96 FISH AND FISHING IN SCOTLAND. 



rising from the spawning bed. They remain twelve months, 

 and not two years, as your Edinburgh section of naturalists tried 

 to cram down our throats ; but that theory has now exploded, 

 and the Keith medal ought to be bestowed on some more correct 

 investigator. 



" But observe, that the whale smolts do not go down with 

 the early spring floods; the part of them then twelve months 

 old go down as the floods happen, but there are many of them 

 from eight to twelve months old that go down in the course of 

 the summer, and as soon as they arrive at the age of emigra- 

 tion. To explain the theory better, I may mention that we 

 have salmon spawning in the rivers at all times from the middle 

 of September to the middle of the following March ; some few 

 may be earlier and later than these periods, but we see them at 

 all times within that space ; the seed deposited during that time 

 remains among the gravel for the space of from 100 to 140 

 days, according to the temperature of the water, and, at all 

 events, we have the seeds hatching and rising from the beds at 

 all times during six months, and of course must have the smolts 

 going down at all times during six months, and grilses returning 

 at all times during six months. But the great throng of spawn- 

 ing is from the middle of November to the middle of December, 

 therefore the great majority of the fry are, according to the 

 temperature, a year old in April and May, which clearly accounts 

 for the great majority of smolts going down in these months ; 

 from the time the smolts go down, until they return grilses, is 

 two months; sometimes in the latter half of June, and at 

 other times July is the great throng of the grilses, that being 

 exactly two months from the time the great throng of the 

 smolts go down. The spawning begins about the middle of 

 September, with a few pairs ; they get on more and more up to 

 the middle of November, when the great number spawn up to 

 the middle of December, when they then fall off in numbers nearly 

 in proportion to the increase, until the middle of March, which 

 fully accounts for the time, and numbers of smolts going down 

 during six months every year. It may be that they spawn and 

 go down throughout a longer period than that, but the above 

 we see yearly, in the spawning, smolts going down and grilses 

 returning. 



