CHAP, in.] TOURIST-TALK ABOUT FISH. 79 



esque Shocliy, and I will manage to fill my basket with fish 

 worth taking home ; but away with your Thames gudgeon, 

 they can only satisfy a Cockney linendraper." 



Verily my shrewd Scottish friend, with his reminiscences 

 of monster fish and his fervid manner, waxed eloquent ; he 

 even startled the priest ; and as for the Englishman he looked 

 quite chapfallen. I had to come to the rescue, and defended 

 as well as I could Thames angling, and reminded the enthusi- 

 astic Caledonian that they once had very fine salmon in the 

 Thames, and would some day, if all goes well, have them 

 again ; and that gudgeon -fishing in the midst of such fine 

 scenery was at least a healthy and happy way of having a 

 pleasant day's " out," even if the sport was not quite so fierce 

 as hunting for salmon in the river Isla at the " Brig o' Kiven." 



The salmon of the Tay, it was also hinted to the news- 

 agent, were not so famous as those of the Severn. " But we 

 have twenty for your one," was the quick reply, " and at 

 the Stormontfield breeding-ponds we are raising them by the 

 hundred thousand. The rental of the Tay, sir, is equal to what 

 the whole revenue of the French fisheries was a year or two 

 ago." " Very likely, sir," I replied ; " but then the Tay is what 

 you may call a Highland stream good for fish, no doubt ; 

 and the Thames is a splendid river in its own way, but no one 

 pretends that it is a fish river ; it is the highway of the greatest 



commerce in the world, and " " Pooh, man," said the 



Scotchman, " the Tay is as celebrated for commerce as for fish. 

 Have you ever been to Dundee?" And then, chuckling to 

 himself at his rather rich idea of comparing Dundee to Lon- 

 don, my friend sank back in his corner of the carriage and 

 looked as if he could have slain a thousand London gudgeon- 

 fishers, and the twinkle in his eye waxed brighter and brighter 

 as he continued his chuckle. 



As even the longest journey will come to an end, the train 

 arrived in due time at Mulhouse, or Mulhausen, as it is called 



