first leap as he went, which showed him to be
a twenty-pounder at least. We followed with the canoe. On the west side
of the island ran the main channel, wide and deep, gradually increasing
in swiftness till it became a boiling torrent. Into this my fish
plunged, in spite of all my resistance, and all we could do was to
follow. But I soon lost track of him and control of him: sometimes he
was ahead, and I could feel him; sometimes he was alongside, and the
line was slack and dragging on the water, most dangerous of positions;
sometimes the canoe went fastest, and the salmon was behind me. My men
handled the canoe admirably, and brought me through safe, fish and all;
for when we emerged into the still pool below, and I was able to reel
up, I felt him still on the hook, but unsubdued, for he made another run
of thirty yards, and leaped twice.

"That's good," said Joe: "that will tire him."

For the first two hours of the struggle the fish had been quiet, and so
had saved his strength, but now he began to race up and down the pool,
trying for slack line. But Joe followed him up sharply and kept him well
in hand. Now the fish began to jigger, and shook his head so hard and so
long that I thought something must give way--either my line or his
spinal column. After about an hour of this kind of work I called to
Rodman, who was fishing not far off, and asked him to come alongside and
play my fish for a few minutes, so that I might rest my hands, which
were cramped with holding the rod so long; which he did, and gave me
fifteen minutes' rest, when I resumed the rod. The fish now seemed
somewhat spent, for he came to the surface and flounced about, so that
we could see his large proportions. Still, I could not get him
alongside, and I told Joe to try to paddle up to him, but he immediately
darted away from us and headed up stream, keeping a parallel course
about fifty feet off, so that we could see him perfectly through the
clear water. After many efforts, however, he grew more tame, and Louis
paddled the canoe very carefully up to him, while Joe stood watching his
chance with the gaff, which he put deep in the water. At last I got the
fish over it, when with a sudden pull the gaff was driven into him just
behind the dorsal fin; but he was so strong that I thought he would have
taken the man out of the canoe. The water flew in showers, and the big
salmon lay in the bottom of the boat!

I could hardly believe my eyes. That treme