, consisting of huge 

 rocks rising to within 2 feet or 3 feet of the surface, but with intervals 

 varying from 2 feet to 6 feet between them, so that getting below the fish 

 was quite out of the question. At last I managed to move him, and he 

 dashed down stream 70 or 80 yards, and sulked there. Now commenced 

 my task. I soon found that merely keeping a steady pull on him had no 

 effect, especially as he was now below me. The pressure I kept on him was 

 so great that attempting to wind up line simply caused the line to sink 

 between the coils already on the reel ; so my only plan was to draw in an 

 inch or so of the line with my hand, and then wind it up on the reel. By 

 dint of perseverance I succeeded in getting him up to within 20 yards or 

 so, and then not another inch could I gain ; but I managed to rile him 

 apparently, for off he rushed to the bottom of the stream again. Of course 

 by this time it was pitch dark, or else I should have been tempted to try 

 and effect a passage across the bar, with the almost certainty of going in 

 over head and ears. As it was, prudence carried the day, and I sat down on 

 a rock, put the butt of my rod between my legs, and lit a pipe. I then sent 

 my fisherman off to camp, about 2i miles over very rough ground, to order 

 some dinner to be brought out, besides dry shoes and socks, and a great- 

 coat. By the time the welcome sight of a lantern appeared it was near ten 

 o'clock, and all the time I had been fighting for every inch of line. There 

 was a splice in my line, and the struggle I had to get it on the reel is almost in- 

 credible. Time after time I felt it pass through my fingers and just reach the 

 reel, when the fish would shake his head, and pull it half-way down the rod again. 

 "After some little delay in collecting sticks and lighting the fire, I 

 managed to make a very tolerable meal, keeping a tight hold on the line 

 with one hand while I used the other for dinner purposes. Feeling much 



* This goes to support my idea that 120 yards is enough. See Chapter XX., 

 pp. 284, 286. 



