BEFORE THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 145 



great numbers of fry destroyed by angling; angling 

 for salmon no great injury ; back fish take the fly 

 more readily than new fish ; poachers are the best 

 water-keepers ; their invariable practice is to go 

 during the day and find where the fish are, and in 

 the night to go and kill them, 

 j Many rivers in England have been injured by 



NOTES. 



It is stated in some books upon this subject, (I be- 

 lieve it is somewhere mentioned here,) that one of the mo- 

 tives for the salmon frequently having recourse to the fresh 

 water is to rid themselves of the sea lice, but no reason is 

 given for this opinion. Yesterday (14th Sept.) I had an 

 opportunity of conversing with a very experienced fisher- 

 man ; he gave the same opinion : I asked him his reasons ; 

 he said the fish had always the appearance of pain and rest- 

 lessness when these vermin were on them, shifting and 

 changing about from place to place, and constantly leaping 

 out of the water. He said, further, that one day they 

 observed a fish in this restless condition, constantly leaping ; 

 they drew the net several times without being able to suc- 

 ceed ; at last they took a fine salmon with a great number 

 of sea lice on him, and also a large lamprey eel adhering 

 to his skin. They could perceive from the motions of the 

 fish that he felt great bodily annoyance ; and from this cir- 

 cumstance it is not improbable that they have recourse to 

 the fresh water to get rid of them. There is also another 

 very powerful motive on their actions, namely, the por- 

 poise : more salmon were taken in the Dart, in May last, 

 than at any other part of the year; there were then many 

 porpoises on the coast, and nine large ones were seen up the 

 river so far as Sharpham. 



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