THE SALMON-WATCHEK. 



143 



capture it. As a general rule, the tenant has no care for future 

 years, and has no personal interest in stocking the upper waters 

 •with breeding fish. He is forced by the competition of his 

 rivals to do all he can in the way of slaughter; and were 

 ■ there not a legal pause of so many hours in the course of the 

 week, and a close-time of so many days in the year, it is ques- 

 tionable if a score of fish would make their way past the engines 

 devoted to their capture. A watcher can stand on the bridge 



SALMON-WATCHERS TOWER ON THE RHINE. 



of Perth, and at certain seasons signal or count every fish that 

 passes in the water below him, and every fish passing can be 

 caught by those on the look out ; and I have seen the same 

 watch kept on the Ehine,* and on other salmon rivers. The 



* The Rhine is an excellent salmon stream, and yields a large numher 

 of fish. The five fishing stations at Rotterdam are very productive, each 

 of them yielding about 40,000 salmon per annum ; and it would not be 

 extravagant to estimate the produce of these fisheries as of the value of 

 £25,000 per annum. 



