THE SALMCfN. 16.5 



Aversion to carrion and any thing red. 



ing, though its flesh is extremely fat. Bloch 

 says, that he has frequently received fresh salmon 

 packed in straw, from the distance of above 

 three hundred miles, and that after being ex- 

 posed to the air, it has kept sweet for some weeks 

 longer. He likewise asserts, that in the intes- 

 tinal canal of the salmon is usually found a worm, 

 two or three feet long. He also found that the 

 roe of a fish weighing twenty pounds, contained 

 twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and fifty 

 eggs. 



Such an abundance of different species of sal- 

 mon come up the rivers of Kamtschatka, as to 

 force the water before them, and even to dam. 

 up the streams in such a manner as sometimes to 

 make them overflow their banks. In this case, 

 when the water finds a passage, such multitudes 

 are left on the dry ground as would, were it not 

 for the violent winds so prevalent in that coun- 

 try, assisted by the bears and dogs, soon pro- 

 duce a stench sufficiently great to cause a pesti- 

 lence. 



These fish are said to have an aversion to any 

 thing red, so that the fishermen are generally 

 careful not to wear jackets or caps of that colour. 

 Pontoppidan says also that they have so great a 

 dislike to carrion that, if any happen to be thrown 

 into the places where they are, they immediately 

 forsake them : the Norwegian remedy for this 

 is to throw intp the water a lighted torch, and 



