THE ANGLERS SOUVENIR. 



279 



captures the finny tribe by unfair or illegal means 

 as strongly as a fox-hunter hates a fox-killer, or a 

 strict Sabbatarian hates a sinner who enjoys a 

 Sunday afternoon's walk and the glimpses of nature 

 it may afford him. There is also a line drawn 

 between the man who fishes for amusement alone 

 and him who fishes for profit. The division in the 

 latter instance may not be so broad as in the 

 former, but nevertheless it is wide enough to dis- 

 tinctly separate the two classes. Now we think 

 the fair and amateur angler is, in a great many 

 nstances, unaware of the shifts and dodges adopted 

 by the poacher and pot-hunter to fill their pockets, 

 and of the consequent hindrance to his own sport . 

 Therefore, by way of warning, of information, and 

 possible amusement, we have noted down a few of 

 the instances which have come under our own 

 observation. And as we do not expect any poacher 

 to read this book, our revelations will do no harm 

 by way of suggestion. 



Let any one take a boat and row dcwn the 

 sluggish Yare from the commission-haunted old 

 city of Norwich, as the shades of evening arc 

 darkening the river, and he will see several un- 

 couth, rough-looking boats being slowly impelled 

 down-stream by rougher-looking men. He will 

 notice that they have short, stout rods and long 

 poles in their boats ; and if he watches them, he 

 will presently see them take up their stations by 

 the margin of some reed-bed, or in a quiet bay of 



