Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

before it is allowed to reach the river.'-Report, | that of the rivers had declined, even to the exp. vi. ; Evidence, p. 274. tent of causing the abandonment of the station in the river. The committee concluded their

The committee next-Heaven's blessings labours by instructing their chairman to bring on them for it !-thought of the patient brother in a Bill to alter and amend the Act 9 Geo. of the angle, and recommended that, after the IV., c. 39,* in conformity with their report: of termination of the ordinary fishing-season, a which we now take leave, not without regret, further term of fourteen days should be allowed, for it is useful and entertaining, and illustrated during which it should be lawful, under certain with maps and plates of nets-the pay-sole-net, restrictions, to fish for salmon and fish of the sal- the bag-net, the sole-net, the fly-net, the cleekmon kind with the rod. There was, in truth, an net, cruives, and other devices fatal to fish: angler or two among them; but, without allowing our tendency rod-ward to affect our judg- multitudinous roe of the salmon would wonder so that any one who was not aware of the ment, we give them full credit for the absence of that salmon-kind is not altogether extinct; the selfish feelings, and are disposed to think with stairs for their accommodation, and the Saturthem that such a privilege will have a material day's slap, notwithstanding. effect in interesting in the improvement of the fishery the heritors upon the upper parts of the should she ever require a little aid, we beg to But Dame Nature is inexhaustible; and rivers, who chiefly possess the opportunity and call the attention of those interested in freshpower of protecting the fish during the breed-water fish and fishing to the following interesting-season.

But how were these regulations recommend

ed to be enforced?

The committee are of opinion that the heritors should have power to appoint and pay inspectors, in addition to the water-bailiffs and other officers authorised by existing acts, the duty of all persons so appointed being to see the various provisions and regulations carried into effect. They further recommend that summary powers should be vested in the proper authorities for enforcing the various regulations, and imposing the penalties which may be annexed to the violation of them.'-Report, p. vii.

All these summary powers are wormwood to a profession which we hold in the highest respect; but which seems occasionally a little too much given to hug its own interests at the expense of the public. The last government professed anxiety to put substantial justice

Conan, Rosshire, containing brief and practiing paper, by Sir Francis A. Mackenzie, of cal instructions for the breeding of salmon and other fish artificially :

brook flowing rapidly into the river Ewe, a In the autumn of 1840, having chosen a hollow spot adjoining to it was selected and cleared out, of the following dimensions-length, 23 yards-breadth, from 12 to 18 feet; and all large stones having been taken away, the bottom was covered, one foot thick, with coarse sand and small gravel, the largest stones not exceeding the size of a walnut. A stream from the brook was then led into this hollow, so as to form a pool of about eight inches in depth at the upper and three feet at the lower end, thus giving it one uniform gentle current over the whole pool: whilst the supply of water was so regulated by a sluice as to have the same depth at all times; and a strong stone man's reach: we all know that both to spawn and fry. wall excluded all eels or trout, so destructive law is so expensive a luxury in this land of 'On the 13th of November, four pair of salmon, freedom, that an indulgence in litigation is reserved for the opulent; but if these reformers were sincere on this point, they found the consequences of having lost the faith of the nation in general. The men of the gown bestirred themselves boldly and successfully-and the sacred cry of trial by jury was profaned by raising it as a barrier against the cry of the poor for justice. The number of martyrs is now, we think, complete; and, notwithstanding the obtrusive Jeremiads of some self-seekers 'Soles melius nitent.'

within

every

male and female, were taken by net from the Ewe, and carefully placed in the pool; on the 18th they showed a disposition to spawn, but on the 20th the whole were carried away by some illdisposed persons; and, on examining the pool, only a small quantity of ova appeared to have been deposited. On the 23d of November four

* What became of this Bill heaven knows: it seems to have been one of the multitudinous good intentions with which Whiggery is paved. We have searched the statute-book from 1836 to 1841, But to come back to our committee. The both inclusive, and can find nothing relating to returns of the produce of river-fishings were, in Scotch salmon fisheries, except the Acts relating to some instances, withheld from them, whilst the Tweed and the Annan in Dumfries-shire (local those of the coast-fishings were readily given. that Mr. H. Drummond has brought in a Bill to alter and personal). Whilst we write, however, we see The committee could of course only judge the close-time of the salmon-fisheries in Scotland. from the returns furnished to them. In those The Bill we have not seen, but Mr. Drummond's instances where returns were given the pro-high, and we trust we shall find that he has kept his reputation for fairness as well as acuteness is very duce of the coast-fishing had increased, while eye steadily fixed on this Report.

