THE FALLS OF BALLYSHANNON. 297 



the picturesque little cots were floating idly at their 

 moorings, and the boatmen were sober, for they had 

 not a cron a bane to pay for their whisky. So it was on 

 the Laune ; so it was on the Blackwater. Wherever 

 the author turned his steps, it was the same, — blank 

 faces, empty pockets, heavy maledictions. 



Perhaps, however, he will convey the liveliest im- 

 pressions of the real state of the case, by quoting a 

 letter addressed to the editor of The Times by one of 

 the principal sufferers : — 



"To the Editor of ' The Times.* 

 M From an Irish Salmon. 



" Sir, — I hope you will do 'justice' to Irish salmon, 

 by letting your readers know how we are treated, and 

 how very little protection is afforded to us by the laws 

 of the land. 



" My consort and I wanted to pass up our native 

 river this year to breed. She was in a very interesting 

 state, and in a hurry to deposit some 17,000 eggs in a 

 secure place. However, we put off the perilous ascent 

 to the latest time, and remained in the sea, much to 

 our discomfort. We fetched the bar of the Black- 

 water, county of Waterford, on the 20th of August, 

 having narrowly escaped some execrable 'engines' 

 called bag-nets, the jaws of which yawned wide. Two 

 porpoises met us mid-channel, as they were floun- 

 dering out to sea; one of the brutes ran open-mouthed 

 at my dear companion, and she was forced to fly into 

 shallow water ; there three fellows were hauling in a 

 draught-net : however, she made a leap over the corks, 

 and was soon again by my side. 



