144 THE BORDER AXGLER. 



angler, as it passes both down and up the Teviot abont 

 the middle of the day. Hawick and its suburb, Wilton, 

 make together a town of nearly 10,000 inhabitants, 

 the head-quarters of the manufacturing industry of 

 the south of Scotland. It is a place of great antiquity. 

 In its inns there is of course ample accommodation for 

 travellers. Within a few weeks of our writing, it will 

 be decided by Parliament whether a railway to unite 

 Hawick with Carlisle shall go by the Slitrigg and the 

 Liddel, in continuation of the North British line, or by 

 the Teviot, Ewes, and Esk, forming a branch from 

 the Caledonian. Either way, a railway through the 

 district will be of advantage to the angler ; but un- 

 doubtedly the former, opening up the Liddel, which as 

 an angling-stream is greatly superior to the Esk, will 

 be much the preferable. 



The Slitrigg enters the Teviot just at Hawick, in- 

 tersecting the upper part of the town. The course of 

 this stream is about ten miles, in greater part very 

 hilly and rocky. Near its source its banks are bare ; 

 and though there are fine woods around Stobbs Castle, 

 a seat of the Elliotts, it is chiefly to its ruggedness 

 that it owes its pictnresqueness. It is a rapid water, 

 and is well stocked with fish that seldom attain a 

 large size. It is greatly frequented by bull-trouts in 

 spawning-time. 



Below Hawick, the vale of the Teviot expands, and 

 its subsequent course of thirty miles is through a rich 

 and beautiful country. We are not exactly informed 

 as to what parts of the river are attempted to be pre- 

 served, but we believe restrictions have been placed 

 upon the angling of late years by several landowners. 



