2 THE SALMON 



and although Day reports a stray salmon captured 

 off the coast of Malta, the normal distribution of the 

 species is confined to the Arctic and temperate 

 portions of the northern hemisphere, between latitudes 

 45° and 75 . 



It is not my purpose to deal more than very 

 generally with the natural history of this king of 

 fishes. An exhaustive and scientific work would 

 require far more space than a single chapter of a 

 short treatise — and, I may add, far greater know- 

 ledge and research than 1 could bring to the subject. 

 My qualifications for the task I have undertaken, are 

 derived from a practical acquaintance with the 

 salmon in Norway, where I caught my first salmon in 

 1865 ; in Scotland, where I have spent most of my 

 autumns for thirty years ; and to a more limited 

 extent in England, Ireland, and Wales ; many of the 

 happiest hours of my life have been spent by salmon 

 rivers, militavi 710/1 sine gloria, and if I cannot 

 boast such a fishing library as the late Alfred 

 Denison, who collected 2,707 volumes on the subject, 

 it has also been a pleasure to me to read a good deal 

 of the literature of the disciples of Izaak Walton. 

 Next to catching a monster myself, there is nothing 

 that delights me more than to read of the success of 

 others, and an armchair and a cigar with Scrope or 



