82 THE SALMON FISHER. 



where a false step or a stumble might cost you your 

 life, where every cast is widely different in charac- 

 ter, where on some casts hidden dangers of every 

 kind abound, and where the most ordinary stream is 

 deep, strong, rapid and rocky ; where several of the 

 pools lie just above the wildest and most dangerous 

 rapids, down which your fish is just as likely to 

 plunge as not, and you never can count on killing 

 your fish until you have him on the bank." 



Such rivers as these try the angler's mettle as well 

 as his science. Tactics of the drill-master fail here. 

 Instinct becomes a better prompter than a " rule of 

 three." Expedients are suggested by emergencies, 

 both to the salmon and his captor, in marvellously 

 rapid succession. The hooked fish, after his first 

 momentary fright on getting fast, collects his senses, 

 and, like the chased deer and fox, devises stratagems- 

 on the jump. You have no time to dally. Playing 

 your fish becomes a desperate struggle, like a Spar- 

 tan tilt. The contest taxes all the energies of brain, 

 and muscle. You must kill your fish on short line 

 with rod bent double, or have him break away. You 

 must drop your tip when he vaults clear of the 



