This section is from the book "Moose-Hunting Salmon-Fishing And Other Sketches Of Sport Being The Record Of Personal Experiences Of Hunting Wild Game In Canada", by T. R. Pattillo. Also available from Amazon: Moose-Hunting, Salmon-Fishing and Other Sketches of Sport: Being the Record of Personal Experiences of Hunting Wild Game in Canada.
Had they been alone when this happened, as they were likely to have been, doubtless both would have been drowned, for the suction, which is very strong the whole length of the boom, was doubly so here, as I found by this experience. They would have been swept by it into the fish-pass eddies, and against the rocks there by the rolling, tumbling, eddying billows. It was some time before they gathered confidence sufficient to complete the crossing. In the mean time I ran up on the bank and obtained the assistance of two men off the road, which materially assisted me by getting a second plank for the ladies to walk up on. Mrs. 0. exhibited a very different spirit from her lord, as she specially requested that nothing should be said about the occurrence that their men could hear, until the afternoon's fishing was over. There was a short direct road to Fair-view Hotel, at which they were stopping, and thither I directed them, so that they could reach it without being exposed to the public eye. Their gratitude knew no bounds. It is fifteen years since this occurred, and the very recalling of it at this distant day makes me shudder. When I grasped after Mrs. 0. my rod was in one hand and the salmon in the other, but what became of them I know not, nor had I thought of them until those men arrived on the scene. The rod I found resting with a butt in a link of the boom-chain, with the tip on an old log, safe and sound. But the salmon was never seen again. As this was all the excitement wanted for one afternoon, I left my rod at Lew's, and sought repose in the tent. This ended scene the second.
The next morning we were all on the ground S. and F. occupying the pool of the day before. As the officers could only procure two boats, and very indifferent guides. S., generous soul that he was, gave Captain C. his boat and guide, with the pool which he could claim by possession, and until six of that afternoon, paying himself for the boat and guide, the understanding being that the captain would hand her back then. In the mean time he took the cook from the tent, and went several miles up the river, exploring the pools there. At the appointed hour we came for the boat, and it was handed over. By the aid of the guide the officers had hold of three fish and lost them all, proving, as we all concluded before, that they were novices at the business. F. had captured two during the day, and I got one off the shore, opposite the tent.
Now, my reader would naturally suppose that any man, let alone one claiming to be a fisherman, who had been so generously treated, would have been satisfied, and have left the pool to S. that day at least unmolested. Did he? Not so, but went off to that same rooky shoal of the day before, and repeated his programme. This is mentioned here that you may the better understand what kind of men no, not men, but " fellahs " some of them were, so that what is related farther on may be the better understood by you. It must be readily seen that such actions were not tending to gender the friendly feelings which should exist among sportsmen. He hesitated not to tell S. that he was determined to have that particular pool the next day, let what might happen. F,'s or Lew's boat was landed every night on the shore of the pool, so that the pool could be occupied with little effort or commotion. To carry into effect his declaration, he secured one of the other officer's boats, had it poled up to and on the head of the pool, remaining in it alone all night. When daylight came, instead of holding the ground with his boat, which was the only way it could be done, the ignoramus of fishing laws poled his out of and away from it 50 yards or more, leaving it open for anybody else.
At this juncture, F. and Lew, who had been resting at the latter's house, put in an appearance, intending and expecting to go to a lower pool, but finding the old one unoccupied, pushed off their boat, anchored and began fishing. Shortly after the captain's guide came, when they dropped their boat down against F.'s, and he began fishing also, throwing his line wherever F. did. Right here permit me to say that if the officer's boat had been occupying the pool when F. went down the shore to his boat, it would have been his by occupation. As he was not, however, his absence cancelled any prior claim, even had he been in possession a week before vacating it. The moment he moved outside the limits of the pool, that moment he forfeited his claim. My readers, experienced fishermen, I am positive, will endorse the view as being the recognized law among anglers. It becomes necessary here, for explicitness, to introduce some other characters in the shape of " orderlies " private soldiers in this case the officers' servants, mainly employed in looking after their horses. The other men, the major and captain, with these servants, were at the hotel over night, and at this particular stage in the morning's fun, the last three appeared on the bank, the latter moving down to the shore nearest the boats.
That morning I was early at the mill-side, fishing the pool out of which my capture came the previous afternoon. Seeing that trouble was brewing, and lively times might be the result, I reeled up my line and crossed over. The bank opposite the boats, and where the officers stood, was very abrupt, the ground 10 feet from the river, being 20 or more feet above it. When Captain C. noticed his companions at hand, he cut the mooring of F.'s boat, necessitating his guide Lew poling her to the shore. As she landed, an orderly at the edge seized his pole, and pushed her again into the stream. Fortunately, there was a spare pole, with which she was checked. That was a dangerous manoeuvre for that man, as when old giant Lew took up that second one, all the buried ugly of the Indian stood out in bold relief, when he said, " D n you! Touch this, if you dare, and it will go through you ! Remember! " Fred, noticing this, and knowing the terrible temper of his guide when aroused, had his boat moved across to the mill breastwork. In the mean time S. and his guide, who were fishing a lower pool, seeing unusual commotion in F.'s neighbourhood, had gone there also. As soon as F. left the disputed ground and crossed over, the captain's boat came ashore, and took the second one off. When this was done, and done with such an exhibition of delight, the ugly in my composition became roused, and considering them interlopers, I hurled a good-sized stone into the pool, concluding it would be some time before a salmon would be seen there. They evidently thought so too, for they at once came to the shore, and marched straight up to me. A moment or two before the major came on the scene, and was talking to me, when the captain thus accosted me
 
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