CHAPTER XXIII 



A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 



The following, a personal experience, went far 

 to convince me that salmon in fresh water 

 pass much of their time in a drowsy, slumber- 

 ous state. 



A friend and myself were trout fishing, in 

 early summer, on an Irish river. The water 

 at the time was dead low, and a bright sun 

 overhead. It was afternoon, and as there was 

 no prospect of sport I was sitting idly on the 

 bank watching my companion, who, with a 

 view to fishing the current in mid-river, was in 

 the act of wading out through a shallow back- 

 water, the bottom of which was strewn with 

 stones and boulders ; in high water a likely 

 enough spot to hold a salmon, but now too low 

 for anything. Presently my friend called to 

 me to the effect that a salmon lay between two 

 boulders just in front of him. In answer, I 

 begged him to remain quietly until I should 

 come out, thinking at the same time he must 

 be mistaken on account of the shallowness of 

 the water. 



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