20 THE HABITS OF THE SALMON. 



time. But in other rivers, wliere the nets are worked 

 above the tideway, it is a different affair altogether, 

 as most of the fish which have passed up from 

 the tideway during the weekly close time are 

 caught by these nets, consequently very few reach 

 the upper waters. 



In such rivers there are three interests opposed 

 to each other ; there are the interests of the pro- 

 prietors of estuaries and tideways, of those above 

 the tideway as far as salmon travel during the 

 weekly close time, and of others of the upper waters 

 above those places. Of course the lowest proprietors 

 get the lion's share ; they catch fish day and night 

 for at least five days a week during the open 

 season, and in the summer months, when the water 

 is low, hardly a fish making its way to fresh water 

 passes their nets. The netsmen above the tide- 

 way are next best off, they begin fishing the very 

 minute the close time ends, and, with the excep- 

 tion of some few fish which happen to have taken 

 up their quarters in impregnable places where the 



