199 



when required to do so by any one having interest. I would strongly 

 recommend, however, that no stake-nets should be allowed, until after 

 the measures which the Committee may recommend to the Legislature 

 shall have taken full effect in restoring the former supply to the rivers." 



XX. 



COOKERY OF SALMON. So much having been written on the question 

 of catching salmon, the reader may well be referred to Monsieur Soyer's 

 advice as to how to cook it. It may be observed, that the usual mode of 

 killing this fish when taken in a net is injurious to its keeping pro- 

 perly; it is usually killed by blows on the head, or on the nose, a slight 

 tap on which is fatal. In this way the blood is left in but the blood 

 will run if the vein under the tail is cut, and the fish will keep better. 

 Salmon is the venison, as red-mullet has been termed the wood- 

 cock, of waters. The former, to be eaten in perfection, should certainly 

 be kept until it has a flavour that does not pertain to it when too fresh. 

 Most fish depend on their sauce; the salmon requires an acid and 

 strong condiment. Drive down to the " Crown and Anchor" at Green- 

 wich of a June afternoon, and order your " Cotelettes de saumon a 

 ITndienne" 



M. Soyer writes " The male is the finest flavoured fish, and has more 

 curd than the female. Of late years it has been considered that this 

 fish should be eaten as fresh as possible, for which purpose it is crimped 

 when alive, that it may be flaky, and the curd in it. In former times 

 it was considered best to keep it two or three days; it is certain, that 

 in keeping it, the curd undergoes a change, which produces a volatile 

 salt, and oily balsamic particles, that renders it nutritive and invi- 

 gorating. This fish, when out of season, may be distinguished by 

 having large scarlet, purple, and blue spots on its sides, the male snout 

 long, the female snout hooked. (?) When in season the colour ought to 

 be a silvery pink grey; when cooked, the flesh should be of a dark 

 rose colour; when out of season it is pale. Small headed fish are the 

 best." The Modern Housewife. By Alexis Soyer , 1850. 



XXI. 



SPAWNING PLACES IN SIBERIA. I am indebted for the following 

 description of the spawning beds of the salmon in Kamschatka, to 

 W. D. Cooley, esq., the translator of M. Erman's instructive travels in 

 the northern Asiatic continent, taken from the third volume of the 

 tour, which remains unpublished in a translated form. In the two 

 volumes which have been translated by Mr. Cooley, curious accounts 

 will be found of the river fisheries of Siberia, which are the most pro- 

 ductive in the world. In the remaining volume, containing M. Erman's 

 visit to Kamschatka, there are many passages alluding to the habits of 

 the salmon. He states that this fish, during the process of spawning, 

 press their jaws together so forcibly, that they cannot feed, and must 

 consequently die. 



" In the spring-river of the Buistraya, the salmon were in crowds, 

 although the stony bed of the rivulet was but three paces wide, and 



