176 AMERICAN GAME. 
weeks about the point where the tide turns, and salt and 
fresh water alternates, as if to acclimate themselves to 
the change of temperature, proceed up to the very head- 
waters of the streams they frequent, and there, in the 
gravelly bottoms of the shallow rivulets, deposit their 
egos, to be matured and ripened by the effects of the air 
and sunshine. Thencé they descend to the sea again, to . 
recover health and vigor for the ensuing season, but on 
their descent they would not be recognized for the same 
fish which ascended in the previous autumn, as they are 
now lean, flat-sided, big-headed—owing to the diminu- 
tion of the body—dingy-colored, and utterly unfit for 
food. A male salmon, which from his length, should 
have weighed 11 lbs., in condition, being killed in this 
state, was found to weigh 44 lbs. Yet in this miserable 
and useless state, as well as on the very spawning beds, 
when in the actual performance of their natural and 
paternal duties, this noble fish is ruthlessly and wantonly 
massacred to the gradual annihilation of the species, 
and to the extinction not only of an admirable and 
athletic sport, but of a considerable source of national 
wealth, and a valuable branch of domestic and foreign 
trade. 
Now it is by no means necessary, either to abstain 
from taking salmon, in almost unlimited quantities at 
the proper season, that is to say, while they are running 
up the rivers in summer and early autumn, provided 
only that the whole channel is not obstructed by stake- 
