248 SPORT AMONGST THE MOUNTAINS 



sport during the day, the compaiisoii of Hies, the 

 arrangement of plans for the morrow. '' Early to 

 bed and early to rise," is a very good motto gener- 

 ally for the sportsman ; but there are seasons when 

 the morning fishing is of but little account, and, 

 mindful of this, we prolong our symposia and our 

 yarns far into the small liours till our stock of 

 anecdotes and tobacco are alike exhausted. 



Many a rich man has paid down his hundreds 

 for the rental of part of a salmon river, and per- 

 haps his fish have cost him twenty to a hundred 

 guineas each. But then again tlie poor professional 

 anglers often make a good living by it, partly by 

 the salmon they catch, and partly by acting as 

 guides and instructors to tourists and amateurs. 

 And here let me tell the reader to take the anec- 

 dotes of his tourist friends anent the salmon they 

 liave killed in Ireland or Scotland cum grano salis. 

 I believe that about nineteen out of twenty fish 

 *' taken" by non-resident amateurs are risen and 

 hooked by Patsy or Sandy aforesaid. 



The most delicate part of the negotiation having 

 thus been effected, the rod is carefully handed to 

 the amateur, and he is instructed how to humour 

 and play the fish, which is gaffed at last, and he 

 may certainly be said to have killed it, though he 

 was not exactly the man who caught it. 