236

Sutherland Improvements and Scottish Fisheries.

pair of salmon were again caught and placed in the pool, which were observed to commence spawning on the day following: caught them carefully-squeezed gently about 1200 ova from a female into a basin of water, and then pressed about an equal quantity of milt from a male fish over them; stirred the two about gently but well together with the fingers, and, after allowing them rest for an hour, the whole was deposited and spread in one of the wickerbaskets recommended by Professor Agassiz, having about four inches of gravel below them, and two or three inches of gravel above. A similar quantity of ova, treated in the same way, was also deposited in one of the copperwire bags as used by Mr. Shaw; and both were then immediately placed under water in the pool: a little of the ova was buried in the open gravel at about three inches in depth. In another basket, and also in another copper-wire bag, two or three inches of gravel were placed over the bottom of each, and both basket and bag laid in the pool, covered with about four inches of water. The ova of a female aud milt of a male were then successively squeezed from two fish on the gravel in both basket and bag, and spread over it regularly with the hand, one after the other; and, after leaving them exposed in this state to the water for a few minutes, the whole was covered with two or three inches of gravel, and left in the pool. These four pair of fish afterwards emitted voluntarily a small quantity of spawn which had been left with them; and, on the 1st of December, they were all turned out into the river. On the 3d of December, caught three pair of salmon which had already partially spawned in the Ewe: used another basket and also another wire-bag, treating the spawn in the same manner as last described; these fish were then also allowed to deposit voluntarily the little spawn of which they had not been deprived, and afterwards turned out into the river. On the 19th of February, examined the ova, and life was plainly observed in the baskets, wire-bags, and unprotected gravel, both were placed artificially and where deposited by the salmon themselves.

19th of March, the fry had increased in size, and went on gradually increasing, much in proportion to the temperature of the weather.

22d, the eyes were easily visible, and a few of the ova had burst, the young fry having a small, watery, bladder-like sac attached to the throat.

18th of April, the baskets and bags were all opened; the sacs had become detached from their throats, the fry measured about threequarters of an inch in length, and they swam about easily, all marked distinctly as par. The baskets recommended by Professor Agassiz proved superior to the wire-bags of Mr. Shaw. In the latter only about twenty per cent. came to maturity, whilst in the former not above ten per cent. proved barren, and in the baskets used 5th December not above five per cent. was unproductive. It is impossible to say exactly the proportion of ova which came to life either of that artificially impregnated and deposited in the open gravel, or of what was spawned by the fish themselves naturally, but, so far as

March,

could be judged, they succeeded equally well with that in the baskets. Perhaps the baskets may have a preference over the other methods tried, as affording more certain protection to the spawn during winter; and it is proper to state that the last-described mode of depositing the ova and milt was most successful. There can be no doubt, from the success which has attended these experiments, that the breeding of salmon or other fish in large quantities is, comparatively speaking, easy, and that millions may be produced, protected from every danger, and turned out into their natural element at the proper age, which Mr. Shaw has proved by repeated experiments on a small scale to be when they have attained about two years of age. When the par marks disappear they assume the silvery scales of their parents, and distinctly show a strong inclination to escape from confinement and proceed downwards to the sea.

Professor Agassiz asserts, and I fully believe with truth, that the ova of all fish, when properly impregnated, can be conveyed in water of a proper temperature even across the Atlantic, as safely as if it were naturally deposited by the parent fish; so that any quantity of salmon or other spawn can (after impregnation on the banks of a river) be carried to other streams, however distant, which may be favourable for hatching. It may be right to observe, that as the fry are to remain two years in the artificial pools where hatched, fresh places must be used every second year for the spawn, as even one. year-old fry will destroy spawn, or their more infantile brethren, if left together: old spent salmon are also destructive both to spawn and fry.

