XV. 



THE FISH-POACHER. 



FISH-POACHING is practised none the less for the 

 high preservation and stricter watching which is 

 so characteristic of the times. In outlying 

 country towns, with salmon- and trout-streams in 

 the vicinity, it is carried on to an almost in- 

 credible extent. There are many men who live 

 by it, and women to whom it constitutes a 

 thriving trade. These know neither times nor 

 seasons, and, like the heron and the kingfisher, 

 poach the whole year round. They provide the 

 chief business of the country police-court, and 

 the great source of profit to the local fish and 

 game dealer. The wary poacher never starts 

 for his fishing-grounds without having first his 

 customer ; and it is surprising with what lax code 

 of morals the provincial public will deal when the 

 silent night worker is one to the bargain. Of 

 course, the public always gets cheap fish and 



