FISHING IN NEWFOUNDLAND 241 



the water, stumbled over on the slippery rocks and 

 tugged the prize on to the grass ; and I wiped five 

 hundred mosquitoes from my neck, and let my 

 heart resume its normal and proper position. By 

 the light of a match we examined the fly. One of 

 the two snells had parted and the other one was 

 just about ready to go. It was a close shave. 

 The scales ran up to 24 pounds, and I feel now 

 that a 24^-pound salmon with a light rod, a decrepit 

 fly, and no daylight makes a combination calculated 

 to give as much excitement as could be had with a 

 forty-pounder under ordinary conditions and with 

 a heavy two-handed rod, especially if it is your first 

 large fish. 



We remained on this river for nearly two weeks, 

 when we decided to try our luck in one still further 

 north. So, choosing a calm morning, we embarked 

 in our dories and by night had reached the mouth 

 of the river we sought. From all accounts the 

 walking was so bad that to take up our outfit, 

 photographic and other, to the head waters, where 

 we hoped to find the fish, would be a task of very 

 considerable difficulty. We concluded it would be 

 better to put everything in the canoe and pull or 

 pole the light craft up stream, provided there was 

 sufficient water. So far no boat had ever been up 

 to the falls, distant about twenty-five miles, for the 

 water was very shallow in most parts, while in 

 others the stretches of rough rocks and dangerous 

 rapids might make the trip impossible. Of course 

 it rained hard the morning we started. It nearly 

 always does in Newfoundland I find. When one 

 is used to such conditions it is quite astonishing 



W.L.C. R 



