270 OUT OF DOORS. 



neighbour the benefit of the fish which pass through his 

 waters. Each goes upon the argument that if he, Mr. 

 A., does not catch the young salmon, Mr. B. or Mr. C 

 will be sure to do so, and as the little fish are bettei 

 eating than trout, he may as well obtain the benefit of 

 them while he can. It will be seen, therefore, that 

 supposing the stream to belong to twenty proprietors, 

 and that nineteen of them agree to permit the salmon 

 a free passage through their domains, the recalcitrant 

 twentieth may neutralise all their efforts, and, by fixing 

 weirs and using nets, may intercept every fish as it 

 passes. 



There is another reason why the salmon is driven 

 away from many rivers in which it was formerly plen- 

 tiful, namely, the polluted state of the water. The 

 Thames enjoys an unenviable pre-eminence in foulness ; 

 and though the last two or three years have seen a 

 slight improvement in its condition, it is quite im- 

 possible to predict that a recurrence of the pestilential 

 odours of 1857-8 may not happen in any summer. 

 Even the famed waters of Marseilles harbour, which 

 are said to be extremely valuable to mariners because 

 they kill even the barnacles that adhere to ships, and 

 the molluscs that bore into timber, can hardly be more 

 detestable than the once silver Thames on one of its bad 

 days. No fish can be expected to live under such 

 horrid conditions ; and though a salmon will endure 

 much in its instinctive desire to ascend the stream, it 

 cannot pass through such a horrible element in safety. 



