LEAVES FEOM A GAME BOOK. 101 



half of February being beautifully mild, with the water 

 in good order, to my surprise Malcolmson, sticking 

 entirely to the fly, got fourteen fish in twelve days 

 against my thirteen to lures of all sorts, the twenty- 

 seven averaging nine and a half pounds. In addition 

 to this we also hauled ashore and returned to the water 

 unhurt just eighty kelts. This somewhat shook my 

 faith in the minnow, but being obliged to go south, I 

 sublet the water for the month of March to three 

 brothers of the name of Hoare. From that moment 

 the weather changed, turning cold and frosty with 

 heavy falls of snow, so that when I returned to 

 Banchory on the 1st of April — auspicious day ! — with 

 my friend Sam Barker for my guest, I was horrified to 

 learn that the take for the whole of March had been 

 but five fish to the three rods. 



Reaching Banchory on Tuesday, April 1st, we were 

 quickly on the river, and came home with a fish each ; 

 for the thaw commenced from that day, and things went 

 better for sport. Barker left me on the 10th, having 

 killed six fish ; while at the end of the month I top 



