THE SALMON 213 



Some people have assigned temperature as the regulating 

 cause, alleging that salmon ascend those rivers which are 

 warmer than others in the early cold months ; but here again 

 facts are against theory, inasmuch as some of the very earliest 

 salmon rivers in Scotland — the Naver, the Thurso, the Brora, 

 etc. — derive their volume from melted snow, and shrink to the 

 scale of brooks when the snow is gone. I have seen large 

 numbers of salmon ascending the Helmsdale in February when 

 the water temperature was only 34° Fahrenheit. On Friday, 

 February 23rd, 1900, the Helmsdale had been thickly frozen 

 over for many days ; the ice, as well as the whole strath and 

 surrounding hills, being deeply covered with snow. Daily the 

 deer came cowering down to the lodge, seeking, poor things, 

 for some stray wisp of straw, so hardly were they pressed for 

 food. The cold was intense. That night there came a change. 

 Next day the water came down in flood, the ice began to break 

 up, great bergs and fields of it went crashing down the torrent 

 and away out to sea. The same went on all Sunday, but on 

 Monday morning the river was clear of ice, though still very 

 high from melting snow. 1 went a-fishing, much doubting 

 whether any salmon could have had the hardihood to face such 

 a state of things. Before night I had killed eleven spring fish, 

 fresh from the sea, as could be seen by 'the sea-lice, an ugly 

 parasite which drops off the fish soon after it enters fresh water. 

 After that experience, I feel convinced that, although cold 

 water may attract salmon, it is very far from deterring them 

 from running. 



