30 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



it, and enable the fish to pass the shallows with ease 

 and security. It travels rapidly ; so that those Salmon 

 which leave the sea, and go up the Tweed on the 

 Saturday night at twelve o'clock, after which time no 

 nets are worked till the Sabbath is past, are found 

 and taken on the following Monday near St. Boswell's 

 — a distance, as the river winds, of about forty miles. 



This I have frequently ascertained by experience. 

 When the strength of the current in a spate is con- 

 sidered, and also the sinuous course a Salmon must 

 take in order to avoid the strong rapids, this power of 

 swimming must be considered as extraordinary. 



As Salmon are supposed to enter a river merely for 

 the purposes of spawning, and as that process does not 

 take place till September, one cannot well account for 

 their appearing in the Tweed and elsewhere so early as 

 February and March, seeing that they lose in weight 

 and condition during their continuance in fresh water. 

 Some think it is to get rid of the sea-louse ; but this 

 supposition must be set aside, when it is known that 

 this insect adheres only to a portion of the newly run 

 rish, which are the best in condition. I think it more 

 probable that they are driven from the coasts near the 

 river by the numerous enemies they encounter there, 

 such as porpoises and seals, which devour them in great 

 quantities. However this may be, they remain in the 

 fresh water till the spawning months commence. 



On the first arrival of the spring Salmon from the 

 sea, they are apt to take up their seats in the rear of a 

 scull of kelts ; at this early period they are brown in 

 the back in the Tweed, fat, and in high condition. In 



