Salmonidae of Norway. 6i 



unless perhaps at the very junction with the sea, so I 

 think salmon run through the fjords without loss of time. 



Salmon from a distance of many scores of miles become 

 aware that their river is open to them by the same in- 

 comprehensible senses which inform wild-fowl of the exact 

 date when their northern resorts, hundreds of miles away, 

 are free from ice and ripe for visitation ; and these acute 

 senses — usually described as instinct — remind one of the 

 behaviour of cattle on board ship when approaching land 

 not yet in sight. 



I should say that the average weight of the salmon 

 killed in Norway is greater than the same in the British 

 Isles, as in many of the largest and medium-size rivers, 

 fish weighing over 30 lbs. are, comparatively speaking, 

 common, and I do not hesitate to say that in the lowest 

 and middle stretches of rivers they take a suitable bait 

 more freely. 



The angler, upon his first visit to Norwegian waters, will 

 be surprised at how seldom fish show themselves in the 

 pools ; they, however, frequently jump immediately they 

 have ascended a stream, as is the case in our own rivers. 



During the first four weeks or so of an average season 

 in Norway, the rivers are maintained at a height favour- 

 able for "running," for reasons before mentioned, and 

 under such circumstances the British angler would expect 

 fish to " take " freely, and from my personal experience 



