92 Salmon Fishing. 



not " good for evil ;" I tried to land the fish on a 

 small flat part of the bank, that lay convenient 

 for the purpose. Not a bit of it. Three times 

 did I make the attempt, and three times was I 

 foiled. Emboldened by this apparent want of 

 skill on my part, again was his voice raised to 

 the roughest possible pitch of objurgation; while 

 he never desisted a moment from labouring away 

 with his rod, though had he hooked a fish then, 

 there must inevitably have been a foul between 

 us. To put a summary stopper upon his noisy 

 exhibition of ill-temper, the next time the grilse 

 came near enough, I made use of the gaff, which 

 I am always backward in doing, if I can avoid it, 

 and I soon had the satisfaction of gazing on the 

 charms of the lovely fish which lay extended on 

 the green sward. 



Thanks, perhaps, to the healthy working of a 

 liver, not always disposed to behave well ; to the 

 pleasure derived from the sweet river-scenery ; 

 and to the draughts of pure oxygen from the 

 breezy, bracing air, I felt in such thorough good 