It can only be ascertained by experience what kind or quantity of food will be required for the fry. Carrion hung at the top of the pool in which they are would, in the opinion of Professor Agassiz and Mr. Shaw, supply them with maggots; but in this there are difficulties, and when tried by me this season, a few of the fry were found dead round the carrion given to them. The droppings of cattle allowed to rest till half dry, and occupied by worms and the ova of insects, appear to suit them best. About the first of September last, when on an agricul tural tour of Belgium, I visited an establishment belonging to King Leopold, and adjoining his new palace of Ardennes, on a much more extensive scale than that now described, where the breeding of trout had been tried for the three previous seasons, though with but little success. A very few small trout bred 1839-40 were still alive, but the ova of 1841 were a complete failure, chiefly from not properly covering the spawn with gravel, and other errors. Bread made of brown and white flour mixed was the food found best suited to the few living, who, judging from their shape as seen swimming about in a small pool, were in excellent condition. The trout-breeding establishment of Ardennes, however, proves that their spawn, if treated in the same way as that of salmon above described, will produce the same successful results, and that any one possessing a convenient pond or stream may stock it with the

best kinds of trout or other fish in one or two, might be easily introduced into the streams years, and by good feeding have them in high of this country. It is true that this specondition. Where trout already exist of small cies is more tender than the perch, and size and inferior quality, I would recommend wholly destroying the breed by saturating the water with quick-lime or any other mode more advisable, and procuring spawn or fry from lakes where the best kinds of trout are found, in Scotland or elsewhere. The same may be said of grayling, pike, or any other kind of fish suited to ponds or brooks and rivers as may be desired by their owners, which renders the discovery now made known of value to all, and in all quarters, as well as to salmon-fishing proprietors. In conclusion, I hope that the above brief account may not only be well understood, but that the ease and comparatively trifling expense at which the breeding of fry can be accomplished may induce many this season to try this novel but successful mode of increasing our stocks of salmon and other fish, and consequently adding largely to the wealth of our country.-Annals of Natural History, Nov.,

1841.

Sir Francis adds that, should any further information be wanted, he will gladly reply to inquiries; and he expresses a hope that those who may be successful in this spring will communicate to him any account of breeding, feeding, &c. Sir Francis, however, has proved enough to put it in the power of anybody infested with a poor breed of trout to fill their places with such fish as glitter on the rustic dish borne by the lowly but lovely hand. maiden in Edwin Landseer's exquisite Bolton Abbey, if he will only attend to their food. We know Sir Francis to be a practical man, and we consider this experiment of no slight importance. Elsewhere we have shown that the principle is not new; but not the less praise is due to the practical experimentalist who has brought it into successful action. We have also dwelt on the advantages of na. turalising good species in our fresh waters, and we cannot close this imperfect sketch without alluding to two which are entirely within our reach one is still an inhabitant of some of our rivers. We will first speak of the foreigner.

No one has ever tasted the Lucioperca Sandra-or in other words visited Berlin -without pronouncing it delicious. This pike-perch is caught in the Danube, the Elbe, and the Oder. The genus is said to be found in the Baltic, Caspian, and Black seas, and to occur abundantly in the Volga. There appear to be several species, one American, and all are desirable for the table but the Lucioperca Sandra

:

• Quarterly Review, vol. lviii.

will not bear carriage as that fish will; and this tenderness, Cuvier thought, had prevented its introduction into France. In these days of steam, however, the fish themselves might with a little care be brought to us alive, to say nothing of the transportation of the impregnated ova. The fish, which is perch-like in its general appearance and markings, but much longer in proportion to its depth, grows to the length of three or four feet, and sometimes weighs twenty pounds. The flesh when well cooked flakes out snow-white, and is rich and sapid. Excellent is the pike-perch plain-boiled; and good any how. Yet, as far as we know,* neither Lucullus nor Phagon ever tasted it, although the latter swallowed almost everything; and on one occasion, after discussing a wether and a pig by way of entrées, ate up an entire boar at a single dinner, an accomplishment which would be invaluable at our modern tables, where that stubborn piece of resistance so often remains untouched. The ancients were, however, up to the artificial breeding of fish, apparently, for it is related that Octavius bred giltheads in the sea 'like corn upon the ground.'

