32 AN ANGLER'S NARRATIVE. 



salmon, one of which fell to the share of our authority. 

 He (the salmon) was a handsome fellow, weighing seven- 

 teen pounds, and in good condition ; he afforded his cap- 

 tor's comrades no inconsiderable amount of fun, and 

 placed him in a peculiar position. For the salmon had 

 taken the hook when the angler was wading in swift 

 water up to his middle, and as soon as he discovered his 

 predicament, he wheeled round suddenly, and started 

 down the stream. 



My rod, says the angler, bent nearly double, and I saw 

 that I must allow him all the line he wanted ; and having 

 only three hundred feet on my reel, I found it necessary 

 to follow him with all speed. In doing so I lost my 

 footing, and was swept by the current against a pile of 

 logs. Meantime my reel was in the water, and whizzing 

 away at a tremendous rate. The log upon which I de- 

 pended happened to be in a balancing condition, and 

 when I attempted to surmount it, it plunged into the 

 current and floated down the stream, leaving your 

 humble servant astride at one end, and clinging to it 

 with all his might. Onward sped the salmon, the log, 

 the fisherman ! At last the log drifted into an eddy, and 

 while it was gyrating in incessant circles I abandoned 

 it, and fortunately reached the shore in safety. My life 

 having been spared, I was more anxious than ever to 

 carry off the salmon which had led me into so much 

 danger ; and so I held aloft the rod, and continued down 

 the stream, over an immense number of logs and rocks, 

 which seemed to have been set there for my particular 

 discomfiture. On coming in sight of the fish, I found 

 him in still water, with his glittering belly turned up- 

 wards, and, in fact, " completely drowned." I imme- 



