ioo ARDENMOHR. 



trout and other rations; the salmon are then going 

 down the river." 



" But how, then," asked Ward, " do the fish going 

 up the river keep up their condition ?" 



u Precisely what they do not do : they lose con- 

 dition daily from entering the rivers, and the farther 

 on they go, the worse they become; while kelts, 

 again, eat freely, and improve in weight and appear- 



ance." 



u That is interesting ; but how is it ascertained ? " 

 " In the most definite way, by the Duke of Athole 

 and other gentlemen interested. They have a custom, 

 when they get hold of kelts, of attaching minute rings 

 to their dead fin ; these rings or plates are marked, 

 and note is kept of the day of capture, and weight of 

 the fish on its being returned to the water. On any 

 fish being recaptured with one of these peculiar rings, 

 either before it gets to the sea or after its return from 

 sea quarters, word is sent to the marker, along with 

 the ring and present weight of. the fish, and this being 

 compared with the note at the time of its first capture, 

 of course it is easy to compute the change the fish has 

 made in the time." 



" Then from all this you would imply that clean 

 salmon after leaving the sea and entering rivers do 



