264 THE ANGLER-NATUEALIST. 



bat of this sort is the following^ which I extract from 

 Mr. Newman's 'Zoologist'*: — "We have this week to 

 narrate a more remarkable occurrence, in the character of 

 the Salmon, than any we have yet had the opportunity of 

 recording. The facts are these : — WhUe several cuttermen 

 of the Preventive Service were on their rounds the other 

 day, and patrolling along the Findhorn, between Glen- 

 ferness and Dulcie Bridge, they observed an unusual 

 commotion among the spawning-beds of the ford. On 

 approaching the spot, two large male Salmon were 

 seen engaged in mortal combat for a female. Never did 

 chivalric knights do battle for the hand of lady fair 

 more fiercely than those buirdly lords of the flood. The 

 tranquil bosom of the stream was lashed into foam by 

 the struggles of the finny antagonists, — the object of the 

 fray in the mean time beating silently about, ' spectatress 

 of the fight.' From the appearance of the stream — dyed 

 with blood, and gradually assuming its former smooth sur- 

 face — it was evident that the contest was over. One of 

 the Salmon, at last, flounders on the surface — dead ; and 

 the victor, it may be conjectured, exhaustedly bore off his 

 prize. 



" The men, who had the curiosity to watch the fight, as 

 a proof of their story conveyed the dead Salmon to the 

 nearest dweUing, that of Mr. George Mackintosh, March 

 Strype, near the entrance of the secluded valley called The 

 Streens. The victorious Salmon had torn off the flesh, or 

 * For the year 1847, p. 1650. 



