mpshire. The rivers of the midlands and east are of
little importance to salmon-fishers, though the Trent carries a few,
and in modern times attempts have been made to rehabilitate the Thames
as a salmon river. The trout-fishing in the upper Thames and many of
its tributaries (such as the Kennet, Colne and Lea) is famous. But
many of the midland, eastern and south-eastern rivers, the Norfolk
Broads, &c., are noted for their coarse fish.

_Mining._--Although the conditions of mining have, naturally,
undergone a revolutionary development in comparatively modern times,
yet some indications of England's mineral wealth are found at various
periods of early history. The exploitation of tin in the south-west is
commonly referred back to the time of the Phoenician sea-traders, and
in the first half of the 13th century England supplied Europe with
this metal. At a later period tin and lead were regarded as the
English minerals of highest commercial value; whereas to-day both, but
especially lead, have fallen far from this position. The Roman working
of lead and iron has been clearly traced in many districts, as has
that of salt in Cheshire. The subsequent development of the iron
industry is full of interest, as, while extending vastly, it has
entirely lapsed in certain districts. However long before it may have
been known to a few, the use of coal for smelting iron did not become
general till the later part of the 18th century, and down to that
time, iron-working was confined to districts where timber was
available for the supply of the smelting medium, charcoal. Thus the
industry centred chiefly upon the Weald (Sussex and Kent), the Forest
of Dean in Gloucestershire, and the Birmingham district; but from the
first district named it afterwards wholly departed, following the
development of the coal-fields. These have, in some cases, a record
from a fairly early date; thus, an indication of the Northumberland
coal-supply occurs in a charter of 1234, and the Yorkshire coal-field
is first mentioned early in the following century. But how little this
source of wealth was developed appears from an estimate of the total
production of coal, which gives in 1700 only 2,612,000 tons, and, in
1800, 10,080,000 tons, against the returned total (for the United
Kingdom) of 225,181,300 tons in 1900.

The chief minerals raised in England, as stated in the annual home
office