234 THE MISTASSINI EIVER AND ITS FIFTH FALLS 



feet from its base and six from the brink — is a fairly 

 deep cavity in tlie rock, forming a miniature pond 

 twentj"^ to thirty feet in length by ten in width, into 

 which the ouananiche may often be seen to leap from 

 below, sometimes after repeated failures, and from 

 whicli others may be seen ascending into the stream 

 above. It may at first sight appear improbable that 

 the ouananiche should overcome a sheer fall of twelve 

 feet or thereabouts, but it will be remembered by 

 readers of Forest and Stream that Mr. A. N. Cheney 

 has proved, by the evidence of Professor A. Landmark, 

 that the Atlantic salmon in Norwegian rivers has 

 made perpendicular leaps of sixteen feet. Resting 

 a while in this pool, the ouananiche will sometimes 

 rise to the fly or take a bait, and then ensues a strug- 

 gle. When he feels the barb the fish instinctively 

 seeks to escape by endeavoring to return to the heavy 

 waters whence he came, and, despite the angler's ef- 

 forts, some fish when hooked have succeeded in this 

 endeavor, and yet by skilful manipulation have been 

 eventually saved and brought to net. There are 

 favorite spots for the sport all over the wide, foam- 

 bedecked pool below the falls, where, at almost all 

 times from the middle of July to the 1st September, 

 under favorable conditions, the fish will take the fly. 

 I have said " under favorable conditions," because I 

 have known of times when the fish were undoubted- 

 ly there, but could not be tempted at all. This was 

 usually due to the fact that they had been frightened 

 by the presence of too many anglers and canoes upon 

 the pools, and the consequent troubling of the w^aters. 

 Those who enjoy the reading of a piece of pleasant 



