THE SALMON 



427 



vestigators. 

 tells of 

 Bristol 

 on by 

 and it 

 a river, 



The sur\-iving Samlets grow apace 

 in the bay. In a few short months they 

 are eager to ascend to fresh water ; and 

 by this time — marvellous to relate — 

 they ha\-e attained the weight of from 

 four to six pounds ! Such is the result 

 of a sea-water diet. Perhaps 

 even stranger is the mysterious 

 faculty which enables the grilse, 

 or Salmon, in its first river 

 journey to find its way to the 

 water in which it was bred. 

 What guides it from the sea, 

 up the estuary, past the out- 

 lets of numerous minor streams, 

 to the river in which its Sam- 

 let days were spent ? This is a 

 riddle that naturalists have 

 tried to answer. 



One of our painstaking in- 

 Frank Buckland, 

 a Salmon ascending the 

 Channel. It is urged 

 the migratory impulse, 

 comes to the mouth of 

 down which a turbid 

 flood is hastening. From the 

 appearance of the stream all 

 the conditions for the expedi- 

 tion are favourable, for the 

 water will be almost level with 

 the weirs, the shallows well 

 covered, and the upper reaches 

 swollen. Why does the Salmon 

 pause before entering this riv'er ? 

 Because it is a Salmon born in 

 the Severn, and to that river. 

 and to no other, will it return. 

 This river may be the Usk, or 

 the ^^'ye. or a lesser stream 

 flowing into the Severn Sea, and 

 there is apparently nothing to 

 indicate to the Salmon that 

 not the Severn fresh water 

 into the estuary. Nevertheless, 

 knows the savour of its own river, and, 

 without turning aside, it swims on to the 

 Severn. Is the guiding instinct a power 

 of scent ? Who can determine this 

 problem ? 



Having reached the sweet, fresh water 

 of its native river, the Salmon frolics in 

 very joy, and travels on till it finds a 

 pool that affords deep water and hiding- 

 places. So long as the stream is in flood, 

 the Salmon will frequent the streams as 



well as the pools ; but as soon as the 

 water sinks, and the shallows begin to 

 suggest danger, the wary fish will take up 

 quarters in a quiet, deep eddy, or in a big, 

 shadowy pool. 



But i am forgetting the risks that the 



/ 



X 



this 

 pouring 



the fish 



The 



IS 



A SALMON POOL AT EVENING, 

 rings on the water show where a Salmon has risen. 



travelling Salmon runs in its journey up 

 from the sea. Its first peril are the nets in 

 the tidal water during the net-fishing 

 season, and in some rivers there are spread 

 so many of these that it is almost a 

 miracle that any Salmon escape them. 

 Then there are the difficult falls, ill- 

 provided with passes or ladders for the 

 fish to ascend, and these must be sur- 

 mounted with a leap. This is often a 

 desperate business. When the flood sub- 

 sides, some of the weirs stand high above 

 the stream below, and the Salmon has to 

 fight his way up them, among a mighty 



