82 FISHING GOSSIP. 
borne in mind, that some, and those not a few, make 
the fresh water their habitation for the whole of the 
summer ; the majority ascend in April, May, June, 
July, and August ; whilst others remain again in the 
sea, and only enter the fresh water a few weeks, or it 
may be a few days, before they spawn. The object 
of this natural law, I think, is quite clear. It is 
intended that the fish should distribute themselves 
throughout the whole of the waters of the largest 
rivers, the upper as.well as the lower ; and this they 
will do, if not interfered with by man. The fish 
which ascend the earliest will choose their position 
in the deep pools or lakes on the higher reaches of 
the waters, and there be ready to take possession of 
the gravel beds in the vicinity when the time has 
arrived to sow their seed ; whilst those which remain 
in the sea will, and always do, spawn on the lower 
beds. The earliest spawning is always the highest 
up; the latest the lowest down. In small rivers, 
without lakes or deep pools, the fish will not ascend 
at all until autumn approaches, having divined by a 
marvellous instinct that they would not find water 
enough in summer to shelter them. There is no such 
thing as “clean” newly-run fish with the roes scarcely 
developed to be found in December, January, and 
February, except in rivers connected with lakes, or 
largeriversand deep pools.. Where those December and 
January fish have been captured in any considerable 
