166 THE INJURED SALMON 



prompts the tremendous effort, and indicates the only 

 place in the descending waters which he must strike 

 in order to gain the haven above. 



But with the grilse or the salmon in his initial run 

 up-stream the attempt is made, and though some may 

 be killed and others stunned and torn, yet the rest 

 conquer, and instances of the survival of the fittest- 

 are soon proceeding on their way up-stream. It is 

 on this upward journey that the grilse of 4 pounds 

 may perchance pass the tiny smolts of 3 ounces- 

 members of his own redd and hatched from the same 

 batch of eggs on their way down to salt water. 



ITS RETURN WHEN INJURED 



When hurt in his upward course to the spawning 

 grounds, instinct again impels immediate action. 

 Stronger and more imperative than spawning is the 

 instinct of self-preservation. Fatal would be a stay 

 in fresh waters with that gaping wound in his silvery 

 side, for most assuredly would the zoospores of the 

 dreaded saprolegnia enter the abrasions in his skin, 

 and speedily destroy him. It is only in the health- 

 giving waters of the sea that a cure can be effected, 

 and instinctively, therefore, will the grilse or the 

 salmon turn and make his way to the sea whenever 

 his scales are destroyed and his skin torn. Thus it 

 is not unlikely that the occasional stay of the grilse 

 in the sea until he attains the growth of a salmon 

 may be accounted for by accidents which happen to 



