SALMON. 285 



and the tail forked. The back is of a bluish colour ; and 

 the other parts are generally white, intermixed with 

 blackish or reddish spots very beautifully arranged. The 

 female is distinguished from the male by having a large 

 and more hooked snout, duskier scales, and by being more 

 speckled all over with dark-brown spots. 



The flesh of the salmon, when fresh killed, is not so red 

 as when boiled or salted : it is tender, luscious, and flaked ; 

 and is generally preferred to that of any other fish. About 

 the time of spawning, however, it becomes somewhat in- 

 sipid, and the fish loses much of its beautiful colouring. 



The salmon inhabits salt and fresh water alike ; it quits 

 the sea at certain seasons, in order to deposit its spawn 

 with security in the gravelly beds of rivers, at a distance 

 from their mouths. It is often taken in the Rhine as high 

 as Basle : it gains the source of the Lapland rivers in spite 

 of their rapidity ; and passes along by leaping the perpen- 

 dicular falls of the Leixlip, Kennerth and Pont Aber- 

 glaslyn. 



These fishes live many years, and receive distinct appel- 

 lations according to their age. As a viand, the salmon 

 abounds with volatile salt and oily balsamic particles, 

 which render it nutritive, strengthening, and invigorating : 

 but, if eaten too freely, it sometimes occasions vomiting 

 and indigestion. It ought to be kept a few days before it 

 is dressed ; for which reason it is commonly better when 

 it has reached London than when fresh caught in the 

 Mersey, or other rivers at an equal distance from the 

 metropolis. 



Nothing is more remarkable in the history of salmon 

 than their instinctive agility in surmounting every natural 

 obstacle, which opposes their passage to and from the 

 sea. 



They are frequently seen to throw themselves up cata- 

 racts and precipices, many yards above the level of the 

 water ; and if foiled at the first easy, never desist till they 

 have accomplished their purpose. On the river Tivy, in 

 Pembrokeshire, there is a remarkable cataract, where the 



