Salmon Fishing. 37 



not very unlike those of a love-sick damsel, 

 when the magic words have just been whispered 

 in her ear, that savour of an early marriage 

 with the manly candidate for her hand ! No 

 more lovely an object is it possible for the 

 whole circle of creation to contain, than the 

 glorious silver-spangled beauty, he has had the 

 marvellous skill to capture ! Very jealous too- 

 ls he of the weight of the fish, which he will 

 not allow for a moment to be called a fraction 

 less, than the machine has proved him to be. 

 All this have I personally gone through, and 

 witnessed the like exhibition in many an angler 

 besides. 



Not long since, I was quietly fishing in a 

 favourite river, and had just thrown back a 

 salmon which hardly came up to my ideas of a 

 clean fish, when all at once I heard below me a 

 succession of exclamations, which denoted that 

 something unusual had happened. It was not 

 long ere I found myself greeted by name, at; 

 the mouth of a young friend, who had for some 



