DEATH TO SWANS. 153 



a hundred and forty millions a heavy price truly to 

 pay for the picturesque appearance of these dire ene- 

 mies of fish-culture. Knowing the mischief they do, 

 Mr Francis detests swans, and prays that every swan 

 may, like the uncommon black swan, become a rara 

 avis in terris, or rather aquis. He suggests, moreover, 

 to the lovers of the picturesque, that a couple of stuffed 

 swans made mechanically to bend their necks now and 

 then, and anchored at some distance from the banks, 

 will be a very comely and decidedly safe addition to 

 the beauties of a river devoted to the culture of fish. 



