182 SALMON FISHING IN THE TWEED 



Well, I went forward and caught a few gilses 

 and salmon in the upper Pavilion-water, not worth 

 mentioning, except as the sport had the effect of 

 rousing my new friend from his abstraction ; indeed 

 I met with nothing remarkable till I came to the 

 Kingswell Lees. Now every one knows that the 

 Kingswell Lees, in fisherman's phrase, fishes off land ; 

 so there I stood on terra dura amongst the rocks 

 that dip down to the water's edge. Having 

 executed one or two throws, there comes me a 

 voracious fish, and makes a startling dash at Meg- 

 with-the-muckle-mouth. Sharply did I strike the 

 caitiff; whereat he rolled round disdainful, making 

 a whirl in the water of prodigious circumference : 

 it was not exactly Charybdis, or the Maelstrom, 

 but rather more like the wave occasioned by the 

 sudden turning of a man-of-war's boat. Being 

 hooked, and having by this turn set his nose 

 peremptorily down the stream, he flashed and 

 whizzed away like a rocket. My situation partook 

 of the nature of a surprise. Being on a rocky 

 shore, and having a bad start, I lost ground at first 

 considerably ; but the reel sang out joyously, and 

 yielded a liberal length of line, that saved me from 

 the disgrace of being broke. I got on the best 

 pace I was able, and was on good ground just as 

 my line was nearly all run out. As the powerful 

 animal darted through Meg's Hole, I was just able 

 to step back and wind up a few yards of line ; but 

 he still went a killing pace, and when he came near 

 Melrose Bridge he evinced a distressing preference 

 for passing through the farther arch, in which case 

 my line would have been cut by the pier. My 



