THE SALMON. 137 



"he knows not of." In the boiling water, the sharp 

 rocks, and the headlong fall, a breakage is almost 

 certain, and your mind is bent upon preventing it. 

 Now, salmon, in private life, doubtless, differ in 

 character and disposition ; but when in public, they 

 invariably manifest a decided objection to being 

 either led or driven, and if in any way they can 

 make out what you wish them to do, they won't 

 do it. When the fish is poised in the situation I 

 have described (recollect he always descends a 

 rapid tail-foremost), if you pay out your line 

 hastily and liberally, it will be carried by the 

 stream far behind him, and effect a very strong 

 pull in a downward direction. The fish takes the 

 hint and rushes upwards exactly as you desired ; 

 and if you give him an opportunity of retrieving 

 his error it is your own fault. Should your 

 manoeuvre fail, and he persist in his original 

 intention, the free line is all in your favour, as 

 he never gets that dead pull which, in the heavy 

 rapid water, must of necessity be fatal. 



I cannot conclude this chapter better than by 

 giving a sketch of the natural history of the salmon, 

 a creature about which more has been written and 

 less is accurately known than almost any other. 



The ova are deposited in their gravelly bed 

 during the winter months, principally November 



