2 THE SALMON FISHERIES. 
well. These islands, indeed, watered by numberless 
moderately rapid streams, with gravelly beds and capa- 
cious estuaries, and surrounded by seas teeming with just 
such living creatures as form the favourite food of the 
salmon, would, if only the natural characteristics of the 
rivers could be restored, still rank, area for area, second 
to no salmon-producing country in the world. 
What the salmon fisheries of this country were in times 
past may be partly gathered from old records, and may be 
partly imagined after a comparison of their condition 
within living memory with their condition now. Take the 
Thames for example. The old legend which connects the 
dedication of Westminster Abbey with the salmon fisheries 
of the Thames is worth recalling here. According to the 
version given by the late Dean Stanley in his “ Historical 
Memorials of Westminister Abbey,” “It was on a certain 
Sunday night in the reign of. King Sebert, the eve of the 
day fixed by Mellitus, first Bishop of London, for the 
consecration of the original monastery in the Isle of Thorns, 
that a fisherman of the name of Edric was casting his nets 
from the shore of the Island into the Thames. On the 
other side of the river, where Lambeth now stands, a bright 
light attracted his notice. He crossed, and found there a 
venerable personage, in foreign attire, calling for some one 
to ferry him over the dark stream. Edric consented. The 
stranger landed and proceeded at once to the church, 
standing ready for its impending consecration. The air 
suddenly became bright with a celestial splendour. The 
building stood out clear, without ‘darkness or shadow. A 
host of angels descending and reascending with sweet 
odours and flaming candles assisted, and the church was 
dedicated with the usual solemnities. The fisherman 
remained in his boat so awe-struck by the sight that when 
