THE SALMON. 139 



ever, and rivers where food is abundant, they appar- 

 ently recover their condition, and for a short time 

 before returning to the sea, which they continue 

 to do until the middle or end of May, they are as 

 strong and vigorous, and show as much sport, as a 

 fresh-run fish, frequently more. The kelts are pro- 

 tected by law, but oddly enough the baggits, though 

 on the eve of spawning, may be killed with impunity. 

 Next to poachers, who destroy the fish on the 

 spawning-beds, and the bad sportsmen, who kill 

 the female on her way thither, the worst enemies 

 the salmon has to contend with are of its own 

 race. The old kelts not only drive the young ones 

 away, but fight among themselves to the death, and 

 hundreds, nay thousands, float down the stream 

 dead from the spawning-beds every year. The 

 baggits have a clumsy knack of selecting their 

 beds where others have been before them, and a 

 very large proportion of the early-sown seed is 

 destroyed by being routed up to make room for 

 the later and less valuable deposit. The larvae of 

 dragonflies and other insects infest the spawning- 

 beds, and destroy vast quantities of eggs. I am 

 not aware of any other serious danger to the egg 

 than the above. It is true that both the common 

 and bull-trout devour them with avidity, and wait 

 in large numbers immediately below the spawning- 



