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NOTES.
Wholesale Destruction of Fish in the Stort.—During a walk on Saturday,
September 27th, along the banks of the Stort, from Broxbourne to Bishop's Stort-
ford, our pleasure in what is a favourite and charming ramble was marred by the
dismal spectacles which met us at every bend of the stream. Hundreds upon
hundreds of fine fish were floating on the surface of the water, or were entangled
in clusters among the reeds bordering the banks—a most deplorable sight. As we
proceeded the water became milky in tint, and we quickly discovered the cause.
The Wrecked Barge in the Stort.
Near Hunsden Mill a wrecked barge lay across the river, the ends resting on the
platforms of silted-up mud bordering the banks. The sketch taken on the spot
by H. A. Cole needs no explanation. It appears that this was no mere accident,
but was a deliberately malicious act. The barge, with its cargo of gas lime or
'Blue Billy," had been moored near Green Man Farm, Eastwick, and during the
night some miscreant cut the ropes and sent the craft down stream. It drifted
athwart the river, and in the morning, when the water-level was lowered by the
starting of Hunsden Mill the weight of the cargo split the boat in twain and
sank it. It is feared that the fishing in the river will be destroyed for a long time
to come, the poisonous stuff having drifted down for miles and has even caused
much damage in the Lea. It is to be hoped that the substantial rewards offered
will enable the law to reach the perpetrator of so blackguardly an act, which will
deprive the London angler of his recreation, and cast a gloom over the picturesque
valley of the Stort, which affords one of the prettiest and most retired riverside
rambles in the neighbourhood of the metropolis.—William Cole, Buckhurst
Hill, October, 1890.
Captures of Lepidoptera in Essex in 1890.—The occurrence of several
interesting species of lepidoptera have been recorded this season in the pages of
the "Entomologists' Record." Mr. J. A. Cooper writes (Entom. Record i.,