SPAWNING-BEDS OF SALMON. 41 



the spawning-bed, &c., with the same assiduity that he would 

 have used had she been a trout instead of a salmon ; the 

 female appearing to be determined that her ova should not 

 be left in the gravel without being fertilized by the male, 

 thus taking the trout as a pis oiler, and carrying out the 

 proverb " si on n'a pas ce qu'on aime, il faut aimer ce 

 qu'on a." 



The process of preparing the spawning-beds is curious. 

 The two fish come up together to a convenient place, shallow 

 and gravelly. Here they commence digging a trench across 

 the stream, sometimes making it several inches deep. In 

 this the female deposits her eggs, or ova ; and she having left 

 the bed, the male takes her place, and deposits his spawn on 

 the ova of the female. The difference may be perhaps 

 easily exemplified by the soft and hard roe of a herring ; the 

 former being that of the male, and without this the hard roe 

 or ova of the female fish would be barren. When the male 

 lias performed his share of the work, they both make a fresh 

 trench immediately above the former one, thus covering up 

 the spawn in the first trench with the gravel taken out of 

 the second : the same process is repeated till the whole of 

 their spawn is deposited, when the fish gradually work their 

 way down to the salt water to recruit their lost strength and 

 energy. 



The spawn is thus left to be hatched in due time, but is 

 sometimes destroyed by floods, which bury it too deep, or 

 sweep it entirely away ; at other times it is destroyed by 

 want of water, a dry season reducing the river to so small a 

 size as to leave the beds exposed to the air. The time 

 required to hatch the eggs depends much on the state of the 

 weather : in warm seasons they are hatched much quicker 

 than in cold. The details I have here given are very im- 

 pel feet ; but perhaps they may induce those interested in the 

 subject to read a little work published by Mr. Young, the 

 result o;' his observations and experience for many years. 



It is a common opinion that no food is ever found in the 

 stomach of a salmon ; but this is quite erroneous. On first 

 entering the rivers they are often perfectly gorged with small 

 eels ; fry, and even good-sized herring are constantly found 

 in them ; showing that the salmon is as voracious a fish as 

 his cousin the trout. When in fresh water they do not seem 

 to have the same voracity. That they do feed on small fish, 

 &c., however, in lake and river cannot be doubted, as we 



