A PONDEBOVS SALMON. 127 



death of old Kirby, whose hooks would not have 

 broken in the mouth of a shark. 



My Scotch friend now fitted me out with one of his 

 own flies, but desired me not to throw any more in the 

 Carry-wheel ; " for," .said he, " as sure as deid, the spirit 

 is against ye : he hampered yer heucks, he broke yer 

 goad and yer flee, and he pulled ye doon in the waters ; 

 and ye never would hae been seen again in this life, 

 gin I hadna cotched ye by the oxter.* Thae that the 

 Kelpie grips seldom rise again ; but nae ither spirit, ye 

 ken, has power in the rinnin' water." Whether I par- 

 took of this superstition matters not; but I left the cast 

 because it was unlucky, which is much the same thing. 



I was now under the influence of some better spirit 

 of the flood ; for I absolutely landed two gilse of six 

 pounds each in a cast called " The Noirs." Wattie. 

 seeing my rod bent, came up : he said but little ; but 

 that little was the most unqualified abuse of my mis- 

 management. The fact is, I treated the gilse just as I 

 would have treated a trout ; a very base mistake. I 

 bagged them, however, notwithstanding, — thanks to 

 the excellence of the channel. 



The next cast I came to was called " The Brig-end ; " 

 and here I hooked a fine salmon : he was brave and 

 strenuous, and so ponderous, that it seemed as if my 

 hook had caught hold of a floating Norwegian pine, 

 " fit for the mast of some high ammiral." After various 

 eccentric courses, Master Fish made a sudden and des- 

 perate rush down the river ; — out Avent my line with a 

 whirring rattle, and cut one of my fingers sharply. I 



The arm. 



