SALMON LEGISLATION. 163 



is, that those who once begin this amusement generally 

 grow fond of it, and that they seldom catch cold by 

 it, but generally sleep sound, and find it a cure for 

 the cold. It is true this is most frequently done by 

 young men, but it is also true that men of fifty, sixty, 

 and even seventy, sometimes practise it, and come for 

 miles in the coldest evenings, even in the midst of frost 

 and snow, not so much for the profit as the pleasure this 

 amusement affords/' 



The Tweed Bill of 1857, as introduced, proposed the 

 abolition of leistering only during night, but Parliament 

 extended the prohibition also to the day-time ; and the 

 Act of 1859 rendered illegal even the possession of such 

 a weapon within five miles of the river. It is also well 

 worthy of note that the practice had been abolished by 

 an Act of the Canadian Legislature, even in Labrador, 

 before it was abolished among ourselves the reason, as 

 stated by Mr. Hind, being " the great waste of fish to 

 which it led." 



In some minor, but still important respects, the 

 Tweed Bills also set examples and gave hints to the 

 framers of future and larger measures such as by mak- 

 ing the weekly close-time begin six hours before and 

 last six hours after the twenty-four hours of Sunday ; 

 by prohibiting the killing of foul fish even during the 

 legal fishing season ; by restricting nets as to the size of 

 the meshes (one and three-quarters inch from knot to 

 knot) ; by fixing the closeness, both as to distance and 

 time, with which ordinary or wear-shot nets may be 

 worked ; by attempts towards modifying or removing 

 the obstructions caused by dykes or dams, etc. etc. By 



