42 AUTUMNS ON THE SPEY. 



menced wading, but the passage was necessarily 

 a tedious task, the increased force of the current 

 at this spot rendering great care necessary, while 

 the splendid fish, all this time, kept rushing 

 about and leaping high out of the water, evidently, 

 as I believe, trying to fall on the casting-line 

 momentarily rendered slack by his somersaults, but 

 fortunately he did not succeed in this manoauvre, 

 and then taking to sulking, down he went to the 

 bottom. 



We had now time to hold a council of war, 

 and we arranged that if the salmon should 

 ultimately repeat his former tactics, I should try 

 to coax him over the shallowest part of the rapid 

 in his descent, while A, having taken up his 

 position there beforehand in the water, would look 

 out for his back fin and endeavour to gaff him as 

 he passed the very operation in which Simon 

 had previously failed. In the event of this not 

 succeeding, I made up my mind to wade across to 

 the opposite side of the river, taking care to have 

 as little line as possible out at the time : thus I 

 should not be stopped by the deep stream lower 

 down on the left, which had cut me off on the 

 former occasion. However, the first step was to 

 rouse the fish out of his sulky fit. Here great 

 delicacy combined with firmness was of impor- 



