40 BRITISH FISH AND FISHERIES. 



the salmon fisheries of Great Britain, which 

 are carried on only in estuaries and rivers, up 

 which they make their way, gaining the upper 

 and shallow pools, where they make furrows 

 in the gravelly bed for the reception of the eggs 

 or roe of the females. This migration up the 

 rivers takes place earlier or later, in autumn or 

 spring, according to the peculiarities of the 

 river or the condition of the fish ; and soon 

 after breeding, the salmon again gradually 

 descend to the sea ; consequently, the spawning 

 time varies, being earlier or later, according to 

 circumstances. " Eivers issuing from large 

 lakes afford early salmon, the waters having 

 been purified by deposition in the lakes, while, 

 on the other hand, rivers swollen by melting 

 snows in the spring months are later in the 

 season of producing fish, and yield their supply 

 when the lake rivers are beginning to fail." 

 The more northern rivers, as a general rule, 

 produce the earliest supply. In these, the fish 

 commence their ascent in autumn, remain there 

 during the winter, breed in November, and 

 return to the sea at the commencement of 

 spring, where they reside during summer. In 

 the Scotch rivers, the close time extends from 

 the 14th of September to the 1st of February, 

 when, by act of parliament, every person catch- 



