454 THE SALMON FLY. 



next thing to do is to place a head-stone inside the Box. The one used here 

 is a tapering stone (with which this neighbourhood abounds), 5 ft. 3 in. in 

 length. Its point is about 2 in. through, its foot about 15 in. in diameter both 

 ways. A slot to receive the point is cut into the top of the post which has already 

 been reduced. By the use of a chisel the stone can be made to bed into the slot. 

 But before placing it, a firm foundation for its foot should be made in the gravel, 

 and a slanting flat stone put to back up with. If this sort of head-stone is not to be 

 procured, a good, strong larch post might serve the purpose, but, in this 

 district, where thousands of tons of ice wend their way seawards in winter, 

 strength is of infinite importance. 



"After getting in the stone, the space underneath it is packed closely with 

 well-fitting boulders, and the small open part between the post and the point or 

 nose of the boards jammed with little stones. The fiv& smaller posts are now 

 driven into the ground three inside the Box at the middle part of the sides and 

 back, and the two others outside the Box at back, midway between the inside 

 centre one and the two corners. These are all likewise firmly nailed, and then the 

 6 in. plank is let into the top side planks, so as to butt against the two middle 

 posts. A platform is now made, upon which ths boulders are wheeled, and tipped 

 into the box. As each barrow load comes, a little cautious packing of the stones 

 is desirable. When the box is thus filled, the work is completed by fixing the 

 2 ft. 4 in. piece of sheeting upright round the nose of the box and nailing to the 

 planks on each side. The 2 ft. 6 in. strips of iron are iiailed thus, one over a 

 thick piece of well-fitting plank, previously put flush with the top of the sides 

 against the headpost (this strip is bent over and down the sides before the hammer 

 at that part is used), and the two others round the two outer back posts are put 

 at the middle of the top board. The cost of this construction, provided the land- 

 lord supplies the wood from his saw mill and allows the boulders in the neighbour- 

 hood to be gathered, should not exceed 30s. 



" There is a little fresh to add concerning the situation of these Boxes ; but it 

 is not easy to describe with exactness the safe and sure place that can be depended 

 upon. It may, however, be taken that the tail end of a pool or catch, which 

 gradually gets shallower and has a gravelly bed, over which the water, at any 

 height, flows fairly straight with the bank, is as good a spot as one might wish 

 for. But the Box must be within thirty yards of the catch itself, or the fish will 

 not linger long in its wake. Mine here is twenty-four feet from the front post to 

 the bank. To make the job yet more enticing, a boulder, weighing about four 

 hundredweight, should be bedded into the gravel below. If this is put at a spot 

 about the place where the two streams meet, it will remain. These out-flowing 

 streams (it may be said for the uninitiated) are formed by the current striking the 

 box, and they will probably join each other not farther distant than from thirty 

 to thirty-five yards down-stream. Properly set, this boulder which, like the 

 suspicion of onion in a salad, animates the whole, and gives the merest angling 



