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of an old Scots' Almanack, with two or tnree links 

 of salmon-flies between the leaves. There is one of 

 his salmon-flies which he shows as a trophy. It is 

 rather a plain looking one, with a yellowish-brown 

 coloured "body, brown wings of a bittern's feather, 

 with a blood-red hackle for legs, and the link of a 

 pepper and salt mixture, formed of five black and 

 five white horse-hairs. With this fly he killed, in 

 one day, five salmon, the last of which weighed 

 twenty-five pounds, the largest that he had ever 

 taken with the fly. He landed this last salmon 

 after a severe contest of upwards of an hour, during 

 the whole of which the fish never sulked, but 

 kept continually dashing about the pool where he 

 was hooked, which was not more than eighty yards 

 long, and was too shallow at its head to allow of his 

 pushing up the stream; and the angler managed to 

 keep his station towards the foot, to prevent his 

 escape downwards.^ There is nothing like keeping 

 a fish in constant exercise for speedily killing him. 

 I have seen many a good fish lost by being trifled 

 with holding him lightly or allowing him more 

 line than you can manage when he contrives either 

 to break the link or entangle the line, and escape. 

 I never allow a salmon a slack line, and thus give 

 him the benefit of a run, when he is almost certain 

 to carry all away. Every good salmon-fisher has a 

 tolerably correct notion what strain his tackle will 

 bear, and holds his fish with a firm., though, when 

 required, not unyielding hand, and keeps him con- 



