io8 THE SALMON. 



THE SALMON. 



" How you, who are so fond of hunting, can have 

 patience for fishing!" is a remark that has fre- 

 quently been made to me. " Fish ? No ! I have 

 not patience for fishing/' is a remark I have often 

 heard. What, then ! is patience, not the least 

 among the cardinal virtues, sunk so low in modern 

 estimation that its possession is rather deemed 

 derogatory than otherwise ? But patience alone, 

 highly as we prize the virtue, will not make a 

 fisherman, far less a fisher of salmon. Have you 

 a quick eye, a light hand, a strong arm, a swift 

 foot ? above all, have you strong nerves and a cool 

 head ? Have you skill to throw a long, light line, 

 and coolness to stand on a slippery rock to do it ? 

 Is your wind all right, and does your pulse beat 

 true time ? All these physical qualities will find 

 ample scope in salmon-fishing, and without them 

 do not hope to excel. I remember, years since, 



"When my limbs were strong and my courage was high," 



going forth with my rod one close, hot day in Sep- 

 tember, to a favourite pool in the Owen Duff, in 

 Ballycroy at that time my own property from 

 mouth to source to throw a fly for the last time 



