98 ARDENMOHR. 



" Yet, I have heard of salmon taking an angler 

 miles off before he could get him out." 



"So it is said, even by skilful anglers; but I 

 never happened to see a fish get many hundred 

 yards off from where it was first hooked, and I have 

 been at the death of scores, some of them heavy fish." 



"Did you, Major, ever catch a very large salmon?" 

 Fred asked. 



"No, Fred, not more than twenty-eight pounds 

 that was my largest ; but good anglers have told 

 me that their big fish were not always the hardest 

 to secure, as they seldom run well; but still the 

 great strength and weight of a large salmon make 

 a long and tedious struggle a certainty." 



I remarked that I had found a twenty-pound 

 salmon and a seven-pound grilse about the sharpest 

 practice ; and the Major thought I was near the truth. 



"What a pity," said Ward, "that these same 

 salmon, which give such sport, and are so nice fried 

 in slices, do not get more increased ! You, Abbott, 

 have studied the matter ; what is likely to be done ? " 



" I can hardly say plans and theories are number- 

 less ; but I think most large clean rivers might be 

 made salmon streams, and in those which now hold 

 fish the quantity be greatly increased." 



