32 SALMON FISHERY OF SCOTLAND. 



these fish were assuredly not formed by Providence for seals 

 alone. The rich mucilage, with which those seas are covered in 

 such profusion, seems peculiarly adapted to afford nutriment 

 to the hordes of herring fry, which repair thither annually, and 

 would do so too to the fry of the salmon, as these, when grown, 

 would feed on the herrings themselves, which supply food for so 

 many fishes, and which are so frequently found in the stomachs 

 of the salmon when they first come upon our coasts that many 

 salmon-fishers consider them as their common food. The 

 wonderful progress of the fry from our shores to those parts is, 

 of course, regulated by their instincts. " Sometimes," says an 

 author already cited, " the herrings swim slowly, at other times 

 they go faster than a boat can row." Perhaps the fry, on leav- 

 ing our coasts, are directed into under currents, which may 

 possibly carry them quickly to their destination. 



If we look to what appears to be the principles of the 

 migratory system, certainly not the least curious or the least 

 beautiful in the scheme of the universe, this migration of the 

 salmon and herring tribes to the arctic seas will be found in 

 perfect accordance with it. In taking a glance at this singular 

 system, there are some circumstances so obvious that they 

 must strike all. First, all the great migrations of the migra- 

 tory tribes are invariably made to distant parts : next, they 

 are made annually : and lastly, they are always made in 

 groups or masses. All these circumstances we trace to the 

 migrations of herrings and salmon, in common with the tribes 

 of migratory birds with which we are acquainted, such as the 

 swallow, the lapwing, the woodcock, Teal duck, &c., which 

 must, necessarily, come from a great distance before they reach 

 our shores, which come only once a-year, and whose migratory 

 movements are always made in groups. A gentleman informed 

 us that he once saw a large tree in the churchyard of the parish 

 of Eddertown, in Ross-shire, absolutely covered with swallows, 

 ready to take their migratory flight ; and another gentleman 

 stated that he had seen a meadow in Caithness where an 

 immense flock of lapwings were collected, apparently for the 

 same purpose. Any person who has observed a squadron of 

 wild geese in spring, winging their way to the north, must 



