24 THE NATURAL HISTORY AND HABITS 



yet on record is that of one fish marked by his Grace 

 the Duke of Atholl some years ago. His Grace 

 writes : " On referring to my journal, I find that I 

 caught this fish as a kelt this year on the 31st of 

 March with the rod, about two miles above Dunkeld 

 bridge, at which time it weighed exactly ten pounds, 

 so that in the short space of five weeks and two days 

 it had gained the almost incredible increase of eleven 

 pounds and a quarter, for when weighed here on its 

 arrival, it was twenty-one pounds and a quarter.'* 

 The fish referred to here was caught and marked up- 

 wards of forty miles from the sea ; it had to travel 

 that length, feed, and return in thirty-seven days. 

 There could be no doubt of the accuracy of this short 

 sojourn, for his Grace was most correct in his trans- 

 actions on these points, having tickets made for the 

 purpose, and numbered from one upwards, and the 

 number and date registered; therefore, we find this 

 fish marked "No. 129.," and the date entered in his 

 Grace's journal. From these facts we cannot enter- 

 tain the idea that fish go either to the North Sea, 

 Polar Seas, or Norway, to fatten ; foul fish, when 

 they go down go northward to feed, and this being 

 seen when their habits were more imperfectly known 

 than they are now, might produce the idea that they 

 travelled on to these distant regions. But now, when 

 it is known that their absence from the fresh water is 

 so limited, we must give up these ideas entirely, and 

 conclude that, although the fish on entering the salt 

 water turn northward, their journey can only be along 

 the coasts and sea bays, and such feeding-places 

 where they find abundance of small fishes and fry, 

 and where, from being endowed with such power of 

 digestion, they soon get into that state of corpu- 

 lence that a return to 'their native rivers is desirous, 

 and must also be agreeable to their taste, notwith- 



