FISHES 
The river Ouse, which runs through this county, and the Ivel, 
which joins it at Tempsford, together with the Lea, which rises in 
Bedfordshire, are tenanted by many species of freshwater fish which 
may be considered indigenous; other species have been introduced, 
some of which have multiplied to a certain extent, but have not yet 
become common. 
It is probable that salmon in very early times were found in the 
Ouse, although the rivers of England west of a dividing line running 
from Portland to the Humber may be considered as salmon rivers rather 
than those east of that line. The alteration of the course of the Ouse 
in the fen districts by the cutting of the ‘ Hundred Foot’ and the erec- 
tion of the tidal Denver Sluice, together with the obstruction of the 
numerous water-mills and weirs, have probably tended to prevent the 
free passage of salmon up the river from its mouth at King’s Lynn in 
Norfolk. 
The Ouse from Bedford to its mouth is roughly a hundred miles 
long, and the water at Bedford Bridge is nearly 100 feet higher than at 
Lynn ; the fall therefore being about 1 foot per mile makes the river 
better adapted for coarse fish than for the Sa/monida. 
There are however three authentic records of salmon having been 
captured in this county within the past sixty years. One was taken in 
the eel trap at Cardington Mill about the year 1840 or 1841, weighing 
about 6 Ib., and was exhibited by a fishmonger at Bedford. Mr. George 
Street of Maulden, who rented Cardington Mill from 1852 to 1862, 
informs me that a salmon, weighing about 10 Ib., in fine condition, 
was taken in his eel trap at the time of a very high flood in July 
(probably 1853), and was sent by him to a fishmonger at Bedford for 
inspection, and afterwards presented to the late Mr. S. C. Whitbread, 
the lord of the manor. Owing to the excessive rainfall in 1852-3 the 
river Ouse was more or less in flood throughout the winter and spring, 
which would therefore facilitate the passage of salmon in spite of the 
obstructions of the sluices and weirs previously referred to. A male 
salmon weighing 9§ lb. was caught in the eel trap at Kempston Mill, 
December 22, 1880. 
The introduction of trout into the Ivel took place several years ago, 
with the result that many good specimens have been taken and are still 
found in that river, which appears to be well adapted to their growth 
and development. A cast of one (Sa/mo fario) taken by the late Frank 
Buckland, weighing upwards of g lb., was in the possession of Mr. 
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