SALMON -ANGLING. 85 



all day. On the other hand, a shepherd lad was looking 

 dreamily over the Brig of Turk, upon the large deep hole 

 below, overhanging which the martins had formed a colony 

 in the sand-bank, when one of the young martins fell out 

 of the nest into the river, and was immediately gulped 

 down by a large salmon. The shepherd procured a bait- 

 hook, and the coarsest tackle, took another young bird out 

 of the nest, and baited ; the fish at once came up again, 

 was hooked, and landed. 



Salmon are certainly far scarcer now than formerly, and 

 the average weight of those taken is much decreased. Six- 

 teen-pound fish are now as rare as twenty-pounders used 

 to be a few years ago. Many reasons are suggested for 

 this falling off, but the most rational I have heard is the 

 dexterity of the sea-netters close to the mouths of all our 

 good salmon rivers and streams, and latterly the rage for 

 thorough-draining, which makes the rise and fall of the 

 rivers both sudden and extreme. In consequence, the 

 winter spawning-beds are often left so shallow as to be 

 chilled and rotted by frost. 



The following make-shift is inserted for the benefit of 

 the luckless wight who may have the misfortune to break 

 the top of his rod at the water-side, and neglected to bring 

 a spare one. On the morning of my last day's fishing of 

 the Echaig, I hooked a four-pound sea-trout on my bob, 

 and when the fish was quite spent, the trail-fly fastened 

 on a rotten stump. I waded in to try to disengage it, and, 

 in so doing, carelessly strained back my rod over my right 



