162 THE SALMON. 



the upper parts of the country, though it is against the 

 law, seem to wink at their tenants for destroying as 

 many of them as they can, and preventing them from 

 going down the river again ; and thousands of salmon 

 are not only killed in the river Spey, in the Aven, and 

 other rivers that run into it, but also, I believe, in most 

 rivers in Scotland, particularly in the northern counties, 

 by what they call blazing or torch-light, and which they 

 do in the following manner : When it grows dark, at 

 or near a shallow part of the river, where, during Novem- 

 ber, December, and part of January, the fish are gener- 

 ally busy in making a bed for spawn, four or five people 

 meet, and having stripped the lower part of the body 

 naked, and having a strong barbed hook (trident), with 

 a long handle, one carrying a large torch of lighted fir, 

 split from the roots of trees found in the moss, they 

 instantly rush into the water, where the fish are busy, 

 and while the fishes know not what to do, astonished at 

 the sudden light, many of them are killed with the long 

 barbed hooks. In many places of the Spey, this is 

 generally repeated several times of an evening; nay, 

 sometimes, now and then, from four or five, when it 

 grows dark, till daylight next morning ; as the fish that 

 have escaped never fail, after some time, to return to 

 their spawning again ; and, though there is not a doubt 

 that fish in this state are not only what is termed foul, 

 but also unwholesome, yet they are eaten, and often sold 

 at a high price, sometimes even a shilling a pound ; and 

 although to the delicate and luxurious it will appear a 

 strange amusement, on a cold winter evening, to wade 

 up to the neck in water and pieces of ice, yet certain it 



