859 



then in its bust (■(HKlitioii, tliough infested with a lumi- 

 ])(']• (if iiiirasitcs, wliicli it ijets rid of in fresh water, 

 where tlie\' di(>. I'nr a time it nives to and fro in 

 tiie lirackish water: hut wiien the s[irinoj Hoods come, 

 it coinnienees tlie ascent in earnest. ISnt not all the 

 Salmon arrive at the same time; the companies seom 

 o-enci'allv to (-(intain some 80 — 100 fish, and tiie ascent 

 nia\- last the wIhiIc summer. ThrouLihiiut the season 

 for the ujiNvard j(iurne\', the Salnum mav be seen 

 throng'ing at the surface and Icapin^^' into the air huth 

 in the sea off the months of the rivers and in the 

 lower l>art of tlieir course; hut hi,i;hcr u|i the stream 

 the\' nnister in an angular fdrmatiun, like that observenl 

 bv liirds iif passage, with one of the strongest fish at 

 their head, and the others tailing off gradually on each 

 witig. In this array they sometimes advance "with 

 such vigour," savs Gisler, "that the din thereof has 

 been heard on shore like a storm or subdued thunder, 

 the tish now and then swinnning with the back half 

 above water or aiipearing like waves on the surface." 

 In stormy weather or oppressive heat, however, the}' 

 keep nearer to the bottom. The females usually lead 

 the way, the smallest males bringing up tlie rear; and 

 when the tisherman takes one of the latter, he may 

 conclude that the main body of the shoal has passed 

 hy. When obstacles bar their progress, they disperse; 

 but the ranks are again closed when by strength or 

 cunning the impediment has been surmounted. If they 

 come to a fall, tliey pass it by leaping, perhaps after 

 many unsuccessful attempts and only by springing 

 from one resting-place to another, found behind some 

 stone or jutting rock with slack water under its lee. 

 In this manner the Salmon leap to a height of 1 — 

 1' ,, m. and a distance of 2 — 3 m., if necessary; and 

 from the brink of the fall they advance seemingly 

 none the worse for their exertions. But many of them 

 fail in the endeavour, and pay the penalty with their 

 lives. Natural obstacles are, however, less destructive 

 to the Salmon than the contrivances of man. In the 

 sea it is intercepted, as we have mentioned above, by 

 apparatus of ordinary design, nets hung on stakes 

 driven into the bottom, st'nuulsdtt in Halland, xtakandt 

 {mockor) in Norrland (fig. 214), and kihiotar (mostly 

 in Norway), with a long arm straight out from the 

 shore and a bend {kil) at the outer end, or Finnish 

 storryssjor, in which the bend is replaced by a huge 

 ryssja (p. 33, tig. 7) and its short arm. In the lower 

 parts of the rivers too similar nets are used, tor in 



214. PliiM of a stiikc-nut willi tlie so-called mocha or juta 

 (the angle at (lie outer end), .\fter Lundberg. 



the R. Laga. Salmon-pens (huf/drdar) are also con- 

 structed, these consisting, according to law, of upright 

 stakes at a fixed distance from each other; within these 

 the larger Salmon are detained for a time also ap- 

 pointed bv law and taken in seines, into which they 

 are driven -with 'beaters', or (Miticed into so-called kar, 

 constructed in the same manner, where they may be 

 caught with greater ease. Baskets are also hung in 

 the falls, for the Salmon to drop into if they miss the 

 leap. The rivers are lined too with more expensive 

 engines, patur, minor, tbihyggnader, and vrakhus. The 

 first are built on the same principle as the Salmon- 

 pens, of npriglit stakes, but the shore arm and the 

 interior of the court itself are covered with nets, and 



\ 



Fig. 215. Plan of a pala in the Ume Elf, built out from the right 



bank. The arrows indicate the direction of the current. 



.\ftcr Lundberg. 



within the court, the entrance of which is first closed 

 with a net, seines are hauled. The minor (fig. 216) 



Fig. 216. Plan of a Salmon mina at Baggbolc (Ume Elf). The 

 arrows indicate the direction of the current. After Lundeero. 



