16 THE SALMON FISHERIES. 
lature interfered, and the capture of smolts is now prohibited 
under heavy penalties. 
It is a remarkable fact that the male smolts, even at this 
early age, have milt not only largely developed, but actually 
capable of fertilizing the ova of adult salmon. 
On reaching the sea the smolts are about eight inches 
in length: but once in fresh water their growth is exceed- 
ingly rapid, and by August they may have developed into 
“grilse,’? as salmon are called on their first journey up 
stream to propagate their species, of four or five pounds in 
weight. Sometimes, however, this first upward migration 
does not take place till the following year, when the 
“ orilse” are perhaps double that size. 
In the meantime the parent-fish, after performing their 
reproductive functions, have returned to the sea very 
different in appearance from the handsome, silvery fish, 
with small head and yacht-like outline, which adorn the 
fishmongers’ slabs in the summer months. The silver is all 
tarnished, and the fish is of a reddish hue, just like an 
electro-plated teapot that has seen a good deal of hard 
service, with the copper showing through where the film of 
silver has worn off. Its fins and tail are torn, its body lacer- 
ated, its plump back and sides shrunken, lank, and hollow 
—the very picture of starvation. Its head has assumed 
enormous proportions and a most uninviting appearance. 
The jaws are elongated, the tip of the lower one being 
armed with a horn-like hook, which prevents the mouth 
from closing, although the upper jaw is often nearly 
penetrated by it. 
In this condition the fish is known asa kelt. A sketch 
of one is shown in the accompanying woodcut—for the use 
of which, as well as of those of the eggs and fry, I am 
indebted to the courtesy of the proprietors of Vature, in 
