CH. XXXII. CONTEST WITH A SALMO FEROX. 187 



Again the reel is whirring round so rapidly, that 

 you feel your line must break in spite of all your 

 fancied skill. But no — he stops suddenly, and 

 again seems inclined to wind your line round and 

 round the boat ; or, by Jove ! to upset you, if he 

 can, by running against its keel. If there is a pro- 

 jecting nail, or a notch in the wood, he manages to 

 get the line fixed in it. After you have cleared your 

 tackle from this danger, off he darts again. Your 

 Highland boatman swears in Gaelic ; you perhaps 

 follow his example in English — at least, to a cer- 

 tainty you blame him for rowing too fast or too slow, 

 and begin to think that you would give a guinea to 

 be honourably rid of the fish, without discredit to 

 your skill as an angler. At last your enemy appears 

 exhausted — you have been long exhausted yourself 

 — and floats quietly near the surface. But, at the 

 critical moment of placing the gaff in a position to 

 secure him, he flaps his tail, and darts off again as 

 strong as ever, taking good care to go right under 

 the boat again. At last, however, patience and good 

 tackle and skill begin to tell ; and, after two or three 

 more feeble efforts to escape, your noble-looking 

 fellow of a trout is safely lodged in the bottom of 

 the landing-net. 



Inverness-shire and the west of Ross-shire and 

 Sutherland are intersected by numerous excellent 



