APPENDIX. 153 



lite ! The learned counsel no doubt, felt nettled, that 

 a question upon the construction of an Act of Parlia- 

 ment, upon which the twelve judges of the land sat 

 in deliberation, was about to be decided by an en- 

 gineer. No possible blame can, therefore, attach to 

 the Commissioner for undertaking these duties, which 

 are thrust upon him by the Act of 1842, and for 

 which he must feel his insufficiency. The Fishery 

 Acts place these incongruous duties upon the Board 

 of Works, and a Select Committee of the House of 

 Commons have reported, that the Board of Works 

 are not competent to the task. 



I will undertake to make a model for the pass 

 over the Glandelan weir, with my penknife, which 

 shall be perfectly efficient for the purpose intended, 

 and of which pass, the cost of construction by an en- 

 gineer, shall not exceed £20. The money isf public 

 money, and the work is an important pubhc work ; 

 the public, therefore, will not be dissatisfied at these 

 discussions, if they get a pass for £20, instead of £120, 

 and a better article. 



I shall endeavour to diversify these dull details 

 with a few concluding observations, relative to fixed 

 nets ; and I should not for a moment trespass even 

 with these, unless they bore practically upon the sub- 

 ject. 



In a letter recently pubhshed by me, which has 

 been observed upon, I mentioned the capture of a 

 large seal which was taken in the chamber of a bag- 

 net set in the Bay of Dubhn. The seal in question 



h2 



