158 AUTUMNS IN ARGYLESHIRE 



hopeless day many fish followed the fly, and 

 one or two were on for a few seconds ; but the 

 odds were too great, and when Duncan appeared 

 with his sack, all ready this time, he had to 

 carry it away empty. Fools the fish might be, 

 but they were not such fools as to attach them- 

 selves to gut so glaringly visible. 



Such a day so still and bright, with a pecu- 

 liar scorching feeling about the sun, is often a 

 " weather breeder," as they call it on the West 

 Coast, and I was not surprised the next morning 

 to see a cloudy sky, and tree tops bent by half 

 a gale of wind. The long spell of fine weather 

 was evidently coming to an end, but in the mean- 

 time I had one really first-rate fishing day before 

 me, and it was with high hopes that I started 

 for the river, although I hardly thought it 

 possible that I could beat my previous " record " 

 of ten salmon a day. Hitherto I had dispensed 

 with an attendant, and gaffed and landed all the 

 fish myself, but to-day I told Duncan to follow 

 as soon as our sandwiches were ready, and by 

 10.30 I had reached the river-side. This time I 

 did not cross the foot-bridge, as I had a fancy to 

 try the pool where the keeper had seen so many 

 fish the day before, and there was abundance of 

 wind enough to affect even the most sheltered 

 casts. The event proved that I was right, as 

 my fly had hardly touched the water before I 

 was into a fish which I had some difficulty in 



