122 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
very lightly hooked, and if it had run or jumped 
at all it would almost certainly have got off. It 
weighed within a few ounces of the weight of 
the fish which had given me such a tremendous 
battle, and yet, owing to the extraordinary skill 
of Sandy with the gaff, and the speed with which 
my brother had acted, this fish occupied us only 
as many minutes as the other one had hours ! 
We continued to fish for a short time, but it 
became dark so rapidly that very soon we had 
to stop, and without a further rise of any kind. 
