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remarked, the fry could not be stopped if the nets were properly 

 stretched. And even if this did not prevent the destruction of fry, it 

 is an easy remedy to prohibit stake-nets being erected till May within 

 estuaries. But the principal fact to be ascertained is, whether Salmon 

 bred in a river uniformly and certainly return to it. That they do, 

 is, I think, beyond dispute; not only so, but that each river has its 

 own variety or tribe of fish. I know more than even that; for it is a 

 fact that three varieties of Salmon, quite distinct from each other, enter 

 the river Conan, and that two of these belong to its two branches. I 

 once happened to be angling below the junction of the lowest branch, 

 with a party of strangers on a visit to the late Lord Seaforth, at Braham 

 Castle, when by a singular chance I killed three Salmon, one of each 

 variety, and I showed them to the gentlemen with me. The variety 

 that belongs to the main river is a handsome fish, being considerably 

 broader in proportion to its length than the others. That belonging 

 to the lower branch, the river Orrin, is a long lank-looking fish, and is 

 little esteemed when compared to the others. The Salmon of the 

 upper branch, the river Rassay, or the Black Water, are more round 

 and full, and reckoned the best of the three varieties. It consists with 

 my own knowledge, that at least two varieties go up the Dornoch Firth, 

 one of which is the remarkably large and coarse variety, bred in the 

 river Shin. I have no doubt that if the members of the Committee 

 will take the trouble to compare the Salmon exposed for sale in the 

 fish shops of the Metropolis, they will see enough to satisfy them that 

 there are varieties of Salmon. Seeing that a peculiar and well-marked 

 variety uniformly ascends the river Rassay the fishing of which be- 

 longs to me exclusively and that the fish of the other streams con- 

 nected with it are easily distinguished, I may here remark, that if 

 stake-nets or sea fishing were to be prohibited on the ground that it 

 would deprive the rivers of fish, I might then with justice demand, 

 that the River Conan should not be fished below the junction of my 

 branch of it, on the ground that a vast number of my fish, bred in my 

 own river, would be captured. The Committee will give what weight 

 they please to this remark. From what I have stated I have no 1 

 manner of doubt whatever, that every Salmon found in the sea, whether 

 in estuaries or in the ocean, belongs to some river or other. Hence 

 all Salmon caught in the sea though it may be perhaps impossible to 

 tell to what river they belong, unless when the variety is well marked 

 certainly would have entered some river had they not been inter- 

 cepted. The conclusion is, that stake or other nets in the sea deprive 

 some river or rivers of as many fish as they take. From what is 

 known of the habits of the Salmon, I believe this as firmly as if I had 

 attended every Salmon in the sea to its own river. Some ignorant and 

 interested persons have been heard to affirm that the Salmon spawns in 

 the sea ; this has never been observed, and it is not possible ; for if spawn 

 were to be deposited in salt water, as before observed, it would perish. 

 If it were true, the Salmon would not enter the rivers at all. It has been 

 said, that stake-nets intercept but very few Salmon that would go into a 

 river ; that most of those taken would have been devoured by porpoises 

 and seals, or have gone out to sea again, and have been lost. Grant- 

 ing the first allegation to be true, it is not an argument in favour of 



