Salmon Fishing. 211 



and so bent upon the furtherance of their own 

 amusements, as to try to exclude others from 

 any participation in them. 



If right then in my surmises, instead of en- 

 couraging hard thoughts of us, and aggravating 

 their poaching propensities, the candid reader 

 will perhaps be constrained to confess, that what 

 I did would have the contrary effect, and that 

 my scolding was hardly merited. 



There is a kind of poaching that finds 

 favour with not a few in a higher station of 

 life even than those above-mentioned, more 

 especially in their youthful days, utterly alien 

 from, though quite as heinous in the eye of the 

 law, as that which frequently involves bloodshed 

 and loss of life. 



Few Englishmen are born without a natural 

 love of sport, to gratify which, in unguarded 

 moments they seem impervious to all fear of 

 attendant penalties. And in the same ratio it 

 is hard to get, and perilous, is the pleasure of 

 its pursuit enhanced. 



