PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 181 



himself, however, to the pool, shooting back and 

 forth with a rapidity and frequency which rendered 

 it very difficult to keep a taut line upon him. I 

 supposed, of course, that the disturbance would put 

 a stop to the leaping which had been in progress 

 through the entire morning. But it did nothing 

 of the kind. While I was busy with my fish others 

 were as busy jumping as before, and they continued 

 to jump, often within a few feet of my canoe, dur- 

 ing the whole of the protracted struggle. After a 

 half hour's sulking, and a few vigorous attempts 

 to break loose, he quietly succumbed. He was of 

 medium weight eighteen pounds but he was 

 only the forerunner of two others of more stately 

 proportions that were brought to gaff before the 

 going down of the sun. 



The pool directly at the Forks the intersection 

 of the " salmon " and the " lake " branches of the 

 river should, from its position, be the very best 

 between tide-water and the Falls. But it is not, 

 probably because the pool itself changes with every 

 spring freshet. Three of us had tried it faithfully 

 in vain, and voted it barren, when DUN demon- 

 strated his superior skill or luck by taking four fine 

 fish from it after all the rest of us had utterly failed. 

 It was neither the first nor the last time that his 

 unwearied patience had its reward ; and it was his 

 patience quite as much as his skill which enabled 



