88 THE FISHERIES. 



that when countless myriads of mature salmon-fry 

 have passed off to the sea in safety, by means of 

 floods, ensuing seasons do not at all show those re- 

 sults which might naturally be expected to follow. 



Our conclusion from the above premises is, that 

 an immense waste or destruction of fry takes place 

 in the sea, or at the mouth of the estuary. 



This waste may be occasioned in all seasons, by 

 the havoc made upon the ranks of the tiny brood 

 on their first appearance in the sea, by fishes which 

 await their descent at the mouth of the river ; or, in 

 case of floods, the whole brood may suffer from be- 

 ing launched too rapidly into the sea, before they 

 have been sufficiently " acclimated," if we may so 

 use the word ; or they may be carried away so far 

 to sea, by the force of the flooded waters, as to be 

 unable to regain the sandy banks or shallows, which 

 would seem to be the primary resort of those minute 

 creatures, on their first arrival in the sea ; or — but 

 we need not suggest theories. We grapple with the 

 fact, and rest our fulcrum upon it : that a vast de- 

 struction of salmon-fry does actually take place, in all 

 seasons, in the sea. 



We have just escaped from a theory — we ignore 

 theories, and studiously avoid them : in following 

 the finny tribes into the recesses of the deep, theo- 

 ries may be multiplied without end, and yet no ad- 

 vance be made : we shall offer our views with diflS- 

 dence, but yet offer them, as they are founded on 

 experience and observation, and the conclusion we 



