58 ANGLING 



(very nearly, but not quite) guaranteed as such by him, because 

 it was told to him by a friend. Well, here goes : A gentleman 

 was fishing in a river in Ireland, and hooked a large salmon, 

 which escaped with the gaff sticking in him. The next spring 

 the same fish was caught again with the gaff still sticking in him, 

 but it had sprouted into a little bush ! The Admiral's friend 

 to whom the aforesaid gentleman had related this anecdote did 

 not quite believe it, and thought the gentleman was trying to 

 get a rise out of him. The Admiral's friend therefore thought 

 he would try to cap the gentleman's story, so he said, " Well, 

 I am not at all surprised at that, for a very similar thing 

 happened to me about three years ago. I was fishing under 

 London Bridge, and landed a salmon of about ijlbs., getting 

 him right into the boat, but in the hurry I forgot to kill him, as 

 I saw another salmon rising about 20 yards off. I threw to the 

 second one, when suddenly No. I jumped overboard, and I lost 

 him. Well, it appears the boat I was fishing from had been 

 used for carrying grain, and very strangely a salmon was 

 caught in the autumn in the very same spot, and he had a 

 small crop of wheat growing all over his back. The fish was 

 taken ashore and duly reaped, and there was just enough to 

 make a very little cake. If ever you go to London go to the 

 Crystal Palace, and you will there see the cake under a glass 

 case, where it is kept as a curiosity." Mr. Hopper thinks that 

 of all fish stories he ever heard the above takes the " cake," and 

 he therefore takes leave of his angling readers for a short 

 period, to enable them to digest the above story. 



