222 FISHES I HAVE KNOWN 



the reel. But it was no good, and after a gallant 

 fight a capacious landing-net came into use. The 

 fish scaled just 4 Ibs., and was in resplendent 

 condition, plump and firm, brightly silvery, the 

 scarlet spots intensely ocellated, 1 and the yellow 

 tints of the belly like gold. 



By this time I had walked as far as the pic- 

 turesque bridge, named after a ruined abbey, in 

 whose chapel, says Sir Walter Scott, 2 once 



"... was seen unwonted sight, 

 In holy walls a scaffold dight ! 

 Where once the priest of grace divine, 

 Dealt to his flock the mystic sign ; 

 There stood the block display'd, and there 

 The headsman grim, his hatchet bare.'' 



Beneath the bridge was a natural lock of lime- 

 stone, deep and clear, and peering down I could 

 see at the bottom, all heading one way, many 

 dark forms, that occasionally rolling over, revealed 

 the silvery sides of salmon, that king of fishes. 



They were unattainable, however, for even if 1 

 had brought proper tackle I had only a trout 

 license, and did not care to run the risk of a heavy 

 fine. But I sat down in the delightful shade and 

 thought out some facts and incidents respecting 

 the two chief branches of the salmon family. 



1 Eye-like. 2 " Rokeby." 



