THE SALMON. 255 



much depends on the depth of the water from which the 

 salmon makes its spring. 



Stoddart (" Angler's Companion ") thinks they cannot 

 surmount falls exceeding twelve feet. 



Scrope (" Days and Nights of Salmon- Fishing ") says 

 that, from personal observation, he never saw a salmon 

 spring out of water above five feet perpendicularly ; and 

 Yarrell says that eight to ten feet is the limit. Then, 

 again, Twiss (" Travels in Ireland ") states that he has 

 seen salmon dart themselves nearly fourteen feet perpendi- 

 cularly. 



Most probably in all these statements none of the 

 obstacles or falls have been accurately measured, and the 

 supposed height has been all guesswork. But in the fol- 

 lowing, taken from Nature, we have much better evidence, 

 the fall having been carefully measured : 



" SALMON LEAPS. Professor A. Landmark, Chief Director 

 of the Norwegian Fisheries, has published some interesting 

 particulars of his studies of the capability of salmon to 

 jump waterfalls. He is of opinion that the jump depends 

 as much on the height of the fall as on the currents below 

 it. If there be a deep pool right under the fall, where the 

 water is comparatively quiet, a salmon may jump sixteen 

 feet perpendicularly, but such jumps are rare, and he can 

 only state with certainty that it has taken place at the 

 Hellefos, in the Drams river at Haugsend, where two 

 great masts have been placed across the river for the study 

 of the habits of the salmon, so that exact measurements 

 may be effected. The height of the water in the river of 

 course varies, but it is, as a rule, when the salmon are 

 running up-stream, sixteen feet below these masts. The 

 distance between the two is three and a half feet, and the 

 Professor states that he has seen salmon jump from the 

 river below across both masts. Professor Landmark further 

 states that when a salmon jumps a fall nearly perpendicular 

 in shape, it is sometimes able to remain in the fall, even if 

 the jump is a foot or two short of the actual height. This, 

 he maintains, has been proved by an overwhelming quantity 

 of evidence. The fish may then be seen to stand for a 



