258 ROD AND RIVER 



sufficient inducement to carry it through the foul 

 and unctuous flood ; and yet every impediment 

 which the ingenuity or ignorance of man can in- 

 vent is placed in its way. At the very commence- 

 ment of its upward journey it has to encounter the 

 perils of the numerous nets which are spread to 

 ensnare it. Further on there is the awful Styx- 

 like passage to which I have referred, a case of 

 hold your breath and make a bolt for it ; and then 

 the many mills, and weirs, and dams remain to 

 be got through or over. The last-named obstruc- 

 tions are by no means to be easily overcome. 

 One is almost lost in admiration of the pluck and 

 determination displayed by the gallant fish which 

 can encounter such dangers and difficulties as 

 these. No wonder that salmon-fishing is the 

 grand and exciting sport it is. 



It may be observed by some one of my readers 

 that nowadays passes are established on all salmon 

 rivers to assist the progress of the ascending fish. 

 This is so to a very great extent. There are 

 such passes, it is true, but many of them, though 

 constructed at a considerable expense, are next 

 door to useless ; and it is only during heavy 

 floods that the fish can possibly get over them, 

 and even then the difficulty is extreme. They 

 are either too long, too steep, or the channel is 

 situated in the wrong position, and so the money 

 has been utterly wasted and has benefited no one 



