MAHSER FISHING 61 



end was attached to a bag or bundle containing 

 12 or 14 Ibs. of stones. The stones, when lifted 

 sharply by the hand two or three times from 

 the ground, put a strain on a trace, which is much 

 more like the sudden tug of a big fish than the 

 usual method of testing it to pull a certain number 

 of pounds on a balance. The testing of these 

 traces is all-important. I have found by ex- 

 perience that a trace which will for several days 

 lift 14 Ibs. with ease will, in time, become 

 unreliable and will readily break under the same 

 test. 



Farlow's plaited wire traces, which I sometimes 

 used in big water, will hold a crocodile, and I 

 have never known one of Farlow's swivels to 

 fail ; but in clear water, if you want to catch 

 fish, you must fish fine and far off, and must 

 keep yourself concealed as far as possible. In 

 places where mahser are unsophisticated and 

 water has not been much fished, any tackle is 

 good enough, as a mahser on the take is a bold, 

 fierce fish; but where mahser have become ac- 

 quainted with baits they are very shy, and, 

 except on a day when they are all taking eagerly, 

 they are not readily deceived. I have seen a 

 mahser of 5 or 6 Ibs. sail up to my bait in clear 

 water and have a good look at it at close quarters, 

 and then pass it by. A salmon, or sea trout, 

 does not appear to concern himself with the fate 

 of his fellows in a pool ; but this is not the case 

 with the mahser, and the struggles of a captive 

 excite either sympathy or curiosity. 



The hook that mahser cannot break has yet 

 to be made. When a fish takes the bait in 



