THE CAULD POOL 183 



ford : he would soon gain them at the pace he was 

 going, that was certain ; see, he is there already ! 

 But I back out again on dry land, nothing loth, and 

 have a fair race with him. Sore work it is. I am a 

 pretty fair runner, as has often been testified ; but 

 his velocity is surprising. On, on still on he goes, 

 ploughing up the water like a steamer. " Away 

 with you, Charlie ! Quick, quick, man quick for 

 your life ! Loosen the boat at the Cauld Pool, 

 where we shall soon be." And so indeed we were, 

 when I jumped into the said craft, still having good 

 hold of my fish. 



The Tweed is here broad and deep, and the salmon 

 at length had become somewhat exhausted ; he still 

 kept in the strength of the stream, however, with 

 his nose seawards, and hung heavily. At last he 

 comes near the surface of the water. See how he 

 shakes his tail and digs downwards, seeking the 

 deep profound that he will never gain. His 

 motions become more short and feeble ; he is 

 evidently doomed, and his race well nigh finished. 

 Drawn into the bare water, and not approving of 

 the extended cleik, he makes another swift rush, and 

 repeats this effort each time that he is towed to the 

 shallows. At length he is cleiked in earnest, and 

 hauled to shore : he proves one of the grey scull, 

 newly run, and weighs somewhat about twenty 

 pounds. The hook is not in his mouth, but in the 

 outside of it ; in which case a fish being able to 

 respire freely, always shows extraordinary vigour, 

 and generally sets his head down the stream. 



During the whole period of my experience in 



