Ill 



following the myraids of indigenous small fry, wliieli are tlien 

 constantly liatcliing ont. As the female of these grilse taken 

 in early autumn invariably exhibit the ova considerably more 

 matured than when taken in the spring there can be no doubt 

 that they are finding their way to the freshwater spawning 

 beds, and would reach them in the early floods of winter, 

 though amongst the wepJth of suitable streams running through 

 scores of miles of uninhabited, mountainous, and inhospitable 

 country we have never yet (except, perhaps, in one instance) 

 been able to ascertain the exact locality of such spawning 

 beds. 



It is quite possible that the grilse after spawning, and on 

 its return with the last of the winter floods to salt water, re- 

 quires some greater change and a longer journey seawards than 

 when it was jDassing from the smolt to the grilse stage. And 

 if so, it may have to encounter more formidable marine ene- 

 mies than on its first journey, or some unfavourable physical 

 features of our coast of which we, as yet, know nothing. 

 Unfortunately, the most scientific Ichthyologists and the most 

 practical fishermen are still equally ignorant of the precise 

 habits of the mature salmon when at sea and experience can 

 alone prove whether the final stage is to be successfully reached, 

 and if so, when ? 



During the last few years, and since the commencement of 

 the salmon experiment, large numbers of specimens of our 

 coast fish have been forwarded to and examined by Dr. Albert 

 Ounther, of the British Museum, whose determination of the 

 si^ecies proves that many of our fish are not merely representa- 

 tives of but identical with British forms, such for instance as 

 the John Dory (Zeus faber), the horse-mackerel (Trachuriis 

 trachurus), the dog-fish (Acantliias vulgaris), the sprat (Clupea 

 sprattus), and the Conger (Conger vulgaris). And this fact goes 

 far to show that there can be no vast dift'erence between the 

 physical features of the Tasmanian and British coasts. 



If, therefore, there is any truth in the doctrine of natural 

 selection and survival of the fittest, we may rest assured that as 

 the grilse are rp4:)idly increasing in number, some few out of 

 the thousands sent time after time to sea will be able to adapt 

 themselves to their altered circumstances, escape their foes, 

 and find their way back as salmon. After the second migra- 

 tion is accomplished, the increased speed and cumiing of the 

 fish will materially imj^rove its chance of successfully overcom- 

 ing the dangers of all subsequent journeys. 



For each of the grilse which have been taken in one minute 

 spot of the wide estuary of the Derwent, by a net ill-suited 

 for the purpose, there must be hundreds, and more probably 

 thousands, passing of which we hear and see nothing ; and if 

 this is true of the grilse after the manifold risks to which 



