THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 113 



Next I shall tell you, that though they make very hard 

 shift to get out of the fresh rivers into the sea, yet they will 

 make a harder shift to get out of the salt into the fresh 

 rivers, to spawn, or possess the pleasures that they have for- 

 merly found in them : to which end they will force them- 

 selves through flood-gates, or over weirs or hedges, or stops in 

 the water, even to a height beyond common belief. Gesner 

 speaks of such places as are known to be above eight feet 

 high above water. And our Camden mentions, in his 

 " Britannia," the like 'wonder to be in Pembrokeshire, where 

 the river Tivy falls into the sea ; and that the fall is so down- 

 right, and so high, that the people stand and wonder at the 

 strength and sleight by which they see the salmon use to get 

 out of the sea into the said river ; and the manner and height 

 of the place is so notable, that it is known, far, by the name 

 of the " Salmon-leap." Concerning which, take this also out 

 of Michael Drayton,* my honest old friend, as he tells it you r 

 in his " Polyolbion :" 



And when the salmon seeks a fresher stream to find, 

 "Which hither from the sea comes yearly by his kind ; 

 As he tow'rds season grows, and stems the wat'ry tract 

 Where Tivy falling down, makes a high cataract, 

 Forced by the rising rocks that there her course oppose, 

 As though within her bounds they meant her to inclose ; 

 Here, when the labouring fish does at the foot arrive, 

 And finds that by his strength he does but vainly strive, 

 His tail takes in his mouth, f and, bending like a bow, 

 That's to full compass drawn, aloft himself doth throw ; 



on its return from the sea to its native river. In a few days afterwards, it is 

 no longer clear and fresh-run, and in two or three weeks loses its fat or curd, 

 becomes comparatively lean, and almost black on the head, gill-covers and 

 back. This is the result of its sojourn in fresh water, in which it no longer 

 finds that food on which it thrived in its salt-water feeding-grounds. ED. 



* An excellent poet, born in Warwickshire, 1563. Among his works is the 

 " Polyolbion," a chorographical description of the rivers, mountains, forests, 

 castles, etc., in this island. Though this poem has great merit, it is rendered 

 much more valuable by the learned notes of Mr. Selden. The author died in 

 1C31, and lies buried among the poets in Westminster Abbey. H. 



t This error prevails to the present day. The salmon never curves itself, or 

 puts its tail in its mouth for the purpose of jumping from the water. It is by 

 means of its fins, as explained in the observations at the end of this chapter, 

 that it throws itself from the water. It cannot jump perpendicularly to tha 

 height of eight feet, but may, probably, if there be sufficient depth of water, 

 jump six feet. In shallow water not half that distance. Its spring to surmount 

 cascades or weirs is not perpendicular not an upright standing leap but, as 

 it were, a running jump forwards, gradually attaining, in extreme instances,- a 

 height of six feet. In subsequent remarks, the saltatory progress of the salmon 

 is explained from actual observation. ED. 



H 



