266 OUT OF DOORS. 



duce ; he gets himself into admirable condition, becomes 

 as fat as a pig and as firm as a turkey ; and when he is 

 quite fit to be eaten, back he swims to his native river, 

 and comes to be killed with the proverbial docility of 

 Mrs. Bond's ducks, weighing as many pounds on his 

 return as he weighed ounces on his departure. 



His flesh is very digestible, wonderfully nutritious, 

 more so indeed than that of most fish, and its only fault 

 is its luscious richness. It can be eaten fresh, pickled, 

 or dried ; and in the last-mentioned case can be pre- 

 served for years in perfectly good condition. And, as 

 the salmon feeds himself, the cost of his maintenance is 

 nil, and the only expenses connected with the culture 

 of this noble fish are the salaries which must be paid to 

 the water police. 



The salmon ought never to have occupied the posi- 

 tion which it now holds, namely, a dainty upon the 

 tables of the affluent. The poor man ought to have his 

 salmon as well as the rich ; and if the newly-born 

 science of pisciculture should prosper, a few years will 

 see the labourer or the mechanic purchasing his salmon 

 as freely as he now purchases his herring or periwinkles. 

 There was once a time when this splendid fish was so 

 plentiful in the British rivers that apprentices were 

 accustomed to stipulate with their masters not to be fed 

 on salmon more than four days in the week ; and though 

 we cannot hope to restore the fish in such plenty as is 

 indicated by that arrangement, there is every hope of 

 bringing them back to the rivers which they have 



