THE LATE SALMO SALAR, ESQ. 53 



pull, persistently kept up, and to which at first 

 slowly, but eventually with a rush, like that of 

 a hawk through the air, the kelt was constrained 

 to yield. Dashing up stream, with a velocity 

 still comparable to that of the bird, he sought 

 the rough pass above the railway bridge, where 

 haply he might cut the envious line against the 

 sharp edges of the rocks, or rub the cruel hook 

 from the jaw in which it was too securely fixed ; 

 but this was not allowed. The strong, pliant 

 rod was in no tyro's hand, and the maddest 

 efforts of the fish were controlled by a power 

 which, though felt to be irresistible, could never 

 be measured or met by opposed strength. In 

 vain, rushing upwards, did the poor animal 

 dash three feet from the surface of the water 

 into the thin air, hoping in his descent to fall 

 upon the line, and so disengage the biting 

 hook ; in vain, I say, for rod, and eye, and line, 

 and hand seemed guided by one impulse alone, 

 and that derived from the struggling fish. As 

 he jumped, the hand yielded, the rod bent, the 

 strain of the line loosened, and. the quiet eye 

 twinkled with exultation, as, gaining nothing 

 by the exhausting effort, the poor fish sought 

 again his native element. Weakened and fail- 



