AS TO TROUT-FISHING. 79 



titled to confer on a purchaser of a portion of his 

 estate all the privileges he himself enjoyed, in- 

 cluding that of angling. This decision, followed 

 to its logical conclusion, would seem to confer on 

 the owner of a small strip of ground on the mar- 

 gin of any of our inland seas the power to 

 multiply indefinitely the number of persons en- 

 titled to fish in its waters ; but some of the judges 

 indicated that if a case of this kind were to arise 

 the court might interfere to protect the interests 

 of the other proprietors. This, however, being 

 mere expression of opinion, has not the authority 

 of a formal judgment. 



Although the landowners have, as we have seen, 

 the exclusive right of fishing in private rivers 

 and lochs, they have no right of property in the 

 fish themselves. To use the legal term, trout 

 are ferae naturae, and the rule is that so long as 

 they retain their natural liberty they belong to 

 no one. The practical result of this is that an 

 angler who has captured trout by rod and line 

 is entitled to retain them, even although he 

 may have been fishing without permission. 



A proprietor who finds any one angling in his 

 water is entitled to order the offender off, and, if 

 necessary, to use force to compel him to leave. 

 It must be kept in view, however, that if more 

 violence is employed than the occasion requires, 

 there may be a claim for damages. If any one 



