190 LEAVES FBOM A GAME BOOK. 



thirty-five were clean, or an average of between seven 

 and eight foul fish for every fresh-run one ; but this 

 was an exceptionally heavy take of kelts. There are but 

 few anglers who would grumble if a fine were imposed 

 on gaffing a kelt, which would be a better plan than 

 forbidding the carrying a gafi" until after a certain 

 date, as is now being done on a few rivers, the landing 

 net required for salmon being perforce so large as to 

 entail the necessity of a gillie to carry and use it ; 

 moreover, there are numbers of anglers who delight in 

 going out quite alone, as well as others who cannot 

 afford the expense of an attendant, and thus I would 

 make it a fineable ofi'ence to put cold steel into a kelt, 

 and then leave each angler to his own devices. I am 

 credibly informed that kelt sells for sixpence a pound 

 in Aberdeen, so, therefore, any penalty should be 

 sufficiently heavy to forbid the making of a profit after 

 payment of the fine. How people can be found to 

 purchase kelt passes my comprehension, for out of 

 curiosity I once had the middle slice from a large, 

 " well mended " one boiled, and anything more horrid, 



