THE SALMON. in 



fourteen feet wide, full to the brim, intersected my 

 path. " Run round, Jemmy, and give me a help 

 on the other side ! " Jemmy did so, and in his 

 excitement offered me, as I jumped, the sharp end 

 of the gaff the gaff itself, in fact, instead of the 

 handle. I sprang over, and avoiding the proffered 

 aid (?), was safely lugged up the opposite bank by 

 my faithful but confused attendant. A terrible 

 moment of suspense ensued. In the jump I had 

 necessarily slackened the line ; had the fish es- 

 caped ? . For a moment my heart sank within me, 

 but throwing the butt of the rod well forward and 

 rapidly winding up the line, I found, to my intense 

 joy, that the fish was still firmly hooked. We 

 were now in Pwlgarrow, and for the first time I 

 got a real pull at him. The broad, deep water 

 apparently suggested a change of tactics ; and 

 after swimming for a few minutes up and down, 

 the fish sought the depths below, and rested like a 

 log at the bottom, with the weight of thirty feet of 

 water upon him. Meanwhile, with my arms fully 

 employed, and almost altogether held high above 

 my head, I was exposed to the attacks of myriads 

 of midges, and troops of horse-flies. The air, as I 

 have said, was still, sultry, and oppressive ; and 

 surely the fox in the fable, or the carrier at Gads- 

 hill, was never better bitten or stung. I suffered 



