THE SALMON. 131 



ened and it is no reflection on your courage to say 

 you may be not you, but the jumping fish is lost. 

 Another mode, equally efficacious, must have 

 been handed down traditionally from salmon to 

 smolt, or how should the latter, when he arrives at 

 salmon estate, practise it as though he had been 

 hooked every day of his life ? Rushing down- 

 stream, taking out fathoms of line too freely given, 

 the crafty savage returns on his tracks, swimming 

 deep down in the bed of the stream, and trusting 

 to the weight of the water to belly out the line and 

 leave the fisherman under the mistaken impression 

 that the intended victim is still pursuing a down- 

 ward course, the fish eventually brings such a strain 

 upon the line that either it or the rod, or perhaps 

 both, give way, and the finale is announced by 

 the bright vision of Salmo saliens some twenty 

 yards up-stream. To prevent this, you must ever 

 be chary of giving out line ; use your legs as well 

 as your arms ; keep as nearly opposite to your 

 fish as you can ; and when constrained to lend him 

 line, take it back with as much usury as your con- 

 science will allow. As in every other pursuit, well 

 begun is half done, and a fish well struck may be 

 said to be half killed. Striking is a delicate and 

 artistic movement, and, to be effective, must be 

 made with some degree of variation, according to 



