14 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 



could pass no further than the mill ; about ten or 

 twelve feet above the mill was a waste fender, and 

 below this fender, or between it and the natural 

 stream, on a sharp descent, was a kind of wicker 

 or basket work. The miller had only to draw his 

 waste fender, and every fish following the stream 

 must pass into this trap. He then stops the water 

 by letting down the fender, and every fish is upon 

 dry land in two minutes. 



It was painful to see the millions of salmon-roe 

 which strewed the sand-banks of the Dart in the 

 tideway below Totness weir about three years ago : 

 the old fish could not pass the weir, and when the 

 natural season arrived they were compelled to 

 shed their spawn where they could. The whole 

 proved abortive ; for, as those sand-beds were dry 

 at low water, and the sand shifted with the tides and 

 the floods, the pea were uncovered and lay so 

 thick upon the surface, that a man could not put 

 his foot on the sand without crushing a hundred 

 to pieces at a time. 



At the period I allude to it was quite lament- 

 able to see the unavailing efforts of the salmon to 

 get over Totness weir. I was an eye-witness to it ; 

 repeatedly beaten back, they tried again and 

 again, until they were quite exhausted, and had 

 scarcely strength enough to push their noses 

 above the surface of the water. What loss this 

 obstruction must produce to the public it is be- 

 yond any known means of calculation to estimate. 

 But from the number of old breeding fish that 



14 



