afternoon of the same day. A fresh coming at the beginning of a
week, would disappear long before the close of it, unless the
rainy weather continued; and thus the strict observance of the
weekly close time would be of little service to the upper
proprietors unless the fresh came at the right end of the week.

The Smolts and the Par ought to be protected as strictly as the
Salmon; and there ought to be a penalty attached to the killing of
them, or having them in possession, and conservators of rivers
ought to have the power of inspecting all mills and manufactories
driven by those rivers, to ascertain that they have no contrivances
for taking the fry on their way to the sea, as it appears that in
some rivers they are taken in large quantities. There ought also to
be a penalty attached to the killing of Kelt fish, which in that
state are not only tasteless and insipid, but actually unwholesome;
yet they are pursued and destroyed with as much avidity as the fresh
fish, and a very small number of the few that spawn in safety ever
return to the sea. A penalty ought also to be inflicted for selling,
buying, using, or having in possession Salmon roe, either in a fresh
or salted state, as its excellence as a bait for Trout and Eels, and
the consequent high price at which it sells, are sufficient
temptations to poachers to kill the Salmon in the spawning season
even if they could not sell or use any other part. Yet destructive
as this practice is, there is an extensive trade in this article--
a fishing-tackle maker in Liverpool having told a friend of mine
that he sold 300 lbs. in a season, which, supposing every egg to
hatch, would produce perhaps five times as many Salmon as are caught
in one year throughout the whole kingdom. [4]

In concluding this imperfect sketch, I may remark that I have