336 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



is apt to scare fish, if clean, into the pools above ; and even 

 red or grey fish will creep down into the pools below. 



Hooked fish, fresh from the sea, however, are apt to turn 

 down-stream, and dash through rapids and cataracts. My two 

 hardest races down the Dee were with salmon only a day or 

 two out of the salt water. They spun through a succession 

 of torrents, and the footing on my side the river being nothing 

 but ragged rocks, the sight of smooth water at the end of the 

 rapids was very welcome. I have a pretty vivid recollection 

 of having my fun for reward at the close of one of these 

 bursts. When the fish was half out of the water, on the 

 sloping bank, I desired a young companion to lift it ashore. 

 In doing so, the salmon slipped through the small fingers. In 

 defiance of me and my screams, the single gut was seized, of 

 course snapped, and the fish, an eleven-pounder, lolloped back 

 into the river. I barely saved him ; for the moment my little 

 girl clutched the line, I threw down the rod, stood ready to 

 cut off his retreat, and by a strong pitch of both hands heaved 

 him ashore. 



I was not so fortunate with a grilse a few months later. I 

 had risen at four, and after killing three fish, hooked the grilse 

 in the last pool I meant to try. As I never use a gaff if I 

 can help it, I had led my victim over several shallows, strand- 

 ing him at the end of a ready little creek. My rod was com- 

 fortably grounded, and I was within a yard of grasping the 

 captive, when its hold broke. The moment the fish felt free, 

 it seemed imbued with the spirit of half-a-dozen harlequins. 

 Clearing the tiny bay like quicksilver, carefully avoiding an 

 inviting deep which would have insured its destruction, the 

 wonderful instinct of the creature guided it through a succes- 

 sion of intricate shallows, and in spite of my kicks it gained 

 the channel of the river. I had the curiosity twice to examine 

 this place, and had I not proved it, could scarcely have be- 

 lieved that any fish had wit enough to extricate itself from 

 such a dilemma. What chiefly excited my wonder was, that 



