æolian music as it stretched and stiffened under the strain to which it was subjected; and for fifty minutes there was such giving and taking, such sulking and rushing, such leaping and tearing, such hoping and fearing, as would have "injected life into the ribs of death," made an anchorite dance in very ecstacy, and caused any true angler to believe that his heart was a kettle drum, every sinew a jews harp, and the whole framework of his excited nerves a full band of music. And during all this time my canoe rendered efficient service in keeping even pace with the eccentric movements of the struggling fish. "Hold him head up, if possible," was the counsel given me, and "make him work for every inch of line." Whether, therefore, he took fifty yards or a foot, I tried to make him pull for it, and then to regain whatever was taken as soon as possible. The result was an incessant clicking of the reel, either in paying out or in taking in, with an occasional flurry and leap which could have been no more prevented than the on-rushing of a locomotive. Any attempt to have suddenly checked him by making adequate resistance, would have made leader, line or rod a wreck in an instant. All that it was proper or safe to do was to give to each just the amount of strain and pressure it could bear with safety - not an ounce more nor an ounce less; and I believe that I measured the

pressure so

exactly that the strain upon my rod did not vary half an ounce from the first to the last of the struggle.

Toward the close of the fight, when it was evident that the "jig was up" and I felt myself master of the situation, I took my stand upon a projecting point in the river, where the water was shallow and where the most favorable opportunity possible was afforded the gaffer to give the struggling fish the final death-thrust, and so end the battle. It was skillfully done. The first plunge of the gaff brought him to the green sward, and there lay out before me, in all his silver beauty and magnificent proportions, MY FIRST SALMON. He weighed thirty pounds, plump, measured nearly four feet in length, was killed in fifty minutes and afforded me more pleasure than any event since—well, say since Lee surrendered. As he was thus spread out before me, I could only stand over him in speechless admiration and delight-panting with fatigue, trembling in very ecstacy, and exclaiming with good old Sir Izaak: "As Dr. Boteler said of strawberries, Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did;' and so, if I may judge, God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling."

This victory was a surfeit for the morning. With other fish in full view, ready to give me a repetition

of the grand sport I had already experienced, I made no other cast and retired perfectly contented. The beautiful fish was laid down lovingly in the bottom of the canoe and borne in triumph to camp, where fish and fisher were given such hearty welcome amid such hilarious enthusiasm as was befitting "the cause and the occasion."

In the afternoon of the same day I killed a twenty-three pound salmon in the same pool in twenty minutes, having, I was sorry to learn on getting back to camp, monopolized the luck of the day, no other member of the party having had so much as a rise. But I was soon eclipsed, both in size and number- how, when, where, by whom, under what circumstances, and amid what intense excitement, I will try and describe anon.

CHAPTER X.

A FEW NOTE-WORTHY INCIDENTS.

Eh, man! What a conceit it is when ye reach a fine run, on a warın spring mornin', the wuds hotchin' wi' birds, an' dauds o' licht noos an' thans glintin' on the water; an' the water itsel' in trim order, a wee doon, after a nicht's spate, an' wi' a drap o' porter in't, an' rowin' an' bubblin' ower the big stanes, curlin' into the linn an' oot o't.-[Norman Macleod, D. D.

UR camp was unusually picturesque, a well preserved lawn separated from the river by a fringe of alders, backed by a few cultivated fields attached to the cottage in our immediate neighborhood, and surrounded by lofty mountains, densely covered from base to summit with spruce, hemlock, maple and birch. Our three white tents constituted a pleasant contrast to the green sward upon which they were pitched, and our dining hall and cook-house were models of adaptability and neatness. The taste displayed in their disposition was due, first, to the military experience of Col. PELL, and secondly, to the austere habits of system, order and neatness for which the deservedly popular

Collector of the Port of New York is distin- . guished. A better arranged camp, combining more of good taste and comfort, never was erected upon any waters. My only objection to it was the fear that the recollection of it would hereafter render me dissatisfied with the straggling, disjointed, haphazard way in which I have always hitherto been content to camp out. A little sound judgment and good taste goes a great way toward making even a fishing camp comfortable and attractive. I have often wondered how tidy wives could bear, with such angelic patience as some of them do, the careless ways of their slovenly husbands. If, as some insist, nothing more contributes to the happiness of a household than habitual neatness, there must be at least one very happy home in our great metropolis.

On the morning of our second day on the river, all hands were ready for work. The several pools were properly divided; each resorted to the one to which he was assigned, with high hopes and confident anticipations. And the result justified all that was hoped for. Gen. ARTHUR, as was proper, led in the score, although not in weight. Mr. DUN stood next; but Col. PELL had caught the champion fish. His first salmon weighed thirty-five pounds! It was a grand achievement, and he bore his honors and good luck with becoming meekness,