32 SALMONIA. 



this river should be caught by fair means, 

 if possible, but caught by any means. 



ORN. You lost that fish, and you over- 

 rate his size, as you will see, if I have good 

 luck. I put my live flies on the hook with 

 some regret and some disgust. I will not 

 employ another person to be my minister of 

 cruelty, as I remember a lady of fashion once 

 did, who was very fond of fishing for perch, 

 and who employed her daughter, a little girl 

 of nine years of age, to pass the hook through 

 the body of the worm ! Now there is a good 

 wind, and the fish has just taken a natural fly. 

 I shall drop the flies, if possible, within a few 

 inches of his nose. He has risen. He is 

 caught ! I must carry him down stream to 

 avoid the bed of weeds above. I now have 

 him on fair ground, and he fights with vigour. 

 Fortunately, my silk worm gut is very strong, 

 for he is not a fish to be trifled with. He 

 begins to be tired ; prepare the net. We have 

 him safe, and see your link hangs to his lower 

 jaw : the hook had struck the cartilage on the 

 outside of the bone, and the fly, probably, was 

 scarcely felt by him. 



