OF THE SALMONIBM. 15 



spawning time of the naturalised fish, the 

 temperature of the water is about 44° Fahr. 

 at a point far below the probable spawning 

 grounds, while some miles higher up this 

 temperature will be maintained for a long 

 time. The fish thus have a range of many 

 miles of ground favourable in every respect 

 -for the deposition of their ova. The river 

 was, of course, selected on account, among 

 other reasons, of its inaccessibility to the 

 net of the poacher, its snags and rocks being 

 its best keepers, and its deepest pools having 

 perpendicular banks. No net would have a 

 chance, and the most skilful angler a very 

 poor one, in this secure nursery for colonial 

 salmon. For many miles a swift, clear, and 

 deep stream runs through primary rocks, 

 and there are in the upper waters broad 

 stretches of coarse sand for nesting. There 

 are neither locks, weirs, nor other obstruc- 

 tions, and pollution cannot become a 

 question for centuries. Amid the grand 

 scenery of the head waters of the river it 

 is easier to imagine one's self in Scotland 

 .or Norway than at the Antipodes. 



