THE MODERN THAMES. 115 



the river is really the work of a small number, a mere 

 fraction of the thousands of all classes who frequent 

 it. Not one in a thousand probably perpetrates any 

 intentional damage to fish, fowl, or flowers. 



As the river above all things is, and ought to be, a 

 place of recreation, care must be particularly taken 

 that in restraining these practices the enjoyment of 

 the many be not interfered with. The rational pleasure 

 of 999 people ought not to be checked because the last 

 of the thousand acts as a blackguard. This point, too, 

 bears upon the question of steam-launches. A launch 

 can pass as softly and quietly as a skiff floating with 

 the stream. And there is a good deal to be said on 

 the other side, for the puntsmen stick themselves very 

 often in the way of every one else ; and if you analyse 

 fishing for minnows from a punt you will not find it a 

 noble sport. A river like the Thames, belonging as it 

 does — or as it ought — to a city like London, should be 

 managed from the very broadest standpoint. There 

 should be pleasure for all, and there certainly is no 

 real difficulty in arranging matters to that end. The 

 Thames should be like a great aquarium, in which a 

 certain balance of life has to be kept up. When aquaria 

 first came into favour such things as snails and weeds 

 were excluded as eyesores and injurious. But it was 

 soon discovered that the despised snails and weeds 

 were absolutely necessary ; an aquarium could not be 

 maintained in health without them, and now the most 

 perfect aquarium is the one in which the natural state 

 is most completely copied. On the same principle it 

 is evident that too exclusive preservation must be 

 injurious to the true interests of the river. Fish 



