MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 241 



spend almost the whole of their time in "beating 

 the streams." They ought also to keep a watch- 

 ful eye over such as care not how or in what 

 manner they take fish, so as they may only get 

 plenty of them. The "Honourable Society of 

 Waltonians" ought to use every means in their 

 power to protect the "glittering inhabitants 

 of the waters" from being unfairly taken or 

 destroyed. Fought nets ought to be prohibited, 

 as well as all catching of the salmon fry in mill 

 races, by putting thorn bushes into them, to stop 

 their passing through, and then letting off the 

 water. In this \vay, a cart load of these have 

 often been known to be taken at once. Another 

 method, still more destructive than this, is far 

 too often put in practice; that is, what is called 

 liming the burns. This ought to be utterly put 

 a stop to by severe punishments. A clown, from 

 ignorance, but, perhaps, from something worse, 

 puts a few clots of unslaked, or quick, lime 

 into a pool, or hole, in a burn, for the sake of 

 killing a few trouts that he sees in it; and thus 

 poisons the water running down to the rivulet, 

 or the river, destroying every living creature to 

 such a distance as may seem incredible. The 

 attentive angler must sometimes have observed 

 the almost invisible, incipient, living spawn in 

 thousands, appearing only like floating mud, 

 sunning themselves on a shallow sand-bank, 

 which, as soon as the water thus poisoned 

 reaches them, they drop down like mud indeed, 

 and are no more seen. 



How vividly do recollections of the enjoyment 

 angling has afforded me return to the mind, now 



when those days have passed away, never more to 



2 F 



