A GENERAL SURVEY. 3 



ring fence of island surf. It is not possible for any angler 

 to explore and discover a new river. But let us be thankful, 

 if we know the worst we also know the best. We know 

 that, by careful conservation, by spread of knowledge upon 

 matters connected with fishes and their food, and by the 

 possibilities of applying to their homes some of the sanitary 

 principles which we are beginning to find out ought not to 

 be neglected by human kind, angling in Great Britain 

 has vastly improved, and may in the future be improved to 

 an almost indefinite extent. There are, no doubt, streams 

 once renowned for their sport, that have been as nearly 

 overfished as any streams can be, and there would be room 

 for despair but for the certainty that the evil can and will 

 be remedied. 



If a tenth portion, or a twentieth, of the sound advice 

 given in the Papers and discussions of the International 

 Fisheries Exhibition Conferences, and in the Handbooks pub- 

 lished during the summer, were carried out with regard to 

 our lakes and rivers, there would be no necessity to indulge 

 in the unwholesome luxury of sighing after the sleepy old 

 days of our grandmothers. And, in time, theory will have 

 fruition in practice ; rivers that are to-day polluted will 

 sparkle clear ; trout that are starved, ugly, and unhappy 

 from causes well known not to be beyond control, will be as 

 merry as the denizens of the Tennysonian brook ; depleted 

 streams will be once more dimpled with rises ; and the 

 'prentice boys may again have the opportunity of protesting 

 against too much salmon, and have that protective clause 

 (purely imaginary, there is every reason to believe), of 

 which so much has been written, inserted in their 

 indentures. 



In confirmation of the humble belief which is expressed 

 at the beginning of this chapter, let me proceed to the 



B 2 



