38 THE HABITS OF THE SALMON. 



early in the spring, these particular districts are 

 never well stocked until April. 



The Boyne (Co. Meath) is also a celebrate^ 

 early river, and notwithstanding ten mill weirs situ- 

 ated between Navan and the tideway, spring salmon 

 are always caught by anglers as high up as that 

 town on the ist of February, which is the open- 

 ing day for the rods. Some few fish run past 

 Navan, whilst the majority make for the Black- 

 water — a large tributary of the Boyne, running in 

 just below the town. A short distance above the 

 junction of the Blackwater, and we come to another 

 weir. It is in the stream below this weir that the 

 first salmon of the season is generally caught. I was 

 once at a loss to say why salmon always went 

 into the Blackwater earlier than into the Boyne 

 above Navan ; but later on I found that the 

 Blackwater is fed by a large lake, and that the 

 Boyne has none at all. I am now enabled to state, 

 through the kindness of a friend, what the exact 

 temperature of the water was in these two rivers 



