140 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



A cold bath for a few minutes more or less is of no 

 consequence; so I made him remain a space, like iEtna 

 pressing upon the shoulders of Enceladus, till I came 

 up and gripped the huge salmon by the tail, and 

 walked to dry land with him, triumphant. 



I was nearly three hours in killing this fish, all 

 owing to the derangement of a multiplying reel ; and 

 as this contrivance, though useful enough in our trout 

 rivers, will by no means answer with very large fish, 

 I have mentioned the above occurrence in detail as a 

 warning to others. 



After this time I caused to be made some large single 

 reels, nicely constructed, so as to give the line out 

 evenly, and not run too slackly ; and I directed that 

 the cylinders should be of a very ample circumference, 

 which gave me the same advantage that a multiplying 

 reel has with the usual cylinder. 



William Purdie at that time rented the Bolside- 

 water, which runs by Abbotsford, and in which I caught 

 this fish. His son, then a little boy, happened to pass 

 by when I landed him, and I sent him home to his 



