34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



how the deep pools affording a more permanent 

 harbour were dragged ; and how, when at last 

 the shallow spawning-beds were attained, many 

 of her race were c gaffed ' for the sake of the 

 spawn within them. Such was the fate of the 

 baggit from which I sprang, some particulars 

 of which I learnt in after-times. I may as well 

 relate them now." 



CHAPTER VII. 



The Baillie's misadventure in search of " Saumon Roe." 

 Mode of fishing with that prohibited bait. 



u I was lying listlessly one day in summer thirty 

 feet beneath the surface, beyond the influence 

 of the rapid stream above, in the fathomless 

 pool called The Pot, some half-mile below 

 Merton Bridge, a boat, kept in its place by two 

 light oars, floating above me, when the frag- 

 ments of a conversation reached my ears, 

 which by degrees absorbed my attention. A 

 river-keeper was detailing to his employer the 



