APPENDIX. 181 



it will be difficult, even for the legislature, to enact laws suffi- 

 ciently stringent to secure so desirable an object, unless they 

 found them upon the old Scotch statutes; and by strictly adhering 

 to them as their guide, they cannot err, as those statutes are 

 founded upon knowledge of the nature and habits of the salmon ; 

 providing against unlawful modes of extermination, as well as 

 sufficiently guaranteeing an ample period for spawning-time, 

 and protecting the spawning fish from poachers. These statutes 

 were framed at a time when Scotland had a Parliament of her 

 own in Edinburgh, and when the Legislators, intelligent men, 

 residing on their estates all the year, except when they were 

 assembled, were unquestionably capable of framing Acts to 

 harmonise with the nature and habits of the salmon, and the 

 requirements of the public, without prejudice to their own in- 

 terests, or the ample supply of fish. Very different men from 

 many of the representatives who are now sent to St Stephen's, 

 whose first and only acts were the payments of their election 

 bills. I would, however, suggest that all sheep-farmers should be 

 compelled to abstain from washing sheep in rivers, a practice 

 most detrimental to fish ; and that they should be obliged to make 

 ponds at a considerable distance from the rivers to wash their 

 sheep in, a necessary adjunct to the sheep-farmer that could be 

 constructed at a trifling expense. And further, that all salmon- 

 fishings, whether in the sea or in rivers, should be restricted 

 to coble and net, as sanctioned by use and wont. Unless 

 this mode of fishing for salmon be inflexibly enforced, the 

 salmon-fishery of Scotland will inevitably dwindle away, as it 

 has done in England. 



M. I have been told that poachers are much more successful 

 in angling for salmon than are sportsmen ; how can you ac- 

 cormt for it ? 



H. Timidity is a ruling feature in aU wild creatures ; and as 

 with deer, so with salmon. A deerstalker has to keep out of 

 view of the deer, and guard against the influence of the wind, 

 to insure success. In precisely the same way the angler must 

 not only keep out of view of the salmon in approaching the 

 river, but even keep his rod as much in the background as 



