, wall-eyed pike, and stupid chub. But the
prince of the pool was the fighting ouananiche, the little salmon of St.
John.

Here let me chant thy praise, thou noblest and most high-minded fish,
the cleanest feeder, the merriest liver, the loftiest leaper, and the
bravest warrior of all creatures that swim! Thy cousin, the trout, in
his purple and gold with crimson spots, wears a more splendid armour
than thy russet and silver mottled with black, but thine is the kinglier
nature. His courage and skill compared with thine

"Are as moonlight unto sunlight, and as water unto wine."

The old salmon of the sea who begot thee, long ago, in these inland
waters, became a backslider, descending again to the ocean, and grew
gross and heavy with coarse feeding. But thou, unsalted salmon of the
foaming floods, not landlocked, as men call thee, but choosing of thine
own free-will to dwell on a loftier level, in the pure, swift current
of a living stream, hast grown in grace and risen to a higher life. Thou
art not to be measured by quantity, but by quality, and thy five pounds
of pure vigour will outweigh a score of pounds of flesh less vitalised
by spirit. Thou feedest on the flies of the air, and thy food is
transformed into an aerial passion for flight, as thou springest across
the pool, vaulting toward the sky. Thine eyes have grown large and keen
by peering through the foam, and the feathered hook that can deceive
thee must be deftly tied and delicately cast. Thy tail and fins, by
ceaseless conflict with the rapids, have broadened and strengthened, so
that they can flash thy slender body like a living arrow up the fall.
As Lancelot among the knights, so art thou among the fish, the
plain-armoured hero, the sunburnt champion of all the water-folk.

Every morning and evening, Greygown and I would go out for ouananiche,
and sometimes we caught plenty and sometimes few, but we never came back
without a good catch of happiness. There were certain places where the
fish liked to stay. For example, we always looked for one at the lower
corner of a big rock, very close to it, where he could poise himself
easily on the edge of the strong downward stream. Another likely place
was a straight run of water, swift, but not too swift, with a sunken
stone in the middle. The ouananiche does not like crooked, twisting
water. An even current is far more comfortable, for then he discovers
just how much effort is needed to balance against it,