THE ATLANTIC SALMON. 537 



pass, from Lake Ghamplain into and up the Saranac Elver for a distance 

 of twenty miles; * * * that before the dam was built salmon were 

 seen above the site;" and that "after it was built many were caught at 

 the foot of the dam, but none above it;"' " that salmon begin to ascend 

 the river from the lake in June and July, but largely in August 

 and September 1 '. It appeared that the dam was fourteen feet high, and 

 the sluice-way forty feet long, and arranged at an angle of 30°. 



This indictment was vehemently pressed, and resulted in a protracted 

 and bitter trial in the circuit court. It was calculated to open a thorough 

 investigation of the habits and movements of the salmon in connection 

 with that particular stream. A great mass of witnesses, embracing 

 most of the early settlers then living, were introduced, and, had the 

 great volume of testimony taken on that occasion been preserved, we 

 should now be in possession of all the essential facts and incidents neces- 

 sary to form a history of the salmon-fishery of that period and locality. 

 Although the case was elaborately argued in the supreme court (John- 

 sous Eeports, 17, page 195) both on the merits and the law, the decision, 

 which was in favor of the defendants, unfortunately rested purely on legal 

 and technical views, and we have but slight references to the facts in 

 the report. We detect, however, faint glimmerings of the evidence in 

 the arguments of counsel. It seems to have been in proof that the 

 water in the sluice-way was too shallow to admit the passage of the fish. 

 It is worthy of remark that one point of Mr. Walworth, the future emi- 

 nent chancellor, as counsel for the defense, and evidently based on some 

 features of the testimony, was that "no fish visit the lake from the 

 ocean ; the salmon ascend from the lake, and are fresh-water fish". 



And it appears from a point made by the opposing counsel that "the 

 evidence in the case is that salmon abounded at the foot of the dam, 

 and would ascend the river if not hindered by that obstacle". 



We may perhaps appropriately refer, as a subordinate cause of these 

 results, to the depredations of other fish upon the salmon by assailing 

 them on their spawning-grounds, destroying the ova, killing the young 

 fish on their passage to the sea, and frightening the salmon from their 

 usual haunts. This cause, of course, always existed, but circumstances 

 might have stimulated its development. 



These changes in the physical condition of the region seem adequate 

 to producing the abandonment by the salmon of the Champlain waters, 

 but they were eutirely local. The eccentric and capricious nature 

 of all fish, which produces many strange phases in their movement, 

 and from the general operation of which the salmon is not ex- 

 empt, may be referred to as another possible cause of their disap- 

 pearance from these waters. The idea is probably fanciful; but as my 

 purpose is to unfold the whole subject, it may not be unworthy of a 

 moments inquiry. Is it wholly improbable that the abandonment of the 

 Champlain waters by the salmon may be due to their finding more 

 genial resorts and fresh and more attractive feeding-grounds ? I will 

 venture to present a few facts in support of this suggestion. During my 



