BURKSIDE POOL. 103 



flies necessary ; watching my opportunity, there- 

 fore, until the river had acquired a coffee-coloured 

 tint after a partial rise, I sallied forth one after- 

 noon with a stiff, powerful twenty-foot rod, treble 

 gut and large flies specially prepared for the trial. 

 On reaching the spot I saw at a glance the diffi- 

 culties with which I should have to contend. The 

 river rolled deep and dark close to the very bank, 

 the trunks of the trees, embedded in the boulders 

 below, bordered the entire extent of the pool, and 

 even where these were not visible I knew that the 

 branches of others lay treacherously beneath the 

 water in every direction. Wading was out of the 

 question. Every cast must be from the shore, 

 and fur out too, where I could already see several 

 good fish rising in the most tantalizing manner. 

 Beyond them, a bank of shingle, commencing 

 much higher up, seemed to divide the river into 

 two branches, but the arm at the other side was 

 comparatively shallow, while the main stream 

 near me rushed over the promontory at its head 

 in a deep, impassable rapid, near which was an 

 angular buttress projecting into the river, where 

 I decided on commencing operations. Putting a 

 large spring Spey fly on the treble gut casting- 

 line, and testing the strength of every portion of 

 the latter, I threw into the stream just above 



H 2 



