112 THE HABITS OF THE SALMON. 



I shall never forget a sight I witnessed on the 

 Boyne, in May, 1885, by the mill weir at Dunmore. 

 The water was dead low at the time, and also 

 very clear ; there was only just enough of it in 

 places to enable salmon to pass over the weir, 

 and yet the fish were moving about the whole day. 

 Every time I passed the weir backwards and 

 forwards to the pools, I saw fish going over. They 

 were coming up the shallows below the fall with 

 their backs out of water, and this went on for two 

 days in succession, during which time thousands 

 must have passed up. Shortly afterwards, Mr. 

 Fitzherbert and his party (three rods and a cross 

 line) killed fifty-six fish in one day's outing, twenty- 

 six of which number fell to Mr. Fitzherbert's own 

 rod. This is the only time I ever saw salmon travel 

 in large numbers in low water in the day-time, 

 though I have often seen them travelling singly and 

 in pairs under such circumstances. A high wind 

 induces them to travel in the day-time, however 

 low the water may be. I have seen a reach of 



