THE SALMON FAMILY 69 
very submissive state, and then the gillie waded in to 
make a closer inspection. This inspection confirmed our 
suspicions, and the kelt was tailed and lifted on to the 
bank. As soon as she was landed, as so often happens 
after a good fight, the fly dropped out of her mouth. 
She was a beautiful fish, but undoubtedly a kelt, so 
back she had to go! For several minutes she lay quite 
still in the shallow water, until I waded in and gave 
her a touch, then with a violent swish of her tail she 
shot like an arrow into the deep water, to get, I hope, 
safe and sound to sea. 
We then drank the health of the kelt and to our 
next merry meeting, when she came back as a clean 
run forty-pounder. 
There are certain problems in connection with the 
habits of salmon which are always a fruitful source of 
controversy, viZ. :— 
Do salmon return to the river in which they hatch ? 
Do they fast while in fresh water? If they fast, why 
do they take a fly or other lure ? 
The examination of marked fish points to the fact 
that salmon, as a rule, do return to the river in which 
they were hatched; but this is due to the fact that it 
is exceptional for salmon to roam far in the sea, and 
when the time again comes round for them to spawn, 
the river from which they have descended is probably 
the nearest fresh water. 
With regard to the question as to whether salmon 
feed in fresh water, the evidence in support of the fact 
