BEFORE THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 143 



eries ; great numbers of salmon are destroyed by 

 grampuses, porpoises, and seals ; they live wholly 

 upon them ; salmon get bad after being in the 

 fresh water a few days ; falls off in a week ; but 

 seldom remains a week in the fresh water; not 

 injured by being taken in a cruive, as they are 

 generally taken out once a day. 



George Little, Esq. again examined. The peo- 

 ple collect in bodies, and will fish in spite of the 

 owner, supported by arms, and protected by an 

 officer of yeomanry and a magistrate ; very unwil- 

 ling to convict ; water-keepers frequently shot, one 

 killed ; witness had been shot at ; small nets used ; 

 salmon can't get through, nor yet even the fry ; 

 the poachers do this ; fisheries are good or bad as 

 they are or are not protected ; small rivers best to 

 breed in ; employs a superintendant and others 

 under him ; he instructs the magistrates how to act ; 

 they cost 3 or 400 a-year ; small rivers require 

 most protection, because the fish can take care of 

 themselves in large rivers \ herring nets should be 



NOTES. 



is of far more consequence to the metropolis, that the fish- 

 eries on the rivers of England should be protected, than 

 those of Scotland, because their fish can be conveyed to 

 London with so much greater facility, than from the north 

 of Scotland, where a very troublesome, expensive, and 

 tardy process is unavoidable. 



This gentleman, as a proprietor of fisheries, reprobates 

 angling. 



