THE SALMON. 113 



strength, and more energetically to renew their 

 attempt ; thus they surmount a fall of eight or 

 ten feet, but not always without accidents ; 

 sometimes they throw themselves out of the 

 stream upon the rocks and stories, and so 

 perish ; and sometimes they kill themselves, 

 by the repetition of their fruitless efforts. 



Having at length arrived at their proper 

 breeding places, shallow gravelly pools, in the 

 pure stream, the salmon prepare for the deposi- 

 tion of the eggs. At this time, the cheeks of the 

 male become variegated with stripes of orange 

 colour, and an orange tinge pervades the body ; 

 the lower jaw becomes elongated at its tip, by 

 the development of a cartilaginous projection, 

 which, when the month is closed, occupies a deep 

 notch at the end of the snout. The female at 

 the same time assumes a dark colour, and both 

 are respectively called red and black fish. Each 

 pair now begins to make a furrow in the gravel, 

 working with their snout against the stream ; 

 when this is finished, the female deposits a 

 number of her eggs in it, and covers them up. 

 The pair then proceed to work out other 

 furrows, and in about ten or twelve days the 

 whole of the eggs are deposited. Supposing 

 the eggs to be deposited early in November, 

 they are hatched in March, or early in 



