186 PROTECTION OP FISH. 



coon, and even the joyous Beaver Kill, ^vitIl its in- 

 numerable tributaries, were exhausted. The wood- 

 cock disappeared from the cold black mud of the 

 springy swamps, the trout no longer broke the sur- 

 face of the noisy rills of that picturesque region, 

 and the hunters and fishermen turned their atten- 

 tion and carried their clumsy rods, bait-hooks, 

 cheap guns, and case-hardened consciences, else- 

 where. 



So it has been and will be everywhere, unless the 

 people and the real sportsmen 'take the matter in 

 hand ; the farmers, who are after all to be the salva- 

 tion of our institutions, lose by the destruction of 

 game one of the greatest attractions of their lands, 

 and are interested in preserving for themselves and 

 their city friends the wild dwellers in the lakes and 

 brooks from wanton and ruthless destruction. Law- 

 givers are concerned in the passage of proper laws on 

 account of public interest, and the increasing neces- 

 sity of cheap food that a rapidly augmenting popu- 

 lation engenders. Sportsmen have the greatest 

 stake, for if they would retain for their old age and 

 leave to their children the best preserver of health, 

 a love of field sports, they must protect game-birds 

 and fish. They should discourage, by their conver- 

 sation and example, all infringement of the law or 

 any cruel or wasteful prosecution of what should be 

 sport. If they find a man who destroys, for the 

 purpose of destroying, they should not only shun 

 but expose him ; if they meet with a case of palpa- 

 ble infraction of the law, they should enforce punish- 



