CHAPTER SIX SALMON FISHING 



rapid leaps. The fish appear to bend their head to their 

 tail, and then to fling themselves forward and upwards, 

 much as a bit of whalebone whose two ends are pinched 

 together springs forward on being released. I have often 

 watched them leaping, and this has always seemed the way 

 in which they accomplish their extraordinary task. Both 

 salmon and sea-trout, soon after they enter the fresh 

 water, from the sea, make wonderful leaps into the air, 

 shooting perpendicularly upwards, to the height of some 

 feet, with a quivering motion, which is often quite aud- 

 ible. This is most likely to get rid of a kind of parasitical 

 insect which adheres to them when they first leave the 

 sea.* The fishermen call this creature the sea-louse: it ap- 

 pears to cause a great deal of irritation to the fish. It is a 

 sure sign that the salmon is in good condition, and fresh 

 from the sea, when these insects are found adhering to him. 

 Though the natural history of the salmon is daily being 

 searched into, and curious facts connected with it are con- 

 stantly ascertained, I fancy that there is much still to be 

 learnt on the subject, as some of the statements advanced 

 seem so much at variance with my own frequent though 

 unscientific observations, that I cannot give in to all that 

 is asserted. But as I have not opportunities of proving 

 many points, I will leave the whole subject in the abler 

 hands of those who have already written on it, and whose 

 accounts, though they may err here and there, are probably 

 in the main correct. As long as the salmon are in the river 



* This is a popular notion among fishermen; but, in fact, salmon continue leaping long 

 after the sea-lice have dropped off, which is very soon after the tish leaves the salt water. 

 Kelts, also, descending to the sea after spawning, leap quite as frequently as fresh sal- 

 mon. — Ed. 



85 



