CHAPTER XXXII 

 THE SWEET FISH OF JEWEL RIVER 



HE ayu, or sweetfish, or samlet, of Japan, re- 

 sembles a small trout in form, habits and scal- 

 ing. Its teeth are, however, totally different, 

 being arranged on serrated plates on the sides 

 of the jaws, and the tongue marked with similar folds. The 

 ayu abounds in all clear streams of Japan and Formosa. It 

 runs up from the sea like a salmon. It reaches the length 

 of about a foot. The flesh is very fine and delicate, scarcely 

 surpassed by that of any other fish whatsoever. It should 

 be introduced into clear short streams throughout the tem- 

 perate zones. 



In the river at Gifu, in Japan, and in some other streams, 

 the ayu is fished for on a large scale by means of tame cor- 

 morants. This is usually done from boats in the night by 

 the light of torches. But tame cormorants will work by 

 day as well, as the following account of the author's experi- 

 ence will show: 



Tamagawa means Jewel River, and no water could be 

 clearer. It rises somewhere up in the delectable moun- 

 tains of Musashi to the eastward of Tokyo, among the 

 mysterious pines and green-brown fir trees, and it flows 

 across the plains bordered by rice fields and mulberry 

 orchards to the misty bay of Tokyo. It is, therefore, a 

 river of Japan, and along its shores are quaint old temples, 

 each guarding its section of primitive forest, picturesque 

 bridges, huddling villages and torii, or gates through which 

 the gods may pass. 



The stream itself is none too large — a boy may wade it — 



247 



