A FLY RECOVERED. 29 



to be well fished from the left or eastern bank of the river, 

 and by wading about to yonr knees ; but great caution is 

 requisite in doing so, for the ledge of rock on which you 

 have to tread, shoals away suddenly under water and is 

 very slippery ; so that if the fisherman should take one step 

 too much in advance, or shp or overbalance himself in 

 throwing his line or in playing a fish, he will go pop into 

 eighteen feet water, with a powerful current carrying him 

 towards the fall, — and then I would not be in his coat for 

 the bishopric of Durham. 



The pool on the opposite or western side of the river, 

 which is fished from the island, is equally dangerous from 

 a similar cause, requiring a trusty guide in the first in- 

 troduction to it, and a careful treading at all times. 



In the first-named pool a circumstance occurred to me, 

 which I have often heard has happened to others, but 

 which was the only instance which I ever saiv in a long 

 experience of salmon fishing. About fifteen years ago, 

 I was fishing the pool ; beside me, and holding my gaff, 

 stood Mr. Eoss of the Eifles. I hooked a fish about eieht 



o 



pounds' weight, which made some lively runs and violent 

 leaps ; after a while I brought him sufficiently near to the 

 bank, when Mr. Eoss gaffed him in his usual masterly style, 

 upon which my fly at once fell from his mouth ; whereupon 

 I proceeded to finish him by a blow or two upon the head, 

 when my friend cried out, " Take care of your fly ! take care 

 of your fly ! " Knowing that I had laid my fly carefully 



