6 LANDING A ROD INSTEAD OF A FISH. 



they fit accurately ; but where the fish run large, and it 

 is necessary to play them, or in salmon-fishing, it is 

 quite another matter. And as an illustration of what 

 disagreeable consequences may ensue through negligence 

 in attending to this simple matter, I will relate the fol- 

 lowing anecdote : 



A friend of mine who was habitually too indolent to 

 secure the joints of his rod, accompanied me on one 

 occasion to "Till's muddy deeps." He had whipped 

 away over a considerable cast of water with moderate 

 success, landing here and there a fish of fair proportions, 

 until fortune, the fickle jade, uncourteously resolved to 

 play her pranks at his expense, and the following un- 

 toward adventure was destined to be the unpleasant 

 finale to an otherwise agreeable day. While industri- 

 ously plying my rod behind a sharp bend in the river, 

 not far from my friend (who was usually of a taciturn 

 temperament), my ears were suddenly assailed with 

 such a volley of excited exclamations strung in rapid 

 succession upon each other, as induced me instantly 

 to drop my rod and run over to inquire the cause. On 

 arriving near I found him busily employed in hauling 

 ashore, not a goodly fish, but the top half of his rod, 

 which he was endeavouring to recover from the rapids 

 of the next stream, some 30 or 40 yards below ; giving 

 vent to exclamations each moment, both loud and deep, 

 against his own negligence, which would most assuredly 

 have driven John Wesley into hysterics had he heard 

 them. The fact of the matter is, he had hooked and 

 played for some time, and with a reasonable prospect of 



