SALMON FISHING. 307 



strong and hook well planted, and soon a second time I 

 had him under control ; and by exercising a little politeness 

 of the give-and-take order, I brought him into shallow wa- 

 ter. Jock, now my faithful attendant, was by, and with 

 intense delight waded into the stream. " Careful, boy ! be 

 cautious !" But all was thrown away ; he made a grab at 

 the fish with the gaff, as the sailor had done before, but 

 fortunately dragged it in water too shoal for swimming. 

 Jock saw he had made a bungle, and was determined to re- 

 trieve, if possible, his lost reputation, so threw himself on 

 the struggling salmon, and after a wrestling match of some 

 minutes, with imminent danger to my tackle, proudly walk- 

 ed ashore, wet from head to foot, with the prize tightly 

 cuddled up in his arms. Although at first tempted to 

 anathematize the young scamp, I enjoyed a hearty laugh at* 

 the nonchalance with which the monkey treated his ducking. 



Moving down the water, I recommenced operations, and 

 rose two good fish. Soon I got fast to a third, which gave 

 me ten minutes' splendid sport ; then he sulked, and, after 

 two or three futile attempts to escape, succumbed. I was 

 surprised at obtaining so easy a victory, but this was ex- 

 plained by finding a piece cut out of his back, in front of 

 the first dorsal fin, upward of an inch in width and two or 

 three long. In trout -fishing, I have once or twice taken 

 fish similarly wounded; and as there were no gill-nets at 

 either place, the only satisfactory reason I can attribute is 

 that either a seal or an otter was the perpetrator. 



As the evening advanced I changed flies, and selected 

 what I have long known by the sobriquet of " the drum- 

 mer." It is composed thus: the mottled feathers of the 

 peacock's wing, with a few strands of golden pheasants for 

 wings; body, light-brown fur of the bear next the hide, 

 mixed with orange-sable fur and gold-colored mohair ; gold 

 tinsel, loosely but regularly wrapped with blood or claret 



