THE LATE SALMO SALAR, ESQ. 29 



persecuted race. Nor is the fatal result that of 

 chance only. As the shoal of salmon and grilse 

 feel their way along shore, they run against the 

 guide-net, stretching far away into the sea. 

 Turning to avoid the danger seaward, they are 

 exposed to the attacks of ravenous hakes and 

 dog-fish, approaching in size to sharks ; these, 

 with the seals, watch the entrance to the nets 

 in murderous numbers, having learnt by ex- 

 perience the rich banquet afforded by the 

 terrified fugitives. 



" However, these and many other dangers, 

 which in the course of twelve months left 

 scarcely one in five hundred of my original 

 companions alive, affected such of us as escaped 

 no more than the unknown perils of our child- 

 hood. c Heaven from all creatures hides the 

 book of fate.' My life was passed in one con- 

 tinued dream of sensual enjoyment. 



" But all such pleasures, even to the brute 

 creation, are of short duration. I had for some 

 little time become aware of a feeling of satiety, 

 a desire for change ; and it was, I think, about 

 the middle of June that this feeling heightened 

 into an impulse, strong as that which, in May of 

 the previous year, had driven me down into the 



