advantage of any side of the shore to drop the end of your net upon, but are obliged to fish parallel to it, it is a good plan to drop the net in at one end in a semicircular form, and to splash from the other end, at right angles to your net, backwards and forwards. The net, in the first instance, must be dropped in as silently and expeditiously as possible, and the splashing commenced instantly you reach the end of your net, and carried on vigorously. I have frequently seen this plan adopted with great success.

In those lochs where the water is deep, and where the construction of the shore is such as to admit of no facilities of using this net in any of the ways above described, then a very much larger, longer, and deeper net is required to give you anything like a chance; and many circumstances must conspire to ensure success, especially if the neighbourhood be such as will not admit of your leaving your net out through the night with safety. The tide must be low, the night not too bright, and, if there be a slight breeze, so much the better, the net can then be placed in those parts of the loch where you know salmon and salmon-trout are in the habit of passing to the fresh water; one end of the net as near the shore as possible; a small anchor at each end to keep the net tight, otherwise the fish will not mesh. Having placed your net, you must remain

at one end of it in your boat; and can examine it at the end of one or two hours, or whenever you hear fish strike. On some nights, when the fish are on the move, many may be taken in this manner; but success is uncertain, and waiting rather irksome: but in a loch of this description you have no alternative.

When mackerel are in the loch, this net may be left in all night, and visited the first thing in the morning. If a shoal happens to pass, a large quantity may be taken. From one to three hundred I have known caught and taken in one night; at all events, if in the height of the season, a score or two may be constantly secured in this manner almost every night. The net

must be placed at right angles to the shore, but where there is little or no current. A small anchor, or stone, must be attached to each end, so as to keep the net tight; the end which is near the shore must be as close in as possible, so as to admit of no intervening space, as all fish pass near the shore; and this you will soon discover if your net be well set, by finding the bulk of the fish taken at this end. If you have seen mackerel playing during the day near the shore, you cannot do better than to place your net there just before sunset. The net may sometimes be left for days very advantageously in the same place, and visited at intervals; but it ought to

be taken out every third day, and be thoroughly dried, and remain out at least for twenty-four hours, as if constantly allowed to remain in the water it would soon become rotten and useless. At the end of every season it ought to be well soaked in bark and catechu, and when thoroughly dried, hung up in a perfectly dry place; by this means, and with proper care, a good net will last for two or three seasons. A good net of this description will cost about 3. When this net is not in use, it ought occasionally to have the benefit of the air on a fine dry day, this being essential to its preservation; and when hung up within it ought to be out of the reach of rats and mice, as they would seriously damage it if they could get access to it; and a precaution of this nature is always necessary, as rats always abound by the sea shore, where houses and farmbuildings are contiguous.

THE BAG NET.

This net is used exclusively for salmon, and where they abound is most profitable. It is fastened to stakes by the sea coast, or by the sides of sea-water lochs where salmon are known

to pass. It is wide at one end, and at the other there is a bag or purse; it is so constructed, that salmon on having once entered it cannot return. From the bank, at right angles, there is a connecting net, called a leader, which obstructs the passage of the salmon on both sides; and, as they naturally follow this, on their passage being impeded, get into the first department of the bag net, and from thence through others into the purse or bag, which is kept down by an anchor, and its precise position indicated by a buoy, to which it is attached by a rope.

When the fish are taken out, the purse is merely raised into a boat and the end untied, and the fish thus liberated and secured; without in any way disturbing the position of the net, or displacing the stakes, as the latter being firmly driven into the bottom, remain permanently fixed as long as they are sound. A man must be in constant attendance on this net. It ought to be taken out every third or fourth day, and hung up to dry; being in the meantime replaced by another, two being properly required for each position, for their mutual preservation. One net kept continuously in the water would soon become rotten and unfit for use. Sometimes only one net is used, taken out on Saturday and replaced on Monday. But this is a bad plan.

At the end of the season these nets will require soaking in bark and catechu; and then must be tho

roughly dried in the open air before they are put away in some dry place for next season; but even when not in use they must occasionally be taken out on a fine day and have the benefit of the fresh air. It frequently happens at certain periods that large quantities of sea weed are carried up and down by the tide, and fill the meshes of the net; in which case the net must be immediately taken' up, and a clean one substituted, as no fish will come near the net when it is foul. When these occasions arise, there is much trouble and but little profit, as the cleansing of one of these large nets thus foul requires much time, trouble, and perseverance, the weed or reek being very adhesive. Each position for a stake net produces a good rent to the proprietor of the land contiguous to the shore, varying according to the reputation of the locality. These nets are very destructive of the sport of the rod in the contiguous rivers, and are very justly complained of by the amateur fisherman.

FRESH-WATER LOCHS IN SCOTLAND.

The small fresh-water lochs in Scotland abound in trout, and afford excellent sport to those who