MIGRATION OF FISH 103 



whose young come back in millions from 

 the Atlantic up the Bristol and other 

 estuaries in the form of "elvers." These 

 minute transparent fishes gradually creep 

 up every river and stream in England. 

 They also enter the Baltic, and it is on the 

 return journey in autumn, when the fish 

 wriggle through the belts and inland 

 fjords of Denmark, generally selecting a 

 moonless night on which to journey, that 

 the Danes capture them. They are then 

 sent to Germany, and sometimes in a single 

 season fish to the value of 250,000 are 

 landed. In England at times of flood 

 during the storms of autumn a great 

 number of these fish are intercepted on 

 their way to the sea. Sometimes, if 

 obstacles are in the way, they will even 

 cross fields such is the unfailing instinct 

 of migration. The London market is 

 always well stocked at this time, and 

 prices are consequently lower than usual. 

 There are just as great opportunities in 

 England as in Germany, France, and 

 Denmark for developing this fishing, and if 

 proper traps were built into the streams, 

 which would cost a very small sum and 



