52 THE ADVENTURES 



to point between the jetty s. But is that all ? 

 Ah! there's a boat shooting out from one of 

 those piers ; lower down another, farther still 

 another; and up the river too: and each boat 

 pays off its stern, as it skims along, a heap of 

 net, a line attached to which is left in the hands 

 of a fisherman ashore, while the advancing boat 

 drops into the water a large semicircle of dancing 

 corks, enclosing the entire breadth of the river 

 from point to point, which the boat soon reaches : 

 the rower jumps ashore and hastily assists his 

 fellow in hauling in the net ; it takes them . a 

 good fifteen minutes ere they get the wide semi- 

 circle diminished to the compass of a moderate 

 sized table cloth ; then gingerly and cautiously 

 they draw the remaining ' purse ' ashore, anxi- 

 ously looking for the troubled waters the 

 indignant splash, which would betray the pre- 

 sence of a worthy captive ; but no ! our salmon 

 is not there this time. We will leave them to 

 prepare their net again, and walk on towards 

 Chester. 



This, now, is legal fishing ; and very hard 

 work it is. These are legal nets, of- two and a 

 half inch mesh, and some two hundred yards 

 long. They cannot, you see what with rowing, 

 hauling in, preparing their nets afresh, and free- 

 ing them from thorns and rubbish make a cast 



