THE SALMON. 



53 



hat waved over the falls, and pick out the eyes of several at 

 a time, before they flew back to their resting-places." 



The Salmon formerly frequented the Hudson*" and Con- 

 necticut, but the steamboat navigation on these beautiful 

 rivers, have interfered with their passage, and by increasing 

 interruption, they have been driven farther north, and like the 

 aboriginal inhabitants of our land, seem destined to find a 

 resting-place far beyond the home of their fathers. The 

 Kenncbec, the St. Lawrence, the waters of California and 

 Oregon, and many of our western lakes, now furnish large 

 quantities, equal in beauty and flavor to those of any part 

 of the world. They leap up the falls of many of these 

 rivers with astonishing and almost incredible velocity, sur- 

 mounting obstacles of great magnitude by the extraordinary 

 muscular power of their tail. Michael Drayton, an English 

 writer, speaks of their summersault, or leap, in the following 

 lines: 



" As when the salmon seeks a fresher stream to find, 

 (Which hither from the sea comes yearly by his kind,) 

 As he towards season grows : and stems the watery 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 enclose; 

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

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

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

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

 Then springing at his height, as doth a little wand, 

 That bended end to end, and started from man's hand 

 Far off itself doth cast; so does the salmon vault; 

 And if at first he fail, his second summersault 

 He instantly essays, and from his nimble ring 

 Still yerking, never leaves until himself he fling 

 Above the opposing stream." 



* A number were taken in netts, in the Bay of New-York, in the 

 month of June, 1844. 



