12 THE NATURAL HISTORY AND HABITS 



beds with torch and spear ; some have even refused 

 to convict salmon poachers who were actually caught 

 in the very act of destroying the breeding fish ; and 

 now, in place of sheriffs and justices being the con- 

 servators of rivers, an unfortunate fisherman finds the 

 utmost difficulty and much expense to get a conviction 

 before these functionaries. I am perfectly aware that 

 I will procure enemies for these exposures; that I 

 cannot help, for what I state are facts, and will only 

 say, Them that's not scabbed need not claw. Under 

 all these untoward circumstances the whole fishings 

 continue to degrade from bad to worse, and even half 

 the rivers, as we have already seen, have become 

 fishless ; and although the case was still dormant at 

 head-quarters, many now began to feel the effects of 

 it from their purse-strings. Rents of fishings fell 

 lower and lower ; and tenants of fishings, who had 

 struggled on under neglected laws until some of them 

 had lost fortunes and the whole of them had lost their 

 all, now became bankrupt, the fishings became tenant- 

 less, and many of the proprietors were forced to fish 

 their own waters at a serious loss and no rent. This 

 had the effect of the introduction of several milk and 

 water bills into Parliament, none of which created any 

 interest in the country, and of course were not sup- 

 ported by one party or other ; for it was easily seen 

 that none of them touched the root of the evil, and 

 some of them would have legalised the main mischief 

 and done little more. In 1828 Mr. Home Drummond 

 introduced a bill, as it was termed, for the Preserva- 

 tion of the Salmon Fisheries in Scotland ; it was 

 carried through that session, but it has made ill worse, 

 for it has changed the time of opening the fishings 

 from the 10th of December to the 1st of February, 

 thereby entirely excluding the fishermen from the 

 profits of the early salmon, and the country at large 



