370 
THE FISHING GAZETTE 
[May 20, 1893 
men. That being so, we will briefly refer to it 
before concluding this paper, as it i.s a most ex¬ 
ceptional stream, and undoubtedly the most pro¬ 
ductive on the coast of Norway. Together with 
its tributaries this splendid river gives access to 
the migratory salmonida- for quite 400 miles, 
rather more than one-fifth of the total of all the 
streams in Norway put together, and throughout 
a great portion of its course is supplied not only 
with practically limitless spawning ground, but 
with innumerable grand salmon casts. In con¬ 
sequence of its position, forming the frontier 
between the two countries, it is the subject of 
special laws ; a sparsely distributed population 
of several thousands of Lapps and Finns live 
upon its banks, and as the princi])al food of these 
consists of salmon, the fish are taken by every 
possible means, and a very small ])roportion of 
those that ascend each year ever return to the 
sea. Formerly but few of the natives fished with 
the rod, being unable to procure tackle, but now 
(in addition to spearing and netting) they do so 
in such ever increasing numbers as to render it 
hardly worth the while of English anglers to 
undertake the long journey, and to endure the 
discomforts of a season on the Tana, among the 
myriads of mosquitoes and with its extremes of 
heat and cold. 
In days gone by there was no river in Norway 
where better fishing could be enjoyed; the 
salmon were large and numerous, and in the huge 
pools and swift rapids afforded grand sport. We 
have never killed more than 26U0Ib. or 27001b. in 
six weeks on the Tana to our own rod, but it has 
been our privilege to inspect the records of 
anglers who have far exceeded these figures. Few 
indeed are the travellers who penetrate the inner 
wilds of Finnmarken, land of the Laplander and 
the Finn, of the midnight sun, the reindeer, and 
the mosquito, where for nine months of the year 
the frost king reigns supreme over the desolate 
fjelds and the big lakes and rivers, and all nature 
is sheeted in snow. Except to the salmon fisher, 
and perhaps to the naturalist, there are but few 
attractions, and these are sometimes hard to find 
in the brief summer time, when the leaf is on the 
hardy birch and the atmosphere is composed for 
the most part of the all too familiar “Migg”; 
when to escape these undesirable companions the 
reindeer retire to the snowdrifts of the higher 
fjelds, and when, knowing that their time is but 
short, the heavy salmon rush up from the sea. 
On the Tana we have fished in a snowstorm in 
the beginning of the month of July, when ice 
10 feet thick was plentiful on the margin of the 
main river and in the cavities and recesses of the 
mountain streams, while a fortnight later we have 
had to endure a shade temperature of at least 8-W 
of heat. By the middle of August, signs of the 
recurring winter are visible in the fresh snows 
that fall on the higher mountain tops; in October 
the great inland lakes are once more sheeted in 
ice, the Lapps and the reindeer have returned 
from their sojourn by the sea coast on Ainas 
Njarga and are in winter rjuarters round Enara 
and Kautokeino, and once more nature sleeps 
beneath wreaths of snow. X. 
Salmon Poaching in the Eden. —No later 
than the 6th inst., Mr. John Pattinson was sum¬ 
moned for poaching on that date in the Eden, at 
Linstock Point. Air. Pattinson, who rejoices in 
the euphonious cognomen of “ Bant,” has been so 
frequently before the courts that these attend¬ 
ances have become both irksome and monotonous, 
consequently on this occasion he was represented 
by his wife. Her lord and master, however, 
despite his better-half’s eloquent defence, was 
fined I'.l, having been caught red-handed by those 
astute officers. Inspector Nicholson, and bailiffs 
Alarshall and Alenzies. Air. Pattinson’s usual de¬ 
fence is so good that the fact of his absence told 
materially against him, and was, in fact, a plea of 
guilty. Several other “ anglers ” were fined at 
the same time by the Carlisle magistrates, who 
are now bestirring themselves in the interests 
of the river, which has lately been invaded by 
sundry “ experts ” from Cockermouth, and also 
from over the border. This last invasion will 
put the Eden Fishery Board on the alert, as there 
is a “ hantle o’ jealousy” still existing between the 
Cumbrians and the Scots. It is surprising, not¬ 
withstanding, that it is a goodish while since 1745, 
yet some of the old feeling is still alive. Fact! 
laltontana 
Ea'ERYBODY, or thereabouts, is saying that this 
is the dryest year we have had this century. As 
a matter of fact we were so deluged with rain in 
February that so far we have had about the same 
average amount of rain as we had in 1891 and 
1892, but the rain and sunshine have been very 
unequally divided. First came the February 
deluge and then followed the greatest drought 
which England has experienced for 1 don’t know 
how many years, certainly something over half a 
century. 1818 was a particularly dry year, at 
least the summer was dry, for the spring was so 
wet that the land could not be ploughed or sown. 
Suddenly the rain cleared away and the land 
became so hard and dry that some barley which 
was put into the ground refused to germinate, 
and at harvest time had not even sprouted ; but 
in the late summer there came rain which very 
soon completely changed the appearance of the 
face of the earth. There was a fair crop of 
wheat, but barley, oats, and hay appear to have 
been very poor. There is no record of w'hat 
anglers did that year. Probably they sat at 
home and used bad language. 
I PROMISED to say something about the Thames 
Association this week. It was the offspring of 
Sir Gilbert East, a gentleman who was described 
by the chairman of the Select Committee of the 
House of Commons on Thames Preservation as 
“ the very stern champion of riparian owner¬ 
ship.” The association started with a grand 
flourish of trumpets and protestations of what it 
was going to do for the public good, and the 
mayors of the riverside towns were interested in 
the matter. When it was asked to set out in 
detail its exact objects, it refused to commit 
itself to supporting any proposals which would 
be in the public interest. Its duties, said Sir 
Gilbert East, were to increase the number of 
electors and looking after their interests—that 
is to say, the riparian owners and their interests. 
