THE LATE SALM0 SALAB, ESQ. 59 



to tie a knot at the end, there was nothing to 

 stop it, and the great fish sailed away sea- 

 wards, dragging in his wake two pounds' 

 worth of excellent tackle. No doubt a few 

 hours relieved him from the encumbrance, and 

 his would-be captor paid not too dearly for a 

 lesson he was unlikely to forget. One very 

 extraordinary escape I witnessed was precisely 

 analogous to my own when a smolt. The fish 

 was hooked from the north or high shore ; 

 terrified apparently beyond the influence of 

 instinct or reason, he dashed madly up the 

 shelving bank on the opposite side, and lay 

 gasping three feet beyond the shoal water. 

 Taken aback by this utterly unexpected ma- 

 noeuvre, the fisherman slackened his hold, and 

 the fish, with the same effort that restored him 

 to his native waters, shook the hook from out 

 of his mouth. I have seen fish escape by 

 running rapidly round a rock, obtaining either 

 for themselves a dead pull, and so wrenching 

 the barb from their jaws, or, leaving a dead 

 pull against the rock itself to the fisherman, 

 afford him an excellent opportunity of breaking 

 his tackle and releasing his prey. I have seen 

 a fish spring three feet out of the water, when 



