284 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



the silver-doctor, a late edition of the old well-known persuader. 

 In the course of a few minutes I got hold of a good fish of eleven 

 pounds, which, as may be imagined, I had some difficulty, in the 

 windiug-up scene of the play, to secure a difficulty increased by 

 the want of a convenient landing-place, and the interference of 

 branches with the free use of my rod. I succeeded, however, in 

 so tiring him out, that I could use the liberty of laying this 

 implement down, and, descending the bank, pounce upon and 

 toss my prize ashore. This done, and the coup-de-grace given, 

 I again set to work with the same fly. Before long, the gleam 

 of a large salmon in the act of seizing my hook discovered itself 

 below the surface. Raising my rod, I felt that I had him fast, 

 not by the mouth, however, but, as it turned out, by the tough 

 skin which lies under the pectoral fin on one side. 



After the pause of a second or two, off he set at a tremendous 

 pace up the pool, exhausting, at the first rush, nearly my whole 

 supply of line, about seventy yards, and concluding the heat 

 with a vigorous somersault. He then, after another short pause, 

 doubled in upon me in such a way as completely to slacken the 

 reins, and compel me, in order to retain the master-hand, to use 

 speed in an opposite direction ; nor was it until a minute or two 

 of high excitement had passed, that I became satisfied as to the 

 fact that we were still in firm conjunction. The only resource 

 left me was to make use, as I was best able, of the loose reel- 

 handle, and recover line as quickly as possible. This, to a 

 certain extent, I had succeeded in doing, when the fish again 

 set off at steam-speed on a cruise down the river. To humour 

 this movement, I was compelled not only to follow as fast as the 

 nature of the bank permitted, but to pay out the larger portion 

 of my recovered line, in doing which the handle of the reel was 

 again thrown off and fell, lost to view among the rank grass. 

 Taken up, as I was, with my fish and his vagaries, I had no 

 time to search for it, but, marking the whereabouts of its fall, 



