| | Time of high-water at London |
|---|---|
| N. Moon. F. Moon. | Hour. Min. 3 |
| 1 | 3 48 |
| 2 | 4 31 |
| 3 | 5 14 |
| 4 | 6 52 |
| 5 | 6 30 |
| 6 | 7 3 |
| 7 | 7 36 |
| 8 | 8 24 |
| 9 | 9 27 |
| 10 | 10 30 |
| 11 | 11 28 |
| 12 | 12 26 |
| 13 | 1 19 |
| 14 | 2 12 |
Any person who wants to be informed when it will be high-water at London Bridge may by this table be immediately satisfied if he does but know how many days it is since the last new or full moon; for supposing it is the eighth day after, by looking at 8 in the first column he finds the tide on that day is at the 8th hour and 24 minutes, or twenty-four minutes past eight o’clock.
The Lord Mayor’s jurisdiction over the river Thames extends from Colne ditch, a little to the westward of Staines bridge, to Yendal or Yenleet, to the east, including part of the rivers Medway and Lea, and his Lordship has a deputy or substitute named the water bailiff, whose office is to search for, and punish, all offenders who infringe the laws made for the preservation of the river and its fish. Eight times in the year the Lord Mayor and aldermen sit in person in the four counties of Middlesex, Surry, Kent, and Essex, in order to maintain the rights and privileges of this river, and to charge four juries by oath to make inquisition after all offences committed on the river in order to proceed to judgment against those who are found guilty.
The laws with respect to fishing and preserving the fry and spawn are very numerous, among which are the following:
No fisherman shall use any net under two inches and a half in the mesh above Richmond Crane, nor any net in the work called beating of the bush, flag or reed, of less than three inches in the mesh; nor use any weights or stones to their nets, upon the forfeiture of 2l. for each offence.
That no pike net or other net or engine be drawn over the weeds for catching of pikes by any fisherman within the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor, by reason it is destructive to, and occasions the driving of all the other fish out of the western rivers, that would otherwise lie, spawn, and breed in the weeds, upon the same penalty of 2l. for every such offence.
That no fisherman shall bend any net by anchors, or otherwise, across the channel, or so as to draw another net into it, whereby the spawn of barbel and other fish may be destroyed, upon the forfeiture of the same sum for each offence.
That no such person shall draw any net for salmon of less than three inches in the mesh, from the 10th of March, till the 14th of September, in any part of the river of Thames, from Kew pile westward, to the city of London mark Stone above Stains bridge, upon forfeiture of 2l. for every offence.
That no person shall take or sell any fish contrary to the ancient assize: pike, fourteen inches; barbel, twelve inches; salmon, sixteen inches; trout, eight inches; tench, eight inches; roach, six inches; dace, six inches; and flounders, six inches.
That every fisherman shall have on his boat both his christian and surname, and the name of his parish legibly painted, where any one may see it; on the forfeiture of 1l. for every offence.