20 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
fishing your famous pool I found what I feel 
pretty sure were the mortal remains of your big 
fish. He had fallen a prey to an otter, which after 
your long fight with him is easy to understand. 
He lay on a rock just above the place where you 
hooked him, and considerably below where you 
parted company. A large ' steak ' from the 
middle had been removed by his ultimate captor, 
but the head and tail portions were there. From 
examination of his head he had certainly been 
recently hooked firmly on the right side of the 
upper jaw. He was extremely thick, and must 
have been a most handsome fish of at least 35 lb. 
I took home two or three scales, and his age 
apjDcars to have been between four and five years." 
I subsequently learnt that from its condition 
this fish had no doubt been killed some days before 
it was found, and as it seems highly likely it was 
the fish that had defeated me, it must somehow 
or other have got rid of the fly by rubbing it 
against the rocks, a feat which is generally believed 
to be by no means unusual and which in this 
instance would, no doubt, be rendered easier by 
the fact that the hook was a good-sized one, being 
about 2 in. long. 
C, who was with my host at the time, said that 
