112 THE BLACK-BACKED GULL 



and he did his utmost in that respect, for he buzzed away 

 forty yards down the canon, and round a bend out of sight, 

 where he set up a prodigious splutter that I could hear, 

 but could not see. It was an anxious quarter of a minute, 

 for I was a fixed point, unable to stir from the ledge 

 where I stood, and if the single gut happened to catch on 

 a rock angle, all would be over for the day, seeing that 

 the sun was on the point of coming out strong. 



It is well to bear in mind that if you want to coax a 

 salmon up-stream when he is pushing into a dangerous 

 neighbourhood, the surest way to do so is to keep a very 

 light pressure upon him. Where there is nothing to fear, 

 never spare him ; from the first moment he is hooked put 

 every ounce of strain upon the tackle that you safely can. 

 But if a fish threatens to leave a pool whence you cannot 

 follow him, just feel him and no more, till he returns to 

 the place where you rose him, which he will usually do if 

 he does not catch sight of you. These tactics answered 

 in this instance. Foot by foot my fish moved upwards 

 again ; then there was a scurry and a tussle on a short 

 line. There was no shallow to tow him into, but he gave 

 a chance as he lay for a moment exhausted on the surface: 

 stooping down, I put the gaff gently over his back, drew 

 it firmly home, and scrambled up the rocks, dragging with 

 me as pretty a Httle fish of eight pounds, fresh from the 

 sea, as a man might wish for. 



XVIII 

 Gulls are very busy on the shallows during the drought. 

 The Black- chiefly the pirate black-back and the black- 

 baoited Gull headed. The latter bears a fairly good charac- 

 ter; minnows are his delight, though he may not be 



