40 SALMONIA. 



* POIET. He has hardly any spots, and is 

 silvery all over ; and the whole of the lower 

 part of his body is beautifully clean. 



HAL. He is likewise broad backed; and 

 you may observe his few spots are black, 

 and these are very small. I have always 

 observed, in this river, that the nearer the 

 fish approach to perfection, the colour of 

 the body becomes more uniform, pale olive 

 above, and bright silver below ; and these 

 qualities are always connected with a small 

 head, or rather, an oval body, and deep- 

 red flesh. 



POIET. May not the red spots be marks 

 of disease a hectic kind of beauty? For 

 I observed in a very thin and poor fish, and 

 great-headed, that I caught an hour ago, 

 which had leeches sticking to it, a number 

 of red spots, and a long black back, and 

 black or bluish marks even on the belly. 



HAL. I do not think red spots a symptom 

 of disease ; for I have seen fish in other 

 rivers, and even small fish in this river, 

 in perfectly good season, with red spots ; 



