( 93 ) 



in ponrl-fisliincj ImRboon ndvocnlod, buf, tin's would load to 

 nil exiiauslion of llic banks by reckless fishing. Tlie har- 

 vest of cinchona in South America, and that of teak timber 

 in the Malabar forests, are known to liave been injured l)v a 

 greedy eagerness to bring as much to the market as possible, 

 to kill the goose that lays the golden egg." It may be asked 

 — is the use of fry as manure ( p. cxxxvii) a free industry ? 

 If the man who makes two grains of wheat grow where only 

 one was previously raised is a benefactor to his race, in what 

 position are wo to place that individual in India, Avho, aware 

 how fish can be substituted for grain, not only connives at 

 but argues that its wasteful destruction should be freely per- 

 mitted ? Surely waste, when it is not Avilful, is as a rule 

 the ofTspring of ignorance or prejudice, much as developing 

 Ihe resources of an Empire ought to be the natural conse- 

 quence of matured investigations and conclusions based 

 upon careful scientific enquiries. 



XCIV. The result of fishing without regulations has 

 Rosuit of fishing without re- generally been found <o be destruc- 



gulations elsewhere. tivG to fresll-Watcr flsllCrioS, SO UlUcll 



so that in Great Britain and elsewhere most stringent rules 

 are enforced for their protection, as liberty unrestrained 

 eventuates in license, which last degenerates into dc^structive 

 waste. 31. Sonhciran, in an excellent paper on this subject, 

 remarks that, although normally the fresh-waters of the 

 XJnilcd States contain a large number of excellent fish, they 

 have for many years lost their old fertility, greatly due to 

 the erection of weirs, mill-dams and other obstacles that have 

 been constructed for the jmrposo of facilitating navigation 

 or manufactures. The chief cause of depopulation he holds 

 to be the very common employment of fixed cngiiu'S, which 

 but too well fulfil their purpose. The salmon have almost 

 disappeared, and all-destructive man, in his greed, has 

 succeeded Viut too surely in depopulating the waters. Now, 

 the different States have officers whose duty it is to re-stock 

 the rivers. In Canada, the same decrease is observed, due 

 to the same cause. In Nova Scotia, Mr. Knight in 18G7 

 observed of the river fisheries, that one can without exa"-- 

 gcration compare them to the mines of Golconda, so far that 

 man has at his disposal an inexhaustible wealth, on the 

 sole condition of following the laws of Nature. Instead 

 of this, obstructions have been erected, destructive im- 

 ))lements of capture brought into use, and the fisheries 

 allowed no rest. Now, depoimlaliou of those waters has 



