their flavour by long carriage before they are used; for Salmon, to be eaten in perfection, cannot be too fresh. Numbers of other fish, such as Trout, Pike, Carp, Roach, Dace, Perch, Chub, Barbel, Smelt, Gudgeon, and Flounders, are in this river; it abounds also with Eels and Lampreys*. * To prevent the fish in the Thames from being improperly destroyed, the ACT of the 30th of GEO. II. declares, “That no person shall fish, or endeavour to take fish, in the said River, between London Bridge and Richmond Bridge, with any sort of Net, other than except For Salmon, with a Net of not less than six Inches in the Mesh. For Pike, Jack, Pearch, Roach, Chub, and Barbel, with a Flew or Stream Net of not less than three Inches in the Mesh throughout, with a facing of seven Inches, and not more than sixteen Fathom long. For Shads, with a Net of not less than two Inches and a half in the Mesh. For Flounders with a Net of not less than two Inches and a half in the Mesh, and not more than sixteen Fathom long. For Dace, with a single Blay-Net of not less than two inches in the Mesh, and not more than thirteen Fathom long, to be worked by Fleeting only with a Boat and a Buoy. For Smelts, with a Net of not less than one Inch and a quarter in the Mesh, and not of greater length than sixteen Fathom, to be worked by Fleeting only with a Boat and Buoy.— Under the Penalty of forfeiting and paying the Sum of Five Pounds for every such offence. No Fish of any of the sorts or kinds herein-after mentioned shall be caught in the said river of Thames, or waters of Medway, or sold, or exposed to or for sale if caught in the said river of Thames or waters of Medway, of less weight or size than herein-after is specified, that is to say, No Salmon of less weight than six Pounds. No Trout of less weight than one pound. Mr. POPE notices some of the Fish in the Thames in the following lines: THAMES' gentle streams a various race supply; WINDSOR FOREST. The higher an Angler goes up the Thames, the greater and more various will be the fish he takes. No Pike or Jack under twelve Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Pearch under eight Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Flounder under seven Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Sole under seven Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Plaise or Dab, under seven Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Roach, under eight Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Dace, under six Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Smelt, under six Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Gudgeon, under five Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Whiting, under eight Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Barbel, under twelve Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. No Chub, under nine Inches long, from the Eye to the end of the Tail. Near Windsor are all sorts of fish, but the Court of that town fine highly those fishing without leave, if a Under pain to forfeit and pay Five Pounds for every such Offence. No person shall in any wise use or practise Trinking, Stowbeating, Trawling, or catching of any Fish or Bait, in the said river of Thames, or waters of Medway, on any Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday, under the penalty of forfeiting and paying for every such Offence, Forty Shillings. The respective Times and Seasons for Persons going forth to fish, and taking fish in the said river of Thames, and waters of Medway, shall from time to time be observed by them, and be as follows, that is to say, Flounders Shall be taken all the Year, except between HallHaven on the Essex shore, and Fishnesse on the Kentish shore in the river of Thames, and the City Stone in the waters of Medway, between the 21st day of December and the 21st of February, in every Year. Smelts-Shall be only taken Eastward of Purfleet, from the 1st day of November to the 25th day of March; and Westward of Purfleet, from the 25th day of March to the 1st day of May, in every Year. Shads-Shall be only taken from the 10th day of May to the 30th day of June, in every Year. Salmon-Shall be only taken from the 25th day of January to the 10th day of September, yearly. Trout Shall only be taken from the 25th day of January to the 10th day of September, yearly. Pike, Jack, Pearch, Roach, Dace, Chub, Barbel, and GudgeonsShall be only taken between the 1st day of July and the 1st day of March, in every Year, except such as shall be taken in the month of June by Angling. Leaps and Rods for Eels-Shall be laid only from the 21st day of April to the 30th day of October, yearly. Lamperns-Shall be only taken from the 24th day of August to the 30th day of March, yearly. gudgeon only is caught. only is caught. deeps are famed for their Barbel. Hampton and Sunbury have good angling for Barbel, Roach, Dace, Chub, and from the Aits for Trout and large Perch. At Kingstonwick, Teddington Banks, the sides of the Aits opposite Brentford, Isleworth, and Twickenham, and Mortlake deeps, are noted for Roach, Dace, Gudgeon, Perch, and Carp. At Chelsea the Whitings Shall be only taken from Michaelmas Day, yearly, to Ember Week. White Shrimps-Shall be only taken from the 24th day of August, yearly, to the 25th day of March. Red Shrimps-Shall be taken in the river Medway only, and that from the 25th day of April, yearly, to the 1st day of July. Buntings-Shall only be taken from the 1st day of September, yearly, to the 1st day of April. Hookermen-May Hook for Eels all the Year. Stow Boats-Trawlermen, Trinkermen, Hebbermen, Draggermen, and Bandingmen, may lay Leaps for Eels and Smelts, during the time and in the season hereby allowed for taking such Fish respectively. And any Person who shall catch any Fish within the Jurisdiction aforesaid, in any other Season of the Year, or in any other manner, shall forfeit and pay for every such Offence the sum of Five Pounds." Formerly the Fishermen inhabiting the Villages on the banks of the Thames used to inclose certain parts of the river with what they called Stops, (but which were in effect Wears or Kidles,) by Stakes driven into the bed thereof, and to these they tied Wheels, creating thereby a current, which drove the fish into those traps. This practice is expressly prohibited by the twenty-third chapter of Magna Charta. In 1757 DICKENSON, the then Lord Mayor, sent the Water Bailiff up the Thames in a Barge well manned, and furnished with proper implements, who destroyed all those inclosures on this side of Staines, by pulling up the stakes and setting them adrift. Angler's boat should be fixed almost opposite to the Church, so as to angle in six or seven feet water. Here, as well as at Battersea Bridge, are good Roach and Dace. When the air is cold, the wind high, the water rough, and weather wet, it is useless to angle in the Thames. The proper hours for angling are from the time when the tide is half ebbed, until within two hours of high water, supposing no land floods come down. Always let the boat be pitched under the wind. The river COLE or COLN rises near North Mims, and not far from Hatfield, in Hertfordshire. The Gade and the Missbourn increase it before it reaches Middlesex, which it does near Breakspear, and divides this county from Buckinghamshire, and passing by Colnbrook, soon after enters the Thames. In the Coln, near Uxbridge, there is fine water for angling, which produces excellent Trout, Eels, and other fish. Monmouthshire. THE USKE rises in the mountains which divide Breconshire from Caermarthenshire: a peculiar mixture of the grand and the placid in landscape attends this river from its origin; it enters this county a little above Abergavenny, from thence it winds to the Town and Castle of USKE, joined by a small stream from the north-west, which supplies the town and works of Pontypool. It meets the tide before its approach to Caerleon, flowing through |