160 Salmon Fishing. 



possession of a pool or two, I had been 

 accustomed to fish with much pleasure before 

 the monopoly commenced. The only time, 

 however, I succeeded, was by crossing the river 

 at a high water which, no one not thoroughly 

 acquainted with it, could do without danger of 

 a thorough wetting, if not something worse. 



Here then before me was one of that well- 

 behaved quartette. He was hard at work far 

 below his accustomed haunts, and accordingly 

 in blissful ignorance that the water he was 

 flogging with such hearty goodwill was not two 

 feet deep, and as little likely to hold a salmon 

 as a crocodile. 



" What sport have you had ?" he screamed 

 out to me in a pettish, unpleasant tone of 

 voice, that told me at once how little at ease 

 the speaker was. " What sport have you had ?" 

 Very deliberately did I begin to unsling my 

 bag from my shoulders, and take out two fish 

 which, in spite of the earliness of the season, 

 few would not have pronounced most creditable 



