44 THE BORDER ANGLER. 



to carry off from under the nose of the angler the pot 

 of roe he is fishing with, and for which, like an ass, 

 he had paid at the rate of 10s. per pound. 



Apropos of bailiffs and penalties, we may conclude 

 this chapter with a word of caution to anglers inex- 

 perienced on the Borders. In the spring, on the Tweed 

 and most of its tributaries, the angler, while fishing for 

 trouts, may happen to catch something else,- which may 

 turn out a Tartar. Bull-trout kelts will very readily, 

 and salmon and grilse kelts will occasionally, take the 

 ordinary flies and baits of the trout-fisher. Hitherto 

 there has been nobody to meddle with him in such 

 case, save perhaps the keeper of the salmon-proprietor 

 (who might not be very difficult to mollify), as there 

 has been no law against the killing of these fish. But 

 under the amended Act the murder of a kelt is now 

 a punishable offence; and, should the angler hook one, 

 he must return it to the water as little harmed as pos- 

 sible. Then, before the kelts are fairly out of the rivers, 

 the smolts make their appearance in them. About 

 the beginning of April, the parr assumes silvery scales, 

 is denominated a " smout," and is taken under the 

 protection of the police. (Why the poor parr should 

 have been left friendless during the first year, or, it 

 may be, two years of its existence, we do not know, 

 although we are hardly disposed to suggest an exten- 

 sion of the bailiff's sympathies to it.) From that time 

 to about the end of May, shoal after shoal of fry pass 

 downwards to the sea, and it is frequently difficult to 

 throw a fly into the water without hooking a srnolt. 

 They may be killed by the dozen by any one who can 



