66 SALMONID^. 



for ever of a great source of national pleasure, as well as 

 national profit and wealth — for such are the fisheries of a 

 country. 



During the winter the fish go through the process of spawn- 

 ing, which is thus described by Mr. Elhs, in his "Natural 

 History of the Salmon," as quoted by Yarrel in his " British 

 Fishes:" 



" A pair of fish are seen to make a furrow, by working up the 

 gravel with their noses, rather against the stream, as a Salmon 

 cannot work with his head down stream, for the water then 

 going into his gills the wrong way, drowns him. When the 

 furrow is made, the male and female retire to a little distance, 

 one to the one side, and the other to the other side of the 

 furrow; they then throw themselves on their sides, again 

 come together, and rubbing against each other, both shed their 

 spawn into the furrow at the same time. This process is not 

 completed at once; it requires from eight to twelve days for 

 them to lay all their spawn, and when they have done they 

 betake them to the pools, and descend to the sea, to refresh 

 themselves." 



At this time they are lean, out of condition, and unfit for 

 food. Meanwhile, the female has acquired a greyish colour on 

 the back, with bright yellow sides. She is covered above the 

 lateral line, including the dorsal and caudal fins, with alternate 

 dusky and ruddy spots. Her pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, 

 are of a bluish-grey colour. She is now a long, lank, big- 

 headed, flat-sided fish, as unlike as possible to the beautifully- 

 formed glistening creature which ran up the stream in the 

 preceding autumn. 