The neglected fish of our own waters is the burbot, or eelpout, Lota vulgaris of authors, Gadus Lota of Linnæus. Our ancestors knew its value well. Many of our readers have doubtless revelled in the matelote prepared from the Lotte of Lake Lucerne. That is our burbot-confined to a very few rivers (of which the Cam, the Trent, the Ouse, and the Derwent are the principal), and now very little known. As it is common in the Swiss lakes, where it is taken in eel-pots, there is no doubt that it would thrive equally well in ours, and amply repay those who might breed it for the market, where its superiority would soon be recognised.

ART. VI.-Arundines Cami.-Collegit atque edidit Henricus Drury, A.M. 8vo. pp. 261. Cantabrigiæ. 1841.

THIS elegant volume carries us back to the days of youth: it awakens recollec

Such is the opinion of the learned, who have been unable to trace its presence at the tables of the ancients, notwithstanding its excellence and its wide European range.

tions of cricket-matches in green summer | ence shows that, in the season of youthful fields, and boatings on blue and quiet wa- imaginativeness, where one boy will la ters. We are again roaming among meadows by the river side, or loitering in our idle skiff along the stream with friends, some of whom have reached the irrevocable bourn, some wandered far from us along the devious paths of life; some have risen to eminence and fame, others have sunk or retired into peaceful obscurity. It awakens less tender, perhaps, but more calmly pleasurable emotions, the dim reminiscences of those days (for they belong, we think, rather to the public school than the University), when the world of poetry and of letters opened before us; when, the drudgery of grammatical instruction being over, our minds began to have free intercourse with the poets, orators, and historians of Rome and Greece; when we studied with fresh and unexhausted wonder the inimitable art of Virgil, the fervid passion of Catullus; Lucretius, with his unrivalled skill in painting with words; and Horace, whose grace and art we could feel, but whose shrewd views of human life it requires more mature experience in life fully to appreciate when with not less ardent, but, at first, less confident enthusiasm, we lifted the curtain of the Greek theatre, penetrated awe-struck into the gloom of Eschylus, admired the finely-constructed fables of Sophocles, or enchanted our ears with the music of Aristophanes: when, at length, as our minds approached their stature, we could comprehend the majestic simplicity of Homer. To those in whom such remembrances either arise not or arise without delight and without gratitude, this book will have no interest, and our pages no attraction-let them pass on, we assure them, unenvied, to severer or more stir ring matters. For our own parts, we can look back on the time, wasted, as some would say, on the composition of Greek and Latin verse, not merely with these soft and pleasing admonitions of the past, but with deliberate and, we are persuaded, rational satisfaction.

bour to write well in prose, many will be ambitious of trying their strength in verse, this form of composition will always awaken the most earnest emulation, and call forth the powers of the ripening understanding. It is invaluable, considered merely as a key to the learned languages, as enabling us to comprehend and feel all the nicer shades of meaning and expression, the delicate turns of thought, the curious felicity and harmony of compositions-the writers of which studied numbers even in prose, and in verse are full of the finest metrical artifices, the liquid flow, the solemn pause, the alternating strength and softness. We may not possess the accurate pronunciation or intonation of Greek or Latin verse-we feel nevertheless the exquisite beauty; the rhythm has that correspondence with the thought, the modulation is so nicely adapted to the feeling, that though the great secret of ancient metre be still in some respects a mystery, to the well-organised and disciplined ear it is full of musicand the best discipline of the ear is the practice of composition in verse. Even where the Greek or Latin verse is a mere cento of classical thoughts, images, or expressions, it cannot be unprofitable to sound scholarship to be frequently reproducing in different form and order, if with intelligence and propriety, the conceptions and the language of the great writers. This is the lowest view. Where the mastery over the language is more complete, and our own thoughts and the creations of our fancy are embodied in words perfectly true to the genius and idiom of the ancient tongue, the exercise is at once the discipline, the test, and the triumph of consummate scholarship. Arguments, however, we conceive, even if conducted with the utmost calmness and impartiality, on such a subject, would have little effect. Those who think with us are already con firmed in their tastes-they are experi. mentally convinced of the value of such We are not disposed to argue the point studies: those who are against us may at length, but we have used the expres. perhaps give us credit for ingenuity in sion of gratitude to such pursuits not care- support of a falling cause-but will still lessly or inadvertently, but in perfect sin- smile superior at our antiquated prejudicerity. If scholarship be in itself a gift ces. Who would try to convince a deaf and privilege of the highest value, we man into the love of music? or prove sylknow nothing which contributes so pow-logistically to a man who cares not for erfully to this end-nothing which pro- bodily grace and activity, that gymnastic motes this part of the aesthetic cultivation exercise gives strength, and pliancy, and of the mind, so much as composition in dexterity to the limbs ? the learned languages; and since experi

