SALMON. 177 



tliat the whole of the roe is not ripe lor expulsion at the 

 same time. The male follows up the work of his mate by- 

 shedding on her spawn the fertilizing fluid; and as the parents 

 thus proceed the further progress of excavation is so contrived 

 as to cause the sand to cover in succession the deposited 

 treasure, which readily falls to the bottom. When all is done 

 the surface is made level, so that none but an accustomed 

 eye would be able to discern where it is the fish have been 

 at work. 



It may be that the way in which the Salmon deposits its 

 spawn shall vary to some extent according to the situation; 

 but the method pursued in Scandinavia, if correctly^ described 

 in Mr. Lloyd's adventures in these regions (vol. i,) on the 

 authority of Mr. Alexander Keiller, as he says, after continued 

 observations for five years, is so different from anything that 

 has been recorded in this country, that we can scarcely refer 

 it to the same species. He says that the larger Salmon 

 always appeai- first in the spring, and as the summer advances 

 the fish are much smaller, but in autumn heavy fish again 

 shew themselves, which, however, he supposes not to be fresh 

 run from the ocean, but that they have remained hitherto 

 in pools low in the river. In the Save they begin to spawn 

 about the first days in November, and so continue through 

 the month. The female deposits her eggs in comparatively 

 still water, shoal, from six to eighteen inches deep, and 

 immediately above a rapid. It is commonly supposed that in 

 conjunction with the male, the female Salmon scrapes a hole 

 or furrow in the bed of the river, in which to deposit her 

 eggs, and that afterAvards, and as a protection from their 

 numerous enemies, they cover them over with gravel; but 

 such is not the fact, at least in the Save. The male has 

 nothing to do with this part of the work; and the ova, 

 instead of b(>ing dropped into a cavity, are deposited on a 

 comparatively smooth surface. When in the act of spawning 

 the female retains its natural position. Her belly is near the 

 ground, at times, indeed, probably to rest herself, touching 

 it. The process of dropping her eggs appears to be slow. 

 When a few are collected she turns on her side, waves the 

 flat of her tail gently downwards to the roe, but lifts it up 

 again with great force, by which such a vacuum is caused as 

 VOL. IV. 2 A 



