352 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



breather ; far out of the river he leapt, as if trying to 

 reach the stars ; hut, though while in the air the 

 pressure on his tail relaxed, and he fancied himself 

 free, so soon as he again touched the water he found 

 the cruel strain still on, and maddened by fear and 

 anger, he rushed out of the pool and tore down the 

 river. 



Away he went, and an awful dance he gave us ; 

 as soon as he had exhausted all his manoeuvres 

 after he had gone through the various stages of 

 bolting, leaping out of the water, rubbing himself 

 along the bottom, sulking, and finally beating his 

 tail against the line till the horrid feel of the vibra- 

 tions he sent up through the rod almost made us sick 

 he began again and went through the whole perfor- 

 mance without ever a mistake. Kever had we had to 

 do with such a fish as this the heavy rod, the large 

 fly, and the strong tackle seemed to have no power 

 over him at all ; and now after three hours' great 

 exertion, both on his part and ours, he seemed but 

 little the worse, and had half killed us. 



As well as the waders, heavily weighted with 

 water, would let us, we run after Johnnie, relieve 

 him of his charge, and again urge on our wild career. 

 We had noticed for some time that this long-legged 

 specimen of humanity seemed uneasy ; and now, after 

 looking cautiously round, and at the river below, and 

 the hills behind, and moreover, choosing a time when 

 the fish was taking a little rest, he came up very 



