256 ROD AND RIVER 



upon, should result in the various salmon fisheries 

 in Great Britain and Ireland being placed on a 

 footing and brought into a condition of pros- 

 perity such as have not hitherto existed. Very 

 much has been done during the past twenty 

 years; much is being done, and much still remains 

 to be done. 



There must have been a time when salmon 

 were to be found in all of our rivers. Such 

 would doubtless be the case at the present if the 

 fish were allowed free access to them. Their 

 progress is, however, barred by the obstacles 

 which advancing civilization has placed in their 

 way, viz., mills and pollution. 



It is not so very long ago that the Thames was 

 a salmon river, far more recently than the people 

 of to-day are aware. Such it doubtless would 

 still be, were it not for the causes which I have 

 mentioned. The day may yet come when it will 

 again be so a time to be earnestly looked forward 

 to, since not only will the presence of the fish 

 be universally appreciated, but, before such a con- 

 summation can take place, the river itself must 

 first be restored to much of its pristine purity. 

 Already the efforts which have been made to 

 counteract the evils formerly existing have borne 

 good fruit, and the Thames of to-day is a 

 vastly different river to what it was twenty years 

 ago. 



