THE SALMON. 159 



Alarmed at any strange noise. 



stones, they take up their tails in their mouths 

 (this, however, is contradicted by Mr. Pennant); 

 then suddenly straitening their bodied, they 

 strike the water with great force, and thus rise 

 five or six feet above the surface. Near the sea, 

 while their strength is unditninished, they are 

 capable of springing the height of fourteen feet, 

 and three times that distance horizontally. In 

 leaping large falls they sometimes miscarry, as 

 has been already observed, but after resting a 

 short time, they make fresh efforts, till tliey ac- 

 complish their aim, or if convinced that it is im- 

 possible, they return by the way they came. 

 After these leaps they always fall on their sides, 

 holding up their heads for fear of hurting them. 

 When these fish perceive a sea-dog, (which is 

 an enemy of the species) upon the coast, or hear 

 any strange noise, they instantly return to the 

 sea. This was the case in Sweden, in the year 

 1743, where the report of some pieces of artil- 

 lery fri.;ntened them, and made them turn back. 

 According to the observations of Giessler, the 

 salmon advances but about four miles in twentv- 

 four hours, and when the sun shines, not above 

 half that distance, at such times amusing itself^ 

 and sporting on the surface of the water. This 

 calculation can scarcely be correct, considering 

 th. long voyages it .makes in the space of a 

 month or six weeks. It does not enter the Rhine, 

 for instance, before the month of February, and 

 by the cad of March it is caught at Rushiem, a 

 3 



