138 A DAY ON 
To an admirer of nature, perhaps November is the most 
uninviting of any month in the year, even on the best of 
days. All the rich tints of autumnal foliage have vanished, 
and the naked boughs stand out gaunt and bare against the 
cold, grey sky ; all the feathered songsters have fled to their 
winter retreats; the only signs of animal life being an 
occasional rabbit bolting across one’s path, or the familiar 
form of a nimble squirrel darting to and fro on a leatless 
tree, The grayling fisher is apt to fall into an idle reverie 
as he plies his art, forming in his mind a retrospect of the 
days that he has spent upon the stream during the early 
months of spring, when the fresh green buds are bursting 
forth and all nature seems glad; or perchance he may pic- 
ture a scorching day in the midst of summer, when the 
streams are almost dried up, and the smallest of flies moun- 
ted upon the finest of casts fails to deceive the watchful 
trout until the shades of evening begin to fall. Very dif- 
ferent is the aspect of affairs today ; thoughts such as these 
occupying our minds as we walk along ; but here we are at 
the “Sand-bed Stream,” so donning our wading stockings 
we step into the water and commence our fishing. 
We had been at work for about half an hour, but with 
no good result; when suddenly a cry of “I have him,” 
comes from my companion, and turning round I am just in 
time to see the gleam of a large salmon as he dashed out 
into the middle of the river. I immediately came out of 
the water, placed my rod and landing net upon the bank, 
and taking up the gaff, watched the struggle that had just 
commenced ; at the onset the gallant fish rushed to and fro 
stemming the full force of the stream as only a salmon can, 
and bending the rod almost double by his efforts to escape; 
but tiring of this course of proceeding, he next descended 
to the bottom of the river and laid there as motionless asa 
log cf wood. Suddenly, he comes again to the surface, 
lashing the water with his tail, and then merrily the reel 
