SUNNING. 209 



gentleman he keepit looking at Maida, and when he 

 got to Abbotsford, he ordered his carriage and gied 

 awa." 



u Well, that was better sport than we are likely to 

 have to-day, Tom, for the cluds are beginning to rise, 

 and the wind is getting up ; more's the pity, for it was 

 the finest morning I ever saw, and now we are late, 

 and have lost twae hours. But here comes the maister 

 and the strange gentleman with him, he that does not 

 know a fish from a cow, and who was broke by ane of 

 thae whitlings." 



The little party being now entirely assembled, agreed 

 that, as the day was beginning to alter, it was a pity to 

 disturb the water till they saw clearly how it would 

 turn out ; so the fishermen remained with the boats 

 and leisters at Craigover boat-hole ; and, in the mean- 

 time, I, Harry Otter, thought I could not do better than 

 explain the operation of sunning to my friend Mr. Tin- 

 tern, as there was now some chance of gaining his 

 attention; so we sat down, and I commenced as fol- 

 lows : — 



Sunning, as I have told you, is a mode of taking 

 salmon with a spear by sun light ; and vast numbers are 

 captured in this manner, particularly in the upper part 

 of the Tweed, where fish are more easily seen than in 

 the lower, from the comparative shallowness of the 

 water in which they lie. 



This sport does not begin till the river is quite low 

 and clean, and useless for the fly. To succeed perfectly 

 requires a bright and calm day. You cannot see a fish 

 lying even at a very moderate depth when the surface 



p 



