42 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



that the young Salmon (for such I contest they are) so 

 destroyed will amount to considerably more than the 

 whole marketable produce of the river. 



"By your present bill I know not how far the local 

 Scotch Acts may be repealed ; but I take the liberty of 

 suggesting that it would be for the public benefit if 

 the usage of a pout net in close time were made punish- 

 able by a fine. The inhabitants of almost every cottage 

 have these nets, which are taken out under pretence of 

 catching Trout, which no one but a proprietor has a 

 right to do in such a way. I have heard that above a 

 thousand Salmon have been taken in a small space of 

 the Tweed by these nets during close time. They are 

 most destructive below the backs of caulds, where the 

 fish collect in order to ascend. 



" I should have mentioned before, that what we call 

 the Parr in the Tweed goes by various other names in 

 the different rivers of Great Britain, which is a material 

 circumstance to note. 



" If you are desirous of any further information on 

 this subject, I shall most readily give you such as may 

 be in my power. What I have already said is of a 

 nature that cannot make me be suspected of having 

 any private or party view to answer. 



" I have the honour to be," &c, &c. 



The above being the first draught, I omitted to put 

 a date to it; but it was written many years before 

 Mr. Shaw's experiments. For Mr. Kennedy's bill, to 

 which my letter alludes, was brought in on the 15th of 

 April, 1825, and thrown out on the second reading. 



