THE LATE SALMO SALAK, ESQ. 61 



it as eventually to necessitate its breakage. 

 The first intimation Piscator had of the escape 

 of his prey was the exulting bound of the 

 salmon some fifty yards above the spot which 

 in" his imagination was occupied by that 

 attached to his own line. This mode of 

 effecting an escape I have heard designated as 

 drowning, and certainly I have seen fishermen, 

 after the manoeuvre had been practised at 

 their expense, look as though drowning were 

 an enviable escape from their mortification. 

 Another most successful manoeuvre resorted 

 to by a hooked fish, especially if a long line 

 were thrown, was the running in of the salmon 

 right to the feet of the fishermen. In vain 

 the rod was held aloft, in vain the reel was 

 wound with reckless haste, in vain its holder 

 receded from the river bank ; the line would 

 become slack, and a shake and a scuffle at 

 once got rid of the hook, unless it had pene- 

 trated more than ordinarily deep, or had struck 

 upon some soft part of the fish's mouth. 

 Happily, however, for us, there are few such 

 parts in our mouths ; if fresh-run the palate 

 is soft, but the bone is hard beneath, and, if 

 we have been long in the water, it is hard 



