THE SALMON 68 



" He seems fairly tired, I shall bring him into shore. Now 

 gaff him ; strike as near the tail as you can. He is safe ; we 

 must prepare him for the pot. Give him a stunning blow on 

 the head, to deprive him of sensation ; and then give him a 

 transverse cut, just below the gills and crimp him, by cutting, 

 so as almost to divide him into slices, and hold him by the 

 tail that he may bleed. There is a small spring I see, close 

 under that bank, which I dare say has the mean temperature 

 of the atmosphere in this climate, and is much under fifty de- 

 grees ; place him there, and let him remain ten minutes, and 

 then carry him to the pot and let the water and salt boil furi- 

 ously, before you put in a slice ; and give time for the water 

 to recover its heat before you put in another ; leave the held 

 out, and throw in the thickest pieces first " 



