82 THE ACCLIMATISATION 



ing sides, one of which, of 4 lbs. weight, was 

 imprudent enough to leap into a boat moored 

 to a jetty. When examined, his dentition 

 suggested salmon-trout ; the flesh was a deep 

 pink, and the flavour delicious. No one 

 who saw them could doubt that these were 

 fresh-run fish taking advantage of the 

 " spate," and pushing their way joyfully to 

 the fine spawning grounds of the Derwent 

 and its six tributaries. That many of these 

 were true salmon is conclusive from the fact 

 that in the year when they were first ob- 

 served no salmon-trout had been turned into 

 the river ; the latter were then mere fry in 

 the breeding ponds. The almost inacces- 

 sible character of the river, obstructed by 

 rocks and snags, and selected on this ac- 

 count, prevented the capture of any of these, 

 but the testimony of nearly a hundred 

 persons, residents on the banks, went to 

 show that quantities of large fish, never till 

 then seen in the river, were ascending be- 

 tween the end of March and the middle of 

 August, a time when the winter freshes are 

 coming down, and that which only a mi- 



