180 GROWTH OF SALMON. 



again, the subject is open to this observation, that 

 all terrestrial animals, except mankind, attain 

 nearly to their full growth, within a year or two 

 after their birth ; and why should not fish ? True it 

 is, that fish live to an enormous age, if the stories told 

 of them are to be credited ; and salmon have been 

 known of upwards of eighty pounds weight ; but 

 I see nothing more marvellous nor incredible, in a 

 fish attaining to twenty pounds weight in two or 

 three years, than in a dog weighing as much, and 

 being as large at eighteen months old, as it is at 

 nine years. I do not fear, therefore, to express 

 my opinion, that Mr. Shaw is wrong. I believe, 

 firstly, that par are par, and not salmon fry ; 

 secondly, that it does not take more than ten 

 months to produce a salmon of six or eight pounds 

 weight ; and thirdly, that the fry go down to the 

 sea in the first May flood after their being called 

 into existence. 



Herb. In the waters of a gentleman I am ac- 

 quainted with, I knew of a trout which was thrice 

 captured within a year : about the end of De- 

 cember it was unintentionally hooked and taken 

 out, and weighed four pounds and a half, marked, 

 and turned back again. Early in the following 

 March it was again taken, weighing five pounds 

 and a half, and turned back. In June following, 

 strange to say, it was a third time captured, and 

 found to have increased to seven pounds. 



