NOTES ON TWO MORE SALMON-RIVERS. 
145 
was only just in time to save a smash. After fighting 
for twenty minutes in mid-stream, he went straight 
down, taking a bee-line for a strong swirl we could 
just discern on the south shore. This I afterwards 
found (by daylight) was caused by a huge boulder 
normally projecting from the river’s brim, but now 
lying quite thirty yards off-shore. In the shelter of 
this sanctuary, despite all I could do, the captive 
remained for forty minutes almost stationary. To go 
down below was not available, and I did not care to 
“SAFE ashore.” 
take to the boat again, as Ole Teigen had just before 
been smashing my line between his strong fingers and 
swearing it was rotten. I therefore decided to play 
for safety, with the result that sixty-five minutes 
elapsed before the fish consented to quit that swirl and 
cross the flooded mead between us. A. put in the galf 
five minutes after midnight, and I was glad to get this 
fish, as his defence, if not brilliant, had been really 
artful, showing both local knowledge and true generalship 
L 
