76 THE HABITS OF THE SALMON. 



salmon, which makes for every intruder that comes 

 near him. I have seen them do this thousands 

 of times, but only once have I seen a salmon take hold 

 of another, and that was only for a moment. I had 

 been watching a pair of salmon quite close to me ; a 

 small male grilse was always coming up and remain- 

 ing behind the bed, and every minute or two the old 

 fellow had a run at him for fifty or sixty yards. On 

 one occasion he took him in his mouth by the middle, 

 but immediately let him go. The next time he did not 

 follow it, yet the grilse went off as fast as it could 

 swim, and came back to the same spot in a few minutes. 

 The length of time salmon take to deposit their 

 spawn if the weather is favourable is from seven to 

 fourteen days, and no one would credit the quantity of 

 spawn that is washed away by the current. I con- 

 sider that there are not ten eggs in lOO that get 

 covered up. I counted forty-seven eggs in less than 

 a square foot, and for yards below they were quite 

 as thick ; but this was on a splendid bed, where the 

 fish dug deep quite easily. When the river begins 



