MAY 153 



search of food. When he gets hungry, he sets off for 

 the sea, where he knows there is good store of pro- 

 vender. But they show that the recovery of a kelt in 

 vigour and shape is due to a fact not previously made 

 known. In almost every female salmon, it seems, a 

 greater or less number of ova remain unshed in the 

 abdomen after spawning. As the stomach begins to 

 recover its proper functions, these ova are gradually 

 digested, and the nourishment they contain goes to 

 restore the bodily vigour of the fish. 



Such, briefly, are the chief points on which this 

 remarkable Blue-book throws light, confirming the 

 conclusion to which many salmon-anglers have been 

 driven of late years, namely, that salmon do not feed 

 in fresh water. But against the scientific evidence 

 many practical anglers advance the undoubted fact 

 that salmon in fresh water do take and swallow worms, 

 minnows, and other edible objects. They will take a 

 natural boiled prawn, and reject the closest imitation. 

 A few weeks ago, I had practical experience of this. 

 Having, with five others, secured a long lease of the 

 river Cree for angling purposes, and having rented and 

 put an end to all netting, I was fishing one of the 

 upper beats on a fine May morning. The water was 

 very heavy too heavy for fly but I secured four nice 

 salmon. The opposite bank upon this beat was still 

 under lease, which would not expire till Whitsunday, 

 and upon that bank was the tenant of the fishing. 

 He was dangling a huge bunch of worms in a quiet 

 corner of a rocky cauldron, and, under my very nose, 



