QTJ& THE FALLS OF BALLYSHANNON. 



the natural history of the salmon, and has a 

 right to profit hy that discovery. I cannot 

 help wishing that the boys had made a 

 cleaner job of it last night, but my con- 

 science rather reproaches me." 



" All I can say, then," replied the Squire, 

 " is, that your conscience is a mighty igno- 

 rant conscience, and the sooner you get a 

 new one the better. He has not a legal 

 right, because he has taken advantage of 

 the letter of the law to act against its spirit ; 

 and he has not a moral right, because he is 

 taking other people's property." 



" How do you make that out ? " said the 

 Parson. 



" Why, as to the moral right, the thing is 

 evident enough. The salmon is not a sea 

 fish, spawned anywhere and hatched any- 

 how ; but a river fish, watched during its 

 spawning with great care and expense, and 

 which would never be in sufficient numbers 

 to make it worth that fellow's while to come 

 here were it not so watched. Now, here is 

 a man, who takes no part of the expense, 

 intercepting the whole of the profits from 

 those who do. I say the salmon are the 



