10 SALMON FISHING IN THE TWEED 



lesser quantities, becoming more abundant in the 

 river as the summer advances ; that is, provided 

 sufficient rain falls to swell the water to such an 

 extent as will discolour it, and enable the fish to 

 pass the shallows with ease and security. It travels 

 rapidly ; so that those salmon which leave the sea, 

 and go up the Tweed on the Saturday night at 

 twelve o'clock, after which time no nets are 

 worked till the Sabbath is past, are found and 

 taken on the following Monday near St. Boswells 

 — a distance, as the river winds, of about forty 

 miles. 



This I have frequently ascertained by experience. 

 When the strength of the current in a spate is 

 considered, and also the sinuous course a salmon 

 must take in order to avoid the strong rapids, this 

 power of swimming must be considered as extra- 

 ordinary. 



As salmon are supposed to enter a river merely 

 for the purposes of spawning, and as that process 

 does not take place till September, one cannot well 

 account for their appearing in the Tweed and else- 

 where so early as February and March, seeing that 

 they lose in weight and condition during their 

 continuance in fresh water. Some think it is to 

 get rid of the sea-louse ; but this supposition must 

 be set aside, when it is known that this insect 

 adheres only to a portion of the newly -run fish, 

 which are the best in condition. I think it more 

 probable that they are driven from the coasts near 

 the river by the numerous enemies they encounter 

 there, such as porpoises and seals, which devour 

 them in great quantities. However this may be, 