An appeal to authority will, perhaps,

(sitions, they may be treated as trifles, and aspire to no loftier praise, there is a skill and grace in trifling with ease and felicity of language and of numbers, which to the experienced ear shows at once the well-instructed and accomplished scholar.

meet with no better reception in adverse quarters. Yet it is remarkable how many of our greatest men in every rank and profession have, at some period of their lives, sought either an exercise of their scholarship, or sometimes a distraction from weightier cares, in the composition The ingenuity of scholarship, the comof Latin verse. This may be attributed mand of purely classical language, the fein a great degree to the importance long licity of expression, and the facility of attached to these studies in our great pub- versification, are perhaps displayed in the lic schools and in our Universities; but highest degree in translations from modit would not have been so frequently re- ern poetry: there is the difficulty of seizverted to in after life, if it possessed not ing the nearest equivalent phrase, of some intrinsic value, something congenial transfusing the full spirit of the concepwith lofty and cultivated minds;-that tion or the liveliness of the image, withwhich having adorned the youthful elo- out offending against the genius of the quence, and certainly not enfeebled the older tongue; the close adherence to, the high and statesmanlike character of men slight departure from the sense-the sublike Fox, Grenville, Canning, and Welles- stitution, where absolutely necessary, of ley, has become the graceful and manly a kindred form of thought or word: all amusement of their declining years, will this puts to the severest test the resourstill, we are persuaded, command the live- ces of the writer; gives the measure at ly interest of many, and justify our devot- once of his fertility, taste, and judgment; ing some pages of our journal to this and--especially in the shorter pieces-somewhat exclusive subject. seems to demand that perfect polish, that The editor of this volume bears a name blending of the ease of original composi long, intimately, and honourably connect- tion with fidelity of translation, that ed with two of our great public schools; blameless correctness both in expression and his own compositions show that he and in versification, which invites, and has not degenerated from his race. His even defies the most rigorous criticism: collection consists entirely of translations: it admits no negligence, and but sparingthey are chiefly, we apprehend, contribu- ly poetic licence; it must be tasteful as ted by young friends, his contemporaries well as scholarlike. at school or in the University. There We confess we have endeavoured, with appears, indeed, some capriciousness in malicious diligence, to detect that great the admission of a few poems by older capital offence against the only laws with men ;-probably the editor has given such which innovation has not yet dared to as he could command: but if Porson's tamper, those of prosody; that high well-known version of 'Three children treason, that sin which comprehends all sliding on the ice' is repeated-(we can. sin, a false quantity; that which discovnot, indeed, have it too often)-and ver- ered in an Etonian copy of verses-(and ses included (certainly among the very we have before our court no less a person best in the volume) by that excellent scho. than the head-master of Eton, and, as our lar, the late Bishop of Lichfield, Dr. But- ear, we think infallibly informs us, many ler-we naturally look for other names of his pupils)—would disturb departed not less distinguished in the art. One or provosts in their cerements, turn the retwo such we find indeed, but not always fluent Thames upwards towards Surley affixed to things worthy of the signature. Hall, and make the Long Chamber tremWe cannot, for instance, but wish that ble to its foundations. Whether the tall the good Archdeacon Wrangham, instead spire of Harrow would bow in conof condescending to jingling and unme- science-stricken sympathy with an offendtrical versions of some of the least meri er from its precincts, or the Wykehamtorious effusions of Mr. Haynes Bayley, ists be disturbed by any such awful porwould have adhered to the really classical tents, we presume not to say: lower style of his own youth. down the Thames such charges, it is said, Some of the copies of verses here are born with greater equanimity. given, we must confess, are but indifferent, have searched, however, in vain; but we and there is far too large a proportion, as are forced to add that we cannot acquit we shall presently observe, of a certain all our authors of certain minor offences, class; but many are very elegant, and forgery of phrases without the endorsethough on the whole, even as Latin compo- ment of a respectable authority, and the

VOL. LXIX.

31

We

« AnteriorContinuar »