320 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



the tideway ; and, from information I have received from 

 fishermen who are acquainted with these waters that lie 

 nearer to civilization, I have reason to believe that brook- 

 trout can there be caught upward of ten pounds in weight. 

 Moving down to the run, I recommenced, and rose a very 

 large fish the second cast; but our acquaintance got no 

 farther, for all my blandishments were futile to induce him 

 again to move. A little lower down I was more success- 

 ful, for I struck a regular Trojan, whose memory still lives, 

 and to whose performances I award the palm over all others. 

 As soon as he felt himself pricked, contrary to the cus- 

 tom of his brethren in a similar predicament, he rushed up 

 stream with the velocity of a bullet, through the throat of 

 surging water and into the next pool j fortunately, the 

 ground was accessible, and I w r as enabled to follow, but for 

 the life of me I could not, dared not ? take a pull on him. 

 From the fish's movements I should ttoink he was swimming 

 about two feet deep, and, from the power and speed that he 

 showed }> appeared totally to ignore any control.' However, 

 it's a straight road that has no turn, and if I was led a 

 dance in the first instance, my turn was coming. After 

 walking two hundred yards and giving out nearly one hun- 

 dred yards of line, the drag told, and my friend thought it 

 better to change his course ; down stream he came with a 

 rush, still without showing, but just as he got to the smooth, 

 oily-like water that preceded the break of the rapid, he com- 

 menced springing with great rapidity. Five or six times 

 this ruse was repeated, when off again my gallant foe went 

 down stream with as much energy and spirit as he had at 

 first displayed. Well, to make a long story short, to and 

 fro we both went, up and down, first one way and then 

 another, till the fun became hard work, and the exertion 

 caused globules of perspiration to stand on rny face, and, 

 worse than all, the confounded flies attacked me with re- 



