88 SALMON. 



mountains, and those which have long reaches of spawning-grounds There are rivers 



which Salmon never enter till the end of June and during July, August, and September; 

 their numbers then increase during October and November ; to the fishermen of these rivers 

 the months of February, March, (and often April,) are of no commercial use whatever ; nor 

 do the anglers even profit, because the waters contain not clean-run 'up fish,' but only 

 'down fish' that have lately spawned, and are not fit either for food or sport. The fishermen 

 on these rivers, therefore, are anxious to be allowed to prolong their netting season into 

 September, and in some cases even further; and at the same time they are willing to give 

 up fishing altogether in February and March, and in many cases even in April." — (P. 370.) 

 The same authority is of opinion that the presence of a lake at the head of a river has a great 

 influence in causing an early ascent of Salmon, as its "innate self-preserving faculty prompts 

 the Salmon to leave the security of the sea and make a run for the lake at the head of 

 the river, which it somehow knows exists — a most marvellous faculty, a faculty not possessed 

 by man — and wherein its instinct teaches it that it will be safe till the spawning time 

 arrives, when it can run up the tributaries of the lake." Mr. Buckland instances the Tay 

 as being proverbially an early river, fresh-run fish being found in Loch Tay as early as 

 January; on the other hand he adduces the river Conway as a good example of a late 

 river; in this case there is no lake at the head of the river, but there is a broad expanse 

 of water near Conway Bridge, or a lake at the bottom of the river. Here the fish remain for 

 a long time, till such time, in fact, as the spawning instincts prompt the fish to ascend 

 the river at all hazards. "I am certain sure," Mr. Buckland adds, "that this is right, and 

 hope eventually to see the day when angling in Conway and many other late rivers of 

 Wales, Devon, and Cornwall is made legal in November ; only no gaff must be used — only 

 a landing-net — and all the hen-fish returned carefully and uninjured to the water." Mr. 

 Buckland's explanation of the cause, or rather of one of the causes, which create early and 

 late rivers is most suggestive, and seems to me to be \&ry probable. I may mention Loch 

 Melvin as an instance of earl}' water ; the river Ban-drows has the Lake of Melvin at its 

 head, and the Salmon run from the sea up the river into the lake chiefly in the early 

 spring months. 



The question as to the migratory Salmon ida returning to the rivers in which they were 

 bred appears to carry evidence of an affirmatory character; experiments have proved this to 

 be the case as a general rule ; though doubtless numerous individuals perish either from ex- 

 haustion after spawning, or from the attacks of various enemies, such as Porpoises, Dog-fish, 

 etc. Deaths from the first mentioned cause — exhaustion after spawning and the journey back 

 to the sea — appear to be of frequent occurrence. If the parents succeed in getting down to 

 the sea in tolerable health, they soon recruit their strength by abundance of food ; but a 

 large number are found dead every year. Buckland having examined a large number of 

 these dead fish could find no cause of death "except an anaemic condition, and a laxity of 

 fibre in the muscular tissue. I conclude therefore," he says, "that the natural cause of death 

 is (except in cases of violence or wounds from fighting) simply exhaustion ; most of these fish 

 found dead are males. It is very possible that the law of nature is that the large males shall die 

 in certain numbers, and thus leave room for the smaller males to keep up the breed. The 

 females are found dead much more rarely than the males ; these facts may also have some 

 bearing on the interpretation of the male smolt having its milt fully developed, and capable, 

 as I myself have proved by experiment, of fecundating the ova of adult fish. The female 

 smolt has the ova developed in a very minute degree at the time that the male smolt con- 

 tains ripe milt." — (P. 322.) 



The male Salmon in the breeding season has its snout much produced, and the lower 

 jaw is bent upwards in the form of a hook, which fits into a hollow of the upper jaw ; giving 

 the fish an unsightly appearance. As no individuals, thus sexually characterised, are found in 



