138 A DAY ON 



To an admirer of nature, perhaps November is the most 

 uninviting of any month in the year, even on the best of 

 days. All the rich tints of autumnal foliage have vanished, 

 and the naked boughs stand out gaunt and bare against the 

 cold, grey sky ; all the feathered songsters have fled to their 

 winter retreats ; the only signs of animal life being an 

 occasional rabbit bolting across one's path, or the familiar 

 form of a nimble squirrel darting to and fro on a leafless 

 tree. The grayling fisher is apt to fall into an idle reverie 

 as he plies his art, forming in his mind a retrospect of the 

 days that he has spent upon the stream during the early 

 months of spring, when the fresh green buds are bursting 

 forth and all nature seems glad ; or perchance he may pic- 

 ture a scorching day in the midst of summer, when the 

 streams are almost dried up, and the smallest of flies moun- 

 ted upon the finest of casts fails to deceive the watchful 

 trout until the shades of evening begin to fall. Very dif- 

 ferent is the aspect of affairs today ; thoughts such as these 

 occupying our minds as we walk along ; but here we are at 

 the " Sand-bed Stream," so donning our wading stockings 

 we step into the water and commence our fishing. 



We had been at work for about half an hour, but with 

 no good result; when suddenly a cry of "I have him," 

 comes from my companion, and turning round I am just in 

 time to see the gleam of a large salmon as he dashed out 

 into the middle of the river. I immediately came out of 

 the water, placed my rod and landing net upon the bank, 

 and taking up the gaff, watched the struggle that had just 

 commenced ; at the onset the gallant fish rushed to and fro 

 stemming the full force of the stream as only a salmon can, 

 and bending the rod almost double by his efforts to escape ; 

 but tiring of this course of proceeding, he next descended 

 to the bottom of the river and laid there as motionless as a 

 log of wood. Suddenly, he comes again to the surface, 

 lashing the water with his tail, and then merrily the reel 



