SINGULAR PROPERTIES OF COMMON SALT. 165 



jars. In curing salmon-roe for bait, the preservation 

 of its natural colour should always be kept in view. 

 The sweetness of taste also, is a matter upon which 

 some English anglers lay great stress. If by that is 

 meant freedom in the flavour of the roe from salt, I 

 take the liberty of differing with them, for there is no 

 doubt that independent of the properties of the roe 

 itself, that substance possesses qualities of its own, 

 highly attractive in their nature. These, in regard to 

 wild animals of various kinds, are well known. They 

 are exemplified in the instance of what is termed by 

 the American hunter a salt lick, or moist spot of ground 

 highly impregnated with the mineral in question. To 

 this deer and game of all descriptions repair from great 

 distances, lured by the inviting nature of the salt. I am 

 of opinion, therefore, that the flavour of this substance 

 is very agreeable to trout, in common with other ani- 

 mals, and that a measure of the success met with by 

 the angler in fishing with salmon-roe is owing to its 

 liberal use ; nay more, I am inclined to believe that fish 

 might readily be congregated to one spot, by the judi- 

 cious placing of a fragment of rock-salt at the head 

 of some stream or pool. 



I shall now very briefly direct the attention of the 

 reader to the tackle best adapted for roe-fishing, inter- 

 spersing a few instructions as to the proper mode of 

 angling with this bait. The hook, commonly used on 

 Tweedside, is a single one, No. 9 or 10, round bend, 

 tied on a good strong gut, as if for worm-fishing, in the 

 coarse, ordinary style. A pair of these are frequently 

 employed at one and the same time, fastened to the 

 foot-line, at the distance of a yard from each other, the 

 angler occasionally appending a worm, instead of roe, 

 to the upper one. The salted leaf is what is generally 



