68 SALMONID.E. 



scarcity of large fish in the river, few exceeding eighteen 

 pounds having been caught, and my present fisherman told 

 me he had never seen a clean Salmon above twenty pounds. 

 The reason for this scarcity of large fish was, first, the river 

 down at Berwick was over-fished ; and secondly, all the 

 large spawning-fish were killed during clo.se time by poachers 

 in the upper parts of the river, particularly in the small 

 streams to which the fish resort in such numbers to deposit 

 their spawn. Of course very few were allowed to return to 

 the sea, and consequently few of the old or large fish could 

 return to the river the next season. 



" I may here be permitted to mention that in the month 

 of April 1795, I killed thirty-six Salmon in one day, rod- 

 fishing, one of which, eighteen pounds, I took home. Mr. 

 Yarrell may form some idea of the size and quality of the 

 fish when I tell him that the fisherman received twenty-five 

 guineas for that day's work, not including the fish I took 

 home. The day after, I caught twenty-six. 



" In the month of June of that year, 1795, I killed in one 

 week, between the Monday morning and Saturday night, 

 eighty-two clean Salmon, all in the finest condition, and 

 many of them large fish, which averages near fourteen per 

 day, all but two Salmon. 



" But, alas ! those halcyon days in Tweed are ended ; rod- 

 fishing is all but entirely over, and is now reduced to a few 

 days in spring and a few days in autumn, when the net- 

 fishing ends on the 15th of October. This change has been 

 brought about by draining the sheep farms on the hills, the 

 effect produced being that a little summer flood which took 

 a fortnight or three weeks to run off previous to 1795, is now 

 completely run out in eight hours. The rain which formerly 

 filled the bogs or sides of the hills, and which then kept 

 giving a constant and regular supply to the river, is now 

 carried off at once by these drains to the different feeders, 



