2 74 Notes on Spoi't and Travel i 



well for the loss of a pound or two when brought to 

 scale. Of course the gentle tourist need not expect 

 to have salmon-fishing for the mere asking, A 

 salmon-river is far too valuable a piece of property 

 to be left open to the world. If it were, who 

 is to pay for the preserving ? And without water- 

 bailiffs, who must be paid, how many salmon would 

 there be left for anybody ? Just the exact number 

 to be found by the said anybody in the open Welsh 

 rivers, a quantity very easily ascertained by any one 

 who tries them. The rivers are let, some for sport, 

 some for profit, many for both, in all cases employing 

 a considerable number of men, and furnishing large 

 quantities of valuable food. If you want salmon- 

 fishing, put money in thy purse, and having that, 

 you may indeed get fishing worth the paying for ; 

 that is to say, if you are content to wait till one of 

 the present renters is gaffed by grim Gilly Death, 

 for nothing but his interference, or a hopeless 

 bankruptcy, would ever make the renter of a 

 Sutherland river give it up to any one else. There 

 are, however, two or three rivers where salmon- 

 fishing may be had by the day ; and among 

 these is the beautiful lower Shin, This river has 

 one great advantage, — you are sure to have a 

 pleasant way of spending your Sunday afternoon, 

 which, if you are neither ' Free ' nor ' Estaiblished,' 

 may chance to hang a little heavy on your hands in 

 a Highland inn without books. If you can enjoy a 

 quiet study of natural beauty, you have merely to 



