WESTERN WATERS 149 



catch fish in the Add must not be ashamed of 

 emulating his example. The deep-cut sheep- 

 drains bring down the showers from the hills so 

 fast, that I have known it too high to fish one 

 day, and too low for much chance the next. 

 Many a time have I gone out in a downpour, 

 when it showed signs of clearing, and waited by 

 the bank, watching my miniature cairn of stones 

 put up just below high-water mark, and waiting 

 till the appearance of its top above the surface 

 proved that the water had begun to fall, and 

 goodly has sometimes been the reward I have 

 reaped for my faith and perseverance. As for 

 gales, they are disagreeable to face in an open 

 plain, but it is hardly possible for the wind to blow 

 too hard for success, and I have had excellent 

 sport when the waves were literally breaking on 

 the pools, and it was only possible to keep the fly 

 in the water by lowering the top of the rod till 

 it touched the surface. In all the lower part of 

 the river there is little or no rock, and the stream 

 gradually hollows out the banks until the sides 

 fall in, changing pools into shallows, and some- 

 times altering the whole course of the river. It 

 is no use here to rely upon tradition alone. 

 The fisherman must judge himself, to a great 

 extent, where it is worth while to cast a fly ; and 

 sometimes must be wary in approaching the edges 

 of the stream. I remember one day, when I was 

 playing a salmon, and it was sulking in a deep 



