188 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



bubbling rush and showed his length and breadth 

 as he turned to dive with his prize. The frozen line 

 threw off its beads of ice as it raced through the rings 

 in answer to the fish's rush and leap. " Should we 

 lower the rod top when the salmon is in the air ? " is 

 frequently discussed and answered with a " yes " or 

 "no." Neither answer is correct, for, if you will only 

 notice when next you have a fish on that is going 

 with a rush and rising as he goes, you will instinc- 

 tively lower your rod top and give him line so that 

 no strain of yours shall help him to a somersault 

 that may bring his shaking head and open mouth 

 towards you with all the risk of loss such leaps 

 entail. My top was lowered in good time and, 

 before I could raise it, the fish was fifty yards away 

 and tugging to increase the distance. Round bends 

 that caused the line to pass along jagged edged 

 rocks the fish struggled on down-stream, I quite 

 helpless ; for to have kept on a strain would have 

 meant disaster, so, with slackened line, I handed 

 down the rod and then scrambled down myself, 

 wound in the slack and followed. 



John spends the summer months as sailor on a 

 steamer out from Oban and is as agile as a goat. 

 He clambered on in front, bared the stones of snow 

 and held my forward foot. It was his care that 

 brought me safely to where I could wind until 

 I felt the fish, which struggled little after that. His 

 sailor boots, hidden beneath his trousers, saved my 

 second fish, hooked while on the "Little Ladder." 

 This spot is reached by the aid of a short ladder 

 a fixture which lands you in a niche in a some- 

 what perpendicular rock, quite perpendicular from 

 the ledge to the river beneath, from where, if your 



