App. B. Fight with a mighty Mahseer. 253 



sport in the early morning fishing, still I was up again 

 next morning by sunrise, and we both tried the pool from 

 the boat, I literally did nothing — did not even stir a fish; 

 but A. landed one of 19 lbs. At 3 p. m I went up the 

 river and fished the head of a small pool, with a glorious 

 stream running into it, close by some jutting rocks. Here 

 I landed a 4-pounder and a 22-pounder with phantom and 

 spoon. I then tried a stream a little higher up. I sus- 

 pect the water was rather too heavy — at least, I stirred 

 nothing; so, having given the lower stream an hour's rest, 

 I returned to it, and put on a natural bait. I soon hook- 

 ed and landed one of 14 lbs., when I put on a fresh bait, 

 intending to have a few more casts before it got dark, it 

 being then a quarter to six, and rather cloudy. The bait 

 had just come across the stream and was entering the 

 backwater, when I felt a vigorous tug, and a monster rush- 

 ed off down stream, with near 100 yards of line before I 

 managed to stop him. Then he tried a run up stream to 

 nearly opposite where I was standing, then down again, 

 then opposite me again, but on quite the further side of 

 the river and there he sulked for the best part of an hour, 

 all of which time I was keeping a very severe pull on him. 

 Unfortunately, I was fishing from a point of rock, and on 

 my left hand, down stream, was what is best described as 

 "a long bay" of dead water, fifty yards or so across, and 

 between it and the stream was a bar, consisting of huge 

 rocks rising to within 2' feet or 3 feet of the surface, but 

 with intervals varying from 2 feet to 6 feet between them, 

 so that getting below the fish was quite out of the ques- 



