94 The Confessions of a Poacher. 



with them. In outlying country towns with 

 salmon and trout streams in the vicinity, 

 poaching is carried on to an almost incredible 

 extent. There are men who live by it and 

 women to whom it constitutes a thriving trade. 

 The " Otter," more thrifty than the rest of us, 

 has purchased a cottage with the proceeds of 

 his poaching ; and I know four or five families 

 who live by it. Whilst our class provide the 

 chief business of the country police courts, and 

 is a great source of profit to the local fish and 

 game dealer, there is quite another and a 

 pleasanter side, to the picture. But this later. 

 The wary poacher never starts for the fishing 

 ground without having first his customer ; and 

 it is surprising with what lax code of morals 

 the provincial public will deal, when the silent 

 night worker is one to the bargain. Of course 

 the public always gets cheap fish and fresh fish, 

 so fresh indeed that sometimes the life has 

 hardly gone out of it. It is a perfectly easy 

 matter to provide fish and the only difficulty lies 

 in conveying it into the towns and villages. I 

 never knew but what I might be met by some 