At the first general meeting of the Thames Asso¬ 
ciation, which was held last Thursday, a further 
attempt was made to popularise the association. 
Beporters were present, and it was very funny to 
see the riparian owners and their friends, who 
were strongly opposed to any popularisation of 
the river, afraid to speak and vote against such 
proposals as the preservation of the beauties of 
the river, the freeing of tow-paths, and other 
like laudable proposals. Most of them abstained 
from voting, and. as a few of the members of the 
association who reside in Beading were there, 
.some satisfactory resolutions were proposed, but 
there were a good many more equally desirable 
which were rejected._ 
I WAS particularly glad to find some of the 
members supporting such proposals as the pre¬ 
servation of the Thames fisheries, the adequate 
representation of the up-nver towns on the 
Board of Conservators, and the provision of 
public bathing places; but the riparian vote 
came into force when it was suggested that the 
association should support proposals having for 
their object the removal of illegal obstruction.s 
in backwaters, the provision of ways to the river 
from riverside villages (the inhabitants of which 
are now wrongfully excluded from using the 
Thames for any purpose), the provision of camp¬ 
ing-out grounds, the provision of public landing 
places, the free use of the towing-path and ferries. 
All these excellent proposals were negatived. 
The conservators, who were represented by Sir 
Gilbert East and Air. Witherington, were told 
some very wholesome and doubtless unpleasant 
truths. It was pointed out that while their 
income on the upper river of between £20,000 
and .030,000 a year was almost entirely provided 
by the public who use the river as a place of 
recreation, and by the people of London who 
drink the Thames water, far more heed was 
given to riparian than to public interests; in 
fact, this public money was being devoted in 
many cases to improving riparian property, while 
riparian owners contributed literaJly nothing to 
the up-keep of the river, and were the men who 
ruled the Thames. 
Sir Gilbert East plumed himself on the fight 
he had made on the part of the Conservancy and 
riparian owners to prevent the London Countj’ 
Council being represented on the board. It 
seems to me he was fighting in a bad cause. Is 
it not a scandalous thing that the conservators 
whenever asked to do that which is in the 
interests of the public, always excuse themselves 
on the ground of lack of funds, but are now 
spending many hEndreds of pounds on an expen¬ 
sive contest both before the committee of the 
House of Commons and in the House of Lords, 
by opposing the very proper claim of the people 
of Greater London to be represented on the board? 
What great good this same money, now being 
squandered on lawyers, would have done the river 
had it been devoted to the improvement of the 
fisheries! Mr. H. W. Russell, of Cookham, I 
was sorry to see, appeared to think than an attack 
was being made on the ancient privileges of the 
Corporation. No one I am sure, and myself 
least of all, would desire to see the Corporation 
lose their representation on the Board of Con¬ 
servancy, but the people of Greater London have 
the right to be represented as well, for they 
provide the conservators’ income, and the Corpor¬ 
ation as representing the City, and the County 
Council as representing Greater London should, 
I think, join hands and work together in the 
public interests. However, in the end justice 
always prevails, and though the reform of the 
board may be delayed, it is only a matter of time. 
Templar. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
J. C. H.—The grayling is included in the 
general fence months from Alarch 15 to June 15. 
In some private fisheries, not under a Board of 
Gonsert'ators, where they have increased to the 
detriment of the trout, they are killed at all 
times 
H. Roe. —The maker of the sea fishing rod with 
pulley wheel at end is Air. Jones, of Scarborough. 
(£rorasponl(cttw 
[TTe do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions 
etjcpressed by our Correspondents.'] 
“ One of the charms of angling is that it presents an 
endless field for argument, speculation, and experi¬ 
ment.’’—T. E. Peitt. 
BEYER V. CORBETT, NOT CORBETT 
r. BEYER. 
Sir, —In his letter published in your last issue, 
Mr. Beyer enters into a great deal of personal 
matter which is of no public interest, and which 
I cannot consent to discuss with him. 
The only questions that concern the public are 
what descriptions of a fishing will the Norwegian 
courts hold to be fair, and what unfair, and what 
remedy will they give to a tenant who has been 
deceived? For the settlement of these questions 
the action was defended (for it was Mr. Beyer that 
brought the action, not I, as he would make it 
appear), and these questions it decided. As you 
have already reported, I accused Air. Beyer of 
misrepresentation on three points, and on all 
three the Court held him guilty. Air. Beyer says 
he made those misrepresentations innocently; 
the Court thought otherwise, and marked the 
strength of its opinion by condemning him to 
pay the costs of ascertaining what reduction of 
rent I was entitled to. This point Air. Beyer is 
careful to ignore, and naturally, for in Norway, 
where costs very rarely follow the event, a con¬ 
demnation in costs means a much severer repri¬ 
mand even than it would in England. 
I have now the full text of the judgment. It 
is too long for publication, but if jou think, as 
Air. Beyer and his panegyrist, the guide-book 
author, suggest, I have misstated its effect, I shall 
be happy to submit it to you. You will then be 
able to decide for yourself between Air. Beyer’s 
reflections on the judgment and the judge’s 
reflections on Air. Beyer. 
Air. Beyer complains that having expressly stipu¬ 
lated that the balance of rent was not to be paid 
until I found the river as represented, I did not 
stultify myself by paying when I found the 
condition precedent was unfulfilled. For what 
