158 LAKES AND RIVERS. 



CHAPTER VII. 



SOME OF THE TYPICAL RIVERS AND THEIR FISHERIES. 



THE Tyne, which is formed of two streams meeting 

 near Hexham in Northumberland, has thence a course 

 of thirty-five miles, till it reaches the German Ocean. 

 From the source of its northern stream the distance is 

 about eighty miles ; this stream rises in the Cheviot 

 Hills ; the southern branch rises in the mountains of 

 Cumberland. The Carlisle and Newcastle Railway 

 passes along the course of this branch till it reaches the 

 latter city. The river is navigable for vessels of four 

 hundred tons up to Newcastle, and for several miles 

 further up by boats. The Tyne's greatest importance 

 is owing to its carrying to the sea the coals for which 

 the district has so long been famous. In former years 

 the Tyne salmon were abundant, but the locks built 

 on the river, and the pollution caused by traffic and 

 manufactories have worked their usual havoc. In 

 prospect of Parliament interfering to protect the 

 fishery and thus to restore former prosperity, the cele- 

 brated Thomas Bewick, " father of wood-engraving," 

 wrote the following letter : 



" NEWCASTLE, April 26th, 1824. 

 " I have met with few things in passing through life 

 that have given me more pleasure than the informa- 

 tion you have this morning imparted to me respecting 



