SPINNING AND BAIT FISHING. 415 



that this beautiful and sporting fish is far from being as plentiful 

 as it formerly was, and, indeed, from many rivers the brown 

 trout also has well-nigh disappeared. 



This is the more regrettable inasmuch as a little energy and 

 enterprise on the part of the mine owners, especially owners of 

 lead and copper mines the great offenders would almost, if 

 not wholly, alleviate the mischief. In the case of the former a 

 few catch pits into which the mine washings should pass and be 

 allowed to filter before the water finally reaches the river, would 

 render it perfectly innocuous, and I remember on one of the 

 most beautiful rivers in Devonshire, the Teign, where this pre- 

 caution has been taken, I have repeatedly caught some of the 

 best trout of the day at the very mouth of the filtered outfall 

 The lead in this case, as everyone knows, is merely held * in 

 suspension,' to use the chemical expression, and, therefore, 

 naturally sinks to the bottom by its own gravity, if the oppor- 

 tunity be offered. 



With regard to copper mines the case is somewhat differ- 

 ent, the copper being held ' in solution,' a far more intimate 

 connection, and one which can only be separated by causing 

 the copper to ' precipitate,' as the term is. In order to effect 

 this, however, all that is necessary is to place some old iron at 

 the bottom of the catch pits ; the iron having an affinity for the 

 copper, causes the latter to fall or precipitate, and it is quite a 

 question in my mind whether the process referred to, both in 

 this and the lead water, might not be carried out without any 

 ultimate expense whatever by subsequent treatment of the 

 precipitated and subsident metals. At any rate it is a subject 

 demanding the urgent attention of the Legislature, if only 

 viewed from the standpoint of the just rights of the riparian 

 proprietors, to say nothing of the national importance of pre- 

 serving our streams for the beautifying of the landscape and 

 the enjoyment of the people. It is simply monstrous that mine 

 owners for their individual gain should be allowed to destroy 

 what the Scotch law calls the 'amenities' of all the people 

 below them. Nor is it alone from the sporting or aesthetic 



E E 2 



