OF A SALMON. 69 



he may make his escape ere we could catch him ; 

 or that even if caught and pulled up before a 

 magistrate, he may still by some quip or quirk 

 of the law* evade three months' imprisonment; 

 at all events he runs the risk, and if you wait to 

 see the quantity of fish he will pull out, you 

 will acknowledge it is worth some risk to run.* 



Then if the water were lower you would see 

 knots of ragged urchins, stripped of the little 

 breeches that belong to them, wading among the 

 shallow pools, and groping with their hands 

 under the stones for the unfortunate fish that 

 are still detained there; or visit the spot at 

 night, and you would find the torch and the 

 spear in full operation. In short, all means, but 

 especially the illegal ones, by which the poor 

 fish can be taken, are here put in force and 

 your wonder is again excited, that they are not 

 wholly exterminated. 



The weir above this, at Llangollen, differs from 

 it in being a perpendicular one, but equally 



* We are happy to be able to state that these gross 

 practices, which were in full force some twelve months 

 ago, may now be spoken of in the past tense, as existing 

 no longer. The efforts ef the Association, ably sup- 

 ported by Mr. Peel's approval, and the exertions of Mr. 

 Saulsby and Mr. Warters, have put an end to such 

 wholesale poaching ; and the river is too well watched 

 and staked to allow of its being pursued with impunity. 



