1J:AI' f)F TlIK SAI.MnN. '.•!) 



it seems to nic that in iuij;nitory aiiinmls of all kinds, and indeed, 

 in sonic instancrs, in (loincstic animals likcwisr, that tlicre is 

 sonu' sort of sixth siiisr, or at h-ast sonic entirely distinct 

 power, not ucijnired hy means of any of the senses of whieh 

 HI' are eo;;ni/ant. nor acfini; like ri-ason, hy nii-ans of didtictioii, 

 whit'h cnahk's thcni to stii-r their course throutrh conntlcss 

 leagnes of air or water, or over miles of nnenltivatcd hiiul, to 

 the [daees \\lure they were ined, or to which thiir instincts 

 compel them to resort for the purpose of \\interin:r, ohtaininj; 

 t'ood, or the like. 



And I no more helii\i- that Salmon are {jnided hack to their 

 native rivers In* the tlavonr of the waters, than I do that the 

 swallow tinds his way from Africa to Knrope, or from Sonthern 

 to Northern America, by the scent of tlie tainted atmosphere. 



I am disposed, therefore, to believe with Y arret, that this 

 occasional variation from their ordinary cnstom is caused hy 

 their having strayed to such a distance from their native 

 estuaries, that when the time comes for rettuniu'r, they pr(>fer 

 taking the first snitahh' river, to make loiij^er delay. 



The female fish, it is observed, are the tir>t to enter the 

 rivers, and the Grilse, or young fish, wliicli have not yet spawned, 

 come in earlier than the fnll-^rown Salmon. They swim with 

 great rapidity, shoot up the most oblicpie and glancing rai)ids 

 with the vel(X*ity of an arrow, nn<l frerpirntly leap falls of ten 

 or twelve feet in perpendicular height. 



It wa.s formerly believed that, in making their prodigious 

 springs, the fish tnke,H its tail in its mouth, and shoot.s itself like 

 n pliant stick, the ends of which are forcibly brought together 

 and then allowed to spring. This, however, is a table; although, 



II 2 



