86 The Gamekeeper at Home. 



the case in some districts. Comparatively little 

 wheat now is ground in rural places ; the greater 

 portion is carried away to the towns and turned into 

 'flour by steam. So that in walking up a brook you 

 will now and then come upon an ancient mill whose 

 business has departed : the fabric itself is tenanted 

 by two or three cottage families, and their garden 

 covers the site of the old mill-pond. In the depths 

 of that pool there were formerly plenty of fish, with 

 deep, dark spots in which to hide. Their natural 

 increase was not swept away by floods ; neither could 

 they wander, because of the dam and grating. They 

 were also under the eye of the miller, and so pre- 

 served. But when the dam was levelled and the 

 stream allowed to follow its course, this resting-place, 

 so to say, was abolished, and the fish dispersed were 

 lost or captured. 



Upon the particular brook which I have now in 

 view there are no mills ; but there used to be several 

 large ponds — distinct from the stream, yet communi- 

 cating by a narrow channel. These likewise sheltered 

 the fish, and were favourable to their propagation. 

 Improvements, however, have swept them away ; 

 they are filled up, every inch of ground having be- 

 come valuable for agricultural purposes. Then there 

 were vast ditches running up beside the hedgerows, 



