38 WATERSIDE SKETCHES. 



far down that the capture of this unfortunate wanderer 

 deserves passing mention. 



Yet, after all, the Thames Angling Preservation Associa- 

 tion has done so much towards improving the noble old 

 river that we may well refrain from hazarding too positive 

 an opinion upon the point. Certainly all that human 

 exertion and enthusiasm can do is now being done, and the 

 result is that for general angling the Thames, even in its 

 palmiest state, was never better stocked than it is in these 

 later days with the coarser kinds of fish. All thanks to the 

 Association for good service rendered in the face of very 

 lukewarm support from the public, who, nevertheless, eagerly 

 seek a full share in the advantage. 



Still, it is not high-treason, nay, nor treason-felony, to 

 express the fear, even if in the expression we shock the 

 feelings of Mr. Frank Buckland and his friends, that the 

 Thames will not in our lifetime be a salmon river, unless^ 

 indeed, the fish can be introduced by a hitherto unknown 

 channel. A salmon might survive Isleworth, but not the 

 turgid " Pool" and its multitudinous shipping. It is pro- 

 bably almost forgotten now that the House of Commons 

 in the reign of Charles II. passed a Bill whose object was 

 the union of the Severn and Thames, and that by means of 

 formidable and frequent locks and thirty miles of canal the 

 communication was at length effected. Pope, writing from 

 Cirencester, said he often dreamt of " the meeting of the 

 Thames and Severn, which are to be led into each other's 

 embraces through secret caverns of not above twelve to 

 fifteen miles, till they rise and celebrate their marriage in 

 the midst of an immense amphitheatre, which is to be the 

 admiration of posterity a hundred years hence." 



