OCTOBER 197 



volume of the river, one passing down the high bank 

 would be plainly visible to every creature below. But 

 it cost me my first fish in the Nairn ; he made a dart 

 towards the bank under my feet; fouled the brush- 

 wood; for an agonised moment I beheld his silvery 

 side flashing within easy reach of the gaff, but Lacon 

 was not ready ; the gut parted, and all was over. 



I adopted different tactics after that, and on that 

 day and the following enjoyed some of the prettiest 

 sport that has ever fallen to my lot. The little pools 

 were very unlike the tenantless casts on the Findhorn ; 

 they were teeming with salmon; and, what added 

 greatly to the satisfaction of catching them, they were 

 all bright and new-run, more like summer fish than 

 any that might be expected in the first week of 

 October. 



LXXVI 



Salmon fishing in a small, rapid stream has a delicate 

 charm that is lost when the river is so large as to 

 involve fishing from a boat. All anglers are A Border 

 agreed about that, yet it is in the Tweed Tower 

 alone, of all the waters in these islands, that you can 

 be sure of a proportion of excellent fish in October, 

 many of them without tinge or tarnish on their silver 

 coats. Even a month later, many fish carry a good 

 enough colour, but it must be admitted that they are 

 so far advanced in a gravid state that they ought to be 

 let alone. However, as the nets have ruined the spring. 



