46 AUTUMNS ON THE SPEY. 



difficulties, and quite ignoring the presence of his 

 persecutors. Now, at last, I was preparing to pilot 

 him into a promising little haven of backwater 

 lower down, which was soon reached, but the 

 great force of the current carried him past, in 

 spite of all my manoeuvring. That was a critical 

 moment. If the hold of the hook had been less 

 firm, or the gut any but the very best, I must 

 have lost him, for I suddenly saw, to my dismay, 

 that we were again on the extremity of another 

 promontory, a second wide stream running in a little 

 below us, and the dark water showing everywhere 

 the increasing depth of the river. Now or never! 

 I put on a strong but steady pressure ; gradually 

 the half-exhausted fish yielded so far as to roll 

 heavily towards the side. His back fin is at last 

 visible, now his broad fan-like tail appears for a 

 moment. In dashes A, and in the very nick of 

 time, just as we arrive at the junction of the two 

 currents, makes a bold stroke with the clip. 

 Bravo ! the prize is ours, and I am on the point 

 of lowering the rod, when, to my horror, I see the 

 gaff break off short in the hand of my friend. 

 Our fate hangs on a hair. The next moment I 

 lose sight of all except his head, but in an instant 

 afterwards he reappears, clasping with both arms 

 a goodly salmon twenty-two pounds' weight as 



