90 
THE GOLDEN RIVER. 
good look, and see how deep and thick he is; 
he must be half as heavy again as mine. That 
fish must be caught. He is full of fight; but 
as usual he does not try to get back to the 
stream. He goes down and down, pulling 
irresistibly, but conserving his strength. No 
rod ever made could bring him up yet. My 
companion pulls and levers, and occasionally 
gets him so near that we see his golden side 
gleaming through the glancing water as he 
turns in his struggles, but in an instant he has 
straightened and disappeared. These fights 
with big dorado in still water are long and 
difficult; for a heavy fish will allow himself to 
be dragged out of the current whilst his vigour 
is undiminished, and his might unimpaired. 
He then goes deep down, to the bottom if he can 
get there : and as the bottom of the Parana is 
mostly jagged rocks you had better get him away 
as soon as possible. You may be certain of a 
prolonged battle : until you have experienced it, 
you cannot believe how strong he is. We had a 
powerful rod, cuttvhunk line and piano-wire 
trace, tackle which would have taken the steam 
out of any salmon : my companion held the fish 
to the limit of the rod’s breaking strain: 
pressure which would have brought a salmon up 
to the top had no effect whatever : and the fish 
bored and circled unconcernedly, occasionally 
seen as a wavering shadow, hanging on the line 
head downwards. But I know it cannot last 
