68 Salmon at the Antipodes. 



ceeded till the embryo is clearly visible in the 

 egg, they will bear being transported to long 

 distances without injury. When the ova are 

 about to be deposited in the natural way in 

 the redd, the female fish excavates a hollow 

 by fanning away the loose gravel with her tail 

 fin. It is well known that divers can lift 

 stones under water, in building submarine 

 walls for piers, docks, etc., which they could 

 not move on land, on account of their weight 

 being less in water by the weight of the bulk 

 of water which they displace, and this prin- 

 ciple enables the salmon to excavate their 

 redds in loose gravel, in a strong current, with 

 little difficulty. 



The redd can be easily recognized by those 

 familiar with its appearance, being simply a 

 mound containing about a barrowful of gravel, 

 thrown up into a little heap, with a hollow or 

 furrow at the upper side, where the work was 

 finished. When fish are spawning, it is no 

 unusual thing for other fish of the same species 

 to lie in wait, and devour the eggs in a whole- 

 sale way, and many of the ova are carried 

 away by the current into deep water, where 

 they cannot be hatched out and must perish. 



