Salmonidas of Norway. 71 



details have been published by the Norwegian Inspector 

 of Fisheries, and are invested with no mean value. 



There is a theory — or, perhaps, I may say a belief — 

 among the sea-fishermen that the salmon feed upon the 

 herrings, and follow them into the fjords ; and several have 

 told me that they have frequently seen salmon disgorging 

 herrings when confined in the nets. These statements, 

 which I believe to be reliable, combined with authenticated 

 instances of herrings having been actually found in the 

 stomachs of salmon in our own country, would seem to 

 leave little room for doubt, at all events, as to one article 

 of their diet. 



There are many rivers in Norway which are headed by 

 a single lake, others which spring from a chain of lakes 

 with insufficient facilities between them for the passage 

 of salmon ; and, again, there are rivers intersected by 

 lakes through which the fish freely run. 



It is frequently the case that the communications 

 between lakes of which the salmon makes use become, 

 for all practical purposes, cut off", as the season wanes, 

 and it follows that the fish who occupy the uppermost 

 lakes are the first to ascend the river. Later on, the 

 lower lakes, should there be any, become stocked with 

 fish, and so the available space becomes occupied. 



The Norwegian lakes are mostly very deep in the 

 middle portions (I have let out 150 yards of loaded 



