A SLEEPING SALMON 169 



such as we made on the two occasions ; more, 

 he would not even have remained where he 

 was in the face of the first intruder who 

 chanced to pass along the bank. I have no 

 doubt in my own mind that what happened 

 was this : the salmon had taken up his 

 " lodge " during high water, lapsed into the 

 torpid condition, and, being undisturbed, 

 remained thus until we discovered him, by 

 which time the water had subsided and run 

 down to a low level. In the reaches where 

 the incident occurred, the river was wont to 

 run off after a short spell of dry weather. 



It has since often occurred to me, when 

 thinking of this event, that it is utterly futile 

 to cast over a fish in this state (state of 

 sestivation). A sleeping salmon — or, at all 

 events, a salmon unconscious, for some reason, 

 of the presence of a man bending over it — 

 would scarcely be in a condition to notice a 

 small object such as a fly ; and as with this 

 particular fish, so probably was the case of all 

 the others of the same species at that time and 

 state of the water. 



Although the salmon sestivates during the 

 summer months, his sleep, as we may call it, 

 is perpetually interrupted by the sudden 

 changes that take place in his native element. 

 An alteration in temperature, or rising of the 



