298 THE ANGLEE-Is^ATURALIST. 



an interesting account is given of the sagacity of a dog 

 whilst aiding netters in shallow water. The dog takes his 

 post on a ford, or scour, where the current is not very deep, 

 at some distance below the fishermen : if a Salmon escape 

 the net, it makes a shoot down the river in the direction 

 of the sea; and the dog, who has perceived its approach 

 by the ripple on the water, endeavours by every means in 

 his power either to turn it back again or to catch it. 

 Failing in these attempts he at once quits the water, in 

 which the pace of the fish is too much for him, and runs 

 at full speed along the bank to intercept it at the next 

 shallow ford, where another opportunity and a second per- 

 severing attempt occur. 



In some parts of Wales dogs are occasionally put in 

 requisition by the Salmon-fishermen, appearing to take the 

 greatest pleasure in the pursuit, and exhibiting by txirns the 

 most patient watchfulness, energy, or sagacity, as either 

 quality may best advance their masters^ interests. "Where 

 the rivers are narrow," says Sir John Richardson, " and 

 the Salmon are caught in a net drawn by men on either 

 bank, dogs are trained to swim over from side to side with 

 the head- and ground-lines of the net, as required. From 

 a correspondent in Devonshire I learn that a clever poacher 

 at Totness, on the Dart, admitted that he had killed many 

 Salmon in the night by setting a trammel, or three-wall 

 net, at the lower end of the deep pools in the river Dart 

 and sending in a dog at the upper end, which dog he had 

 trained to dive like an otter. The Salmon, as soon as 



