REQUISITES FOR SUCCESSFUL FISHING. 309 



like a coil of rope scientifically thrown by an expert boat- 

 man. I was in despair. Such damage could not be re- 

 paired where I then was ; my leader and new fly were gone, 

 possibly for the estuary, of the St. Lawrence, and, like a 

 vessel stranded in a falling tide, I was perfectly helpless. 

 To find the cause of this unexpected casualty was my first 

 endeavor. The wood of the rod at the fracture looked 

 fresh and sound, the brass appeared to be put on correctly, 

 but there was something to be discovered yet of which I 

 was still ignorant, and to the reel I went to solve the prob- 

 lem. In winding up or taking in line I had, through care- 

 lessness, permitted one round to lap across the other. In 

 paying away, the two had jammed, coming to a full stop. 

 My rod had been broken, my fly stolen, and my casting-line 

 was probably performing duty for a pennant to a fish, to- 

 tally disregarding distance or trespass. " There's no use 

 grieving over spilled milk," some one says, and after I had 

 got rid of the fizz, like a bottle of soda-water, I was calm 

 enough, only regretting I had lost the salmon, for, with all 

 fishermen, the fish that gets off is, of course, a very great 

 deal larger than any you have captured. 



To be a perfect fisherman you require more excellences 

 than are usually to be found in such a small space as is al- 

 lotted to man's carcass. You should be patient, forbearing, 

 vigorous, decided, and prompt in emergency, with the con- 

 stitution of a water-spaniel, and the ingenuity of an Ark- 

 wright or a Fulton. Being deficient in many, more par- 

 ticularly in the latter requisites, I was compelled to shut up 

 shop by putting up my rod in its canvas covering, regret- 

 ting my bad luck, my stupidity, and last, though not least, 

 the fish that had worsted me at my own game. Not being 

 in the best of humor, of course Jock was out of the way, 

 and not within hailing distance. What a capital chance to 

 vent the balance of my spleen, not at all improved by the 



