171 SALMON. 



become enlisted on the side of protection to the spawning fish, 

 instead of destroying them. 



It is the season of passing upward of the emigrants in the 

 spring and summer, that forms the harvest of the proprietors 

 of the river fisheries in the northern portion of the United 

 Kingdom; and omitting for the present those methods of 

 catching Sahnon, which come under the nature of commerce, 

 now is the time when the angler seeks his principal employment 

 and pleasure; an extended account of which we find it unne- 

 cessary to give, both from the space it would occupy in our 

 pages, and also because it is so well accomplished by writers 

 who have made it the special object of their volumes; but of 

 these perhaps the most pleasing and satisfactory that has come 

 within our notice is by a gentleman, who takes the name of 

 Ephemera, but who is said to be otherwise known as Edward 

 Fitzgibbon, Esq. We may judge of the eagerness with which 

 this sport is followed, when we read the frequent announcement 

 of the temporary liberty of fishing to be let at rent for prices 

 which must render the river more profitable to the owners than 

 is the land through which it flows. It is bargained for in 

 proportion to the number of rods intended to be used; and 

 £150 are demanded for the privilege of fishing with four of 

 these rods on a specified stream; with the addition, that those 

 w^ho use them must be of one family. In another part of 

 Scotland the thrifty owner of the right of fishing demands for 

 each day's amusement with tw^o rods twelve shillings and 

 sixpence, with the surrender to him of the fish caught, or one 

 guinea if the angler shall retain what has fallen to his rod. It 

 has been remarked that at these prices every Salmon that is 

 taken will have cost £3 or £4 to the fisherman; but this is an 

 erroneous estimate, and, on the other hand, the health acquired 

 and the amusement obtained after long confinement amidst other 

 pursuits, and in the confinement of a city, are to be considered 

 as the proper equivalent for all the cost that is expended in 

 the sport. It is to be regretted however that by the appro- 

 priation of almost every river in these districts, little space is 

 left for the benefit of the casual and less ■wealthy angler; and 

 even the more distant rivers of SAveden and Norway have been 

 sought out and appropriated for the same purpose and at a 

 similar cost. 



