60 SALMON FISHING IN THE TWEED 



not in that respect dissimilar to the rest. I do not 

 mean to hint that the blackamoor was dyed by his 

 dead companions, because I think that a wet cloth 

 would have produced the same effect ; but it seems 

 extraordinary that the water, which had no effect 

 upon his colour when living in the river, should 

 have so decided a one after he was dead, — not 

 bringing back the original dye, but removing the 

 dark tint entirely. 



But to return to my subject. 



It is an undoubted fact that salmon ascend some 

 rivers much earlier than others. I have rented 

 fisheries both in Tweed and Tay, and to my own 

 knowledge the latter river is a month earlier than 

 the former. The Esk and the Eden both fall into 

 the Solway Firth, and are only separated at their 

 mouths by a sharp point of land ; yet, according 

 to the statement of Mr. Howard, 1 a proprietor and 

 renter of the river Eden, new fish go up that river 

 three months before they ascend the Esk, and the 

 month of February is one of the greatest produce 

 there. The Irthing falls into the Eden, and may 

 be a fourth of its water ; but no salmon run up it, 

 except in spawning time. Now the waters of the 

 Eden may be presumed to be of a warmer tempera- 

 ture than those of the Esk, which latter is a brawl- 

 ing shallow stream, wider also than the Eden, 

 which is of a deeper and more tranquil nature. 



Snow water is offensive to fish, and they will 

 not ascend a river whilst it is impregnated with it. 2 



1 Evidence before Select Committee in 1825, p. 140. 



2 This is erroneous, as acquaintance with some of the smaller, yet 

 very early, rivers in the north of Scotland will prove. The Thurso, 



