A PLEA FOR TOURISTS. 37 



The harm done by rod-fishing in a well-stocked river 

 is quite infinitesimal. 



It is a different matter when autumn begins to 

 tint the leaves. Then fish enter the pools sedately, as 

 becomes the " gravity " of their position. They have 

 been probably kept hanging about the mouth of the 

 river, waiting for a fresh flow of water, until their 

 sides have become tinged with gold instead of silver. 

 If veterans, they advance cautiously, not caring to 

 seek the surface in the glare of day. They select the- 

 big pools to rest in, and the near fords for spawning. 

 To catch a fish that has " potted " (to use a technical 

 phrase), the fisherman must exert his utmost skill, 

 and we cannot blame the proprietor, who, at that 

 season, preserves his pools undisturbed. But with 

 fresh-run grilse it is quite Different ; they are almost 

 like birds of passage on their flight if not shot in 

 Kent to-day, they will be over the border to-morrow ; 

 and if it be so, as, with some experience of what is 

 pre-eminently a grilse river, we believe it is, surely it 

 is not pressing an unreasonable request upon owners 

 and lessees of Highland rivers, to ask some little more 

 freedom for strangers than they have now in the 

 matter of fishing. It is not a small privilege to be 

 able to give legitimate pleasure to one's neigh- 

 bours ; and Highland gentlemen have a character to 

 support for more than common hospitality. A 

 " Highland welcome" has become proverbial through- 



