OVER THE RAPID. 43 



tance, for the water was exceedingly transparent, 

 and, together with the brightness of the weather, 

 and the shyness of salmon at present, necessitated 

 the use of very small flies and single gut casting- 

 lines. Anything, therefore, like violence in dealing 

 with a large fish must have been followed by its 

 instantaneous loss. The first point, then, was to 

 compel him to move, while I kept up a steady and 

 regular pressure on as short and perpendicular a 

 line as possible. A therefore waded in and threw 

 a large stone just above him ; then a second, and 

 a third. Away he went again, and as I succeeded 

 in coaxing him at last into a little bay of dead 

 water, I was in great hopes that we should have 

 gaffed him there ; but he got a sight of the clip, 

 and darted off once more into the middle of the 

 current : however, he was now too weak to work 

 upwards, or even to resist its force, so turning his 

 head down stream, he dashed resolutely at the 

 rapid, repeating, as nearly as possible, his previous 

 performance. This was the crisis. A got to the 

 middle of the water, while I took a hasty survey 

 of the place where I must wade or swim over if 

 he missed the clip. All this occurred in a few 

 seconds. Down went the fish over the shallows, 

 his back fin and the upper part of his tail appear- 

 ing above the surface ; but the pace was treiuen- 



