286 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



6. The sex characteristics are interestingly illustrated 

 in the life of the salmon. The male fish appears to enjoy a 

 very lively time, partly occupied by a mixture of love and 

 fighting, and to be somewhat indifferent to the more serious 

 duty of life. The female fish, however, intuitively endowed 

 with those instincts which lead to the preservation of species, 

 remains unsatisfied until this duty is accomplished, i.e. 

 until it has been able to spawn under the happiest natural 

 conditions, and after having secured as far as possible 

 the future safety of its ova. The male fish even if he fails 

 in his initial attempt, rarely, if ever, re-attempts the 

 arduous run up a river to the spawning beds, but the female, 

 impelled by a higher instinct, will return again and again 

 until it has satisfactorily achieved its life's purpose. 



7. That so long as the markings or decrepitations on the 

 scales are uncorroborated by evidence of natural spawning, 

 it cannot be logically adduced that a salmon spawns, i.e., 

 spawns in a natural way, more than once in its lifetime. 



8. From these and from the other facts and deductions 

 which I have advanced in this chapter, I think it will be 

 recognized that salmon have not so far been proved to 

 spawn on more than one occasion. 



I have only to add that in order to corroborate the 

 conclusions I had formed as expressed above I thought 

 it advisable to write to many of the most experienced of those 

 in control of the salmon netting operations at the mouths of 

 our big rivers, and in nearly every case I have to acknowledge 

 their great courtesy and kindness in answering fully the 

 somewhat lengthy series of questions which I propounded. 



