316 _ APPENDIX. 



the haunts of the fish are destroyed wholesale, the only 

 ■wonder is that there are any fish at all in it. I may 

 say here that the latter process is one of the very worst 

 blows which can be dealt to the fisheries of any river ; it 

 is one which has destroyed the fishing in half the rivers 

 in France. Fish like natural rivers, alternate deep holes 

 and shallows, sharp elbows, and rapid streams : navigation 

 likes a straight out of uniform depth and uniform strength 

 of stream ; but when a heavy flood comes in such a straight 

 cut, where are the fish to go 1 In this case, down into 

 the London sewage. It could only be expected that these 

 things would in time produce the effect which they have 

 produced, and in seeking to provide sport for its sup- 

 porters by doing their best to increase the best kind of 

 fish found in the river, viz. the trout, and introducing a 

 valuable sporting fish like the greyling, the Society have 

 certainly done all that they could do under the circum- 

 stances. They do well to breed trout, and there can 

 be no harm either in their hatching and turning a few 

 thousand of salmon into their river yearly in expectation 

 of its eventual purification by means of the main drainage 

 scheme. Some years ago I suggested in the Field, the 

 introduction of the greyling into the Thames by means 



years ago Botnething was found to be requisite at the tumbling 

 bay below, and in the interests of navigation a solid bay was 

 made, which was very much higher than the old one. This checked 

 the stream which used to run through the deeps, and forced it all 

 round on the other and more shallow side of the ait. Hampton 

 deeps are now very little better than dead water, and the fishing 

 there is destroyed. These are two out of many cases which could 

 be cited. 



