178 PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 



of the canoe to prevent mischief. In a few mo- 

 ments the General was able to step out upon the 

 pebbly beach, where he fancied he could the more 

 successfully curb and capture his prey. For a 

 while it looked as if he was about to demonstrate 

 the soundness of his theory that a salmon fisher 

 should always take to the beach where practicable, 

 as soon as possible after he has hooked his fish. 

 The tussle was severe and protracted. The fish 

 was a stubborn brute, always doing just the very 

 thing it was hoped he would not do rushing and 

 leaping and sulking in such eccentric and perverse 

 ways as to keep his captor moving backward and 

 forward like a wearied sentinel at his post. If the 

 fish continued to thus turn upon his own tracks 

 long enough, his capture, sooner or later, would be 

 reasonably sure. But nothing is more uncertain 

 than the movements of a hooked salmon, and those 

 of us who had ceased fishing to witness the battle 

 were not surprised when this lusty rascal made a 

 dash down stream which soon brought the General 

 to the end of his walk, and compelled him to take 

 to his canoe to prevent the fish from making his 

 escape ; for you might as well try to hold a two-year 

 old colt with a cotton thread as a rushing thirty- 

 pound salmon by a direct pull on an exhausted line. 

 It is for this reason that I always stick to my canoe 

 during such a contest. You are better able to fol- 



