THE COMMON SALMON. 163 



the same principle. Alongside one of the falls he 

 ordered a kettle full of water to be placed over a 

 fire, and many minutes had not elapsed before a 

 large Salmon made a false leap, and fell into it. 

 This may seem incredible to those who never 

 saw one of these rude salmon-leaps ; but surely 

 there is as great a chance of a Salmon falling into a 

 kettle as on any given part of the adjacent rock, 

 and it is a thing that would take place many times 

 in the course of the season, were but the experiment 

 tried. 



When the Salmon have arrived at a proper place 

 for spawning in, the male and female unite in form- 

 ing in the sand or gravel a proper receptacle for 

 their ova, about eighteen inches deep, which they 

 are also supposed afterwards to cover up. In this 

 hole the ova lie till the ensuing spring, (if not dis- 

 placed by the floods,) before they are hatched. The 

 parents, however, immediately after their spawning, 

 hasten to the salt water, now extremely emaciated. 

 Toward the end of March the young fry begin to 

 appear ; and, gradually increasing in size, become in 

 the beginning of May five or six inches in length, 

 when they are called Salmon-smelts. They now 

 swarm in the rivers in myriads ; but the first flood 

 sweeps them down into the sea, scarcely leaving anv 

 behind. About the middle of June the largest of 

 these begin to return into the rivers: they are now 

 become of the length of twelve or sixteen inches. 

 Toward the end of July they are called Gilsc, and 

 weigh from six to nine pounds each. 



When the Salmon enter the fresh water, they are 

 M 2 



