194 CATCHING A SALMON. 



of a very long pole, which is plunged into the water 

 until the net is supposed to be further down than the 

 salmon, then it is moved laterally out of the place 

 where it was plunged, and drawn to the surface, gene- 

 rally with success. This fishing is not, however, un- 

 attended with danger ; the rocks are slippery with 

 spray, and small aquatic plants ; and as the fishers have 

 to overhang the rock in getting to the best fishing, they 

 are sometimes thrown off their balance by the strug- 

 gling of the salmon, and precipitated into the abyss, 

 from which escape, even on the part of an expert 

 swimmer, is very difficult. The otter, which is active 

 enough in many other parts of the Ericht, is said never 

 to attempt fishing in the cauldron at the Keith. But 

 we must close our desultory notice of this beautiful 

 and interesting fish. Its natural history would fill 

 volumes ; and therefore, all that can be done in a 

 portion of a single chapter, is to point out how worthy 

 it is of the most complete investigation ; and that in 

 studying the instincts and habits of the salmon, science 

 and practical use are inseparably united. We cannot, 

 however, resist quoting the following directions for 

 salmon-angling from the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. 

 They accord far more with our own observation than 

 any thing that we have seen in print. 



CATCHING A SALMON. 



" THERE is scarcely any time, unless when it thunders, 

 or when the water is thick with mud, but you may 

 chance to tempt the salmon to rise to an artificial fly. 

 But the most propitious are critical moments; or, un- 



