THE TREASURES OF THE DEEP. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE S A L M O N.* 



" Let me wander beside the banks of the tranquil streams of the warm 

 South, 'in the yellow meads of Asphodel,' when the young spring comes forth, 

 and all nature is glad ; or, if a wilder mood comes over me, let me clamber 

 among the steeps of the North, beneath the shaggy mountains, where the 

 river comes foaming and raging everlastingly, wedging its way through the 

 secret glen, whilst the eagle, but dimly seen, cleaves the winds and the clouds, 

 and the dun deer gaze from the mosses above. There, amongst gigantic rocks, 

 and the din of mountain torrents, let me do battle with the lusty salmon, till 

 I drag him into day, rejoicing in his bulk, voluminous and vast."- SCROPE. 



"See the fish 

 Cut with her golden oars the silver stream." SHAKESPEARE. 



jjOWS of pointed teeth on the jaws, the palate, 

 the tongue, in fact, the most complicated 

 mouth-armour or dental apparatus which is 

 known ; a wedge-shaped body, covered with 

 thin small scales, which are embedded in the silvery 

 spotted skin ; great muscular strength of body, and re- 

 markable powers of swimming; a surprising fecundity; 



* The materials of the following chapter have been derived from Russel, 

 "The Salmon;" Stoddart, "The Angler's Companion;" Scrope, "Days and 

 Nights," &c.; Bertram, " Harvest of the Sea;" C. St. John; Yarrell; Sir J. 

 llichardson; Peslandes; Badham, &c. ; and from personal observations 



