{"id":172,"date":"2020-03-28T20:42:42","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T20:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/?page_id=172"},"modified":"2021-07-12T19:31:59","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T19:31:59","slug":"608-household-words-conducted-by","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/household-words-2\/608-household-words-conducted-by\/","title":{"rendered":"Pg. 608"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Household<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

608 HOUSEHOLD WORDS. [Conducted by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

they find themselves drawn to\nshore, whether they will or no, and seized by the hot, cruel hands of man. If\nour trout of the Bann kept outside, or were alert enough to spring over at the\nlast moment, it is on its way to its own river, rejoicing. The Bush river comes\nfirst, and there the Bush salmon take leave of all the rest for a season, and\npart off to their country seats for the autumn and Christmas. When the mouth of\nthe Bann is reached, so do the Bann fish, whisking up stream, under Coleraine\nbridge, and onwards another mile, to where the salt water meets the fresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a point of such danger,\nthat we pause to take breath. There are some few chances of escape; but the\nperils are awful. All that the poor fish has any doubt about is as to whether\nit can leap up those rocks, over which the fresh waters are pouring like a\ncataract. It can make the leap, no doubt. Every salmon does. And it will no\ndoubt keep at the top when it has got there\u2014which is the most wonderful part of\nthe business to the human observer. How it is that the rush of the stream over\nthe natural weir does not carry back the fish in a moment is a mystery to us:\nbut the salmon would pro\u00adbably despise us if we asked any questions, even as\nold women despise kings who inquire how the apple gets into the dumpling. So we\nwill merely say that the young salmon obeys instructions as it did in going\ndown; sets its rudder straight, stiffens its body, and shoots forward with all\nits might, against the rush of waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And is it safe, after all? There\nare so many perils that it knows not of! There are buildings in the bed of the\nriver, every stone and every brick of which was laid in malice prepense against\nthe salmon of the Bann. There are half-a-dozen stout stone walls or piers,\nbuilt-backwards from the rocky weir, enclosing spaces which are (all but the\nmiddle one) as many traps for the fish. At the upper end, there are iron\ngratings to each trap\u00addoors which open and shut: and at the lower end there are\nalso iron gratings which are nearly closed, but not quite. A space of a few\ninches is left between the gratings, which incline backwards so as to direct,\nas it were, the approaching fish to the little gap. When they have once leaped\nin, they can never more get out. For a few moments, amidst the dash and roar of\nthe descending waters, they are unconscious of their fate. They are whirled\nback; they shoot across the pool; and at length they dash themselves madly\nagainst the upper gratings: but it is all in vain. If they could pass this one\ngrating, they would be safe for this year; for there is no net\u2014no salmon\nfishing above the weir. The Irish Society, to whom the fishery belongs, take\ncare of that: and if, as at present, they let the fishery to an individual, he\nis no less careful. One of the two neat red-brick cottages which are built on\nthe outermost piers, is for the watchman who looks to the poachers. The other\nhas the great scales for weighing the fish, and other apparatus. It is somewhat\npiteous to see the silvery scales of many a fish sticking to the balance, while\nthe seething traps below are tempting more to their fate. As for the other\ncottage, it contains a little bed, where the watchman takes his sleep in the\ndaytime, amidst such a din of waters as would make a fierce lullaby to most of\nus. By night, while his solitary candle burns within, throw\u00ading a feeble gleam\nfrom the lattice upon the surrounding foam, he is stealing about along the\npiers, and across the shaking planks, which make bridges from one to another.\nHe peeps and pries and peers about, to see if any improper nets be in the\nwater. Perhaps while he is doing so, the poachers may be watching his dim form\nfrom under the shadow of the solemn woods which come down to the river banks.\nPerhaps they may be actually in the river\u2014up to their waists in water, under\nthe shadow of the piers. If caught, their punishment is a fine of about six\npounds for each offence; in default of payment, six months imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flapping and frightened fish\nremain in their trap till the next Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday morning, when\nthe men fish them out with landing-nets. Last Thursday morning there were\nseventy-three salmon: this morning, there were sixty-one. The youngest and\nsmallest weigh four pounds: the greater number rise from twelve pounds to\ntwenty pounds; and even twenty-five pounds is not an uncommon weight. The price\nof salmon in the towns along the coast is about sixpence per pound\u2014unless where\nhotel – keepers impose on inexpe\u00adrienced travellers. But, the fish from these\ntraps are packed in boxes, and forwarded by cart to Port Rush for export. When\nthe railway to Londonderry is finished, they will, no doubt, be sent there too,\non their way to many new places. The ice in which they are packed is supplied, in\nhard winters, from Irish lakes and ponds: but the last two winters have been\ntoo mild to supply the requisite quantity; so that the fish from the green\ndepths of this solemn coast have been preserved in ice from the still,\nunfathomable lakes, freezing below the black pine forests of Norway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our subject has grown sombre and some\u00adwhat too pathetic. Let us take a brighter view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our young salmon was certainly not caught on this, its first ascent; for it is known to have revisited the haunts of its infancy. We have said that there was one space (it is the centre one) between the piers which is not a trap. It is called the Queen\u2019s Gap; and any fish which are lucky or discreet enough to go straight up mid-stream, pass here without impediment. It is wide open at both ends. The same may be said of all on Sundays, except that any fish that have entered between<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

608 HOUSEHOLD WORDS. [Conducted by they find themselves drawn to shore, whether they will or no, and seized by the hot, cruel hands of man. If our trout of the Bann kept outside, or were alert enough to spring over at the last moment, it is on its way to its own river, rejoicing. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":664,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-172","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172\/revisions\/734"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}