86 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
means of the attractions of a Mar Lodge (size 
4/0), to hook a salmon which was not only the 
largest salmon I had ever seen, but also the 
largest seen in that year on the beat I w^as fishing — 
a most exciting struggle of over an hour terminat- 
ing in a wild rush of over 100 yards, the wildest 
rush I, or the keen fisherman I had with me, have 
ever seen, a grand leap high up into the air of this 
splendid clean-run fish, and the line came slowly 
back, the cast having broken a foot from the end. 
Elsewhere (pp. 12-22, supra) I have told of how this 
splendid fish, no doubt exhausted by the struggle, 
was shortly afterwards killed by a far greater 
fisherman than any mere mortal man — an otter. 
Its estimated weight, as far as could be judged 
from its remains, was about 40 lb. The day was 
Friday, April 1, an appropriate day and date for 
such a catastrophe. In the early part of the 
following year I received an invitation from the 
same kindly host to try my luck again in April on 
the same river, but on another and more famous 
beat. I gratefully accepted the invitation, and 
set forth in high hopes and, curiously enough, 
with a strong sense of expectation, I might almost 
say the assurance, of great events. 
For several days after my arrival the river was 
