188 LEAVES FROM A GAME BOOK. 



1894 the Marquis of Huntly issued a circular to 

 Deeside anglers asking them to refrain from gaffing 

 the kelts — an appeal which should commend itself to 

 all good fishermen, not only on the banks of the Dee, 

 but on every other river where rods are plied in the 

 early spring. To gaff the kelts is the custom in 

 many places, and anglers have doubtlessly become so 

 habituated to the practice as to unthinkingly lend 

 themselves to its perpetuation. In this matter the law 

 of the land is a most half-hearted piece of legislation, 

 which badly requires alteration. At present anyone 

 found in possession of a kelt may be fined five 

 pounds, which penalty was no doubt directed against 

 poachers and the traffic in and export of foul fish. 

 The law having thus emphatically recognised the use- 

 fulness of the kelt, nevertheless allows anglers to 

 destroy them in great numbers by the gaff, and so 

 long as the mortally wounded fish is cast back to 

 the river, legal requirements are fulfilled ; therefore, 

 as the statute now stands, an angler may fearlessly 

 kill any number of kelts as long as he does not 



