A VORACIOUS SALMON 181 



my new friend from his abstraction ; indeed I met 

 with nothing remarkable till I came to the Kingswell 

 Lees. Now every one knows that the Kingswell 

 Lees, in fisherman's phrase, fishes off land ; so there 

 I stood on terra dura amongst the rocks that dip 

 down to the water's edge. Having executed one or 

 two throws, there comes me a voracious fish, and 

 makes a startling dash at " Meg with the muckle 

 mouth." Sharply did I strike the caitiff ; whereat he 

 rolled round disdainful, making a whirl in the water 

 of prodigious circumference : it was not exactly 

 Charybdis, or the Maelstrom, but rather more like 

 the wave occasioned by the sudden turning of a 

 man-of-war's boat. Being hooked, and having by 

 this turn set his nose peremptorily down the stream, 

 he flashed and whizzed away like a rocket. My 

 situation partook of the nature of a surprise. Being 

 on a rocky shore, and having a bad start, I lost 

 ground at first considerably ; but the reel sang out 

 joyously, and yielded a liberal length of line, that 

 saved me from the disgrace of being broke. I got 

 on the best pace I was able, and was on good ground 

 just as my line was nearly all run out. As the 

 powerful animal darted through Meg's Hole, I was 

 just able to step back and wind up a few yards of 

 line ; but he still went a killing pace, and when he 

 came near Melrose Bridge he evinced a distressing 

 preference for passing through the farther arch, in 

 which case my line would have been cut by the pier. 

 My heart sunk with apprehension, for he was near 

 the opposite bank. Purdie seeing this, with great 

 presence of mind took up some stones from the 



