2 THE SALMON. 



ter ; ours, on the contrary, are never shut, at least 

 but partially so, and therefore seldom prevent what 

 fishermen call the free run of the fish. 



Salmon generally deposit their spawn from the 

 first of September to the end of October : those that 

 come in the early part of the season from the sea 

 begin first, and so in progression. As the milts and 

 roes increase, they grow worse both in appearance 

 and in flesh (which is indeed the case with all fish) ; 

 for when the latter become as large as the duck- 

 shot of the fowler, they are then no better eating 

 than if they were shotten. Some time before the 

 shedding of the spawn, they betake themselves to 

 brooks branching from rivers, or remain in such 

 retired shallows, as hardly to have their upper dor- 

 sal fin covered with the water in which they swim. 

 There they make a kind of trough in the gravel, 

 where the female drops her ova, and the male im- 

 mediately thereafter emits a whitish fluid upon 

 them, which has nearly the resemblance and feel of 

 that substance to be found, or that bleeds, from let- 

 tuce, dandelion, or other milky plants. This oper- 

 ation being completed, the male and female proceed 

 to throw up the gravel with wonderful precision. 

 They do not form hillocks, as has been often said, 

 nature having given them an instinct to lay the 

 seeds of their future offspring in the safest manner, 

 and in the least exposed situation ; for were it piled, 

 or elevated, it would be liable to be swept away with 

 winter floods, or blown into deep water by the early 

 tempests of the spring. This is a process which 



