140 SALMON AND TROUT. 
kelts find their way back to the upper reaches of the river as 
clean fish, having gained in weight during the time from seven 
to ten pounds. 
The annexed table shows the actual increase of weight in 
three fish marked by the Duke of Athol when returning to the 
sea as kelts : 
Caught as kelts or spawned fish Retaken ascending the river as 
returning to the sea. clean fish. 
Weight Weight 
No. 21-—Feb. 14 » Io lbs, | No. 21—Aug. 18 . » 17 lbs. 
No. 76—Mar.2 . . «r1slbs, | No. 76—Aug. 18 . - 17 |Ibs. 
No. 95—Mar. 29 .- . t2tlbs. | No. g5—Aug.12 . » 1g lbs. 
Whilst descending to the sea in the spring months kelts are 
a great annoyance to anglers, as at this time they are ravenous 
for food, rising greedily at any sort of fly, and though not so 
strong and obstinate as clean fish, often taking up more time 
in landing than can conveniently be spared. 
That spawned fish improve greatly before they leave the 
fresh water there is no room to doubt (although they are never 
really in prime condition for the table until their return from 
their sea trip), and hence the expression, ‘A well-mended kelt ;’ 
which is common amongst fishermen. These kelts are often 
almost as bright and silvery looking as the really clean fish, 
and are not unfrequently sold as such in the towns ; but the 
head is disproportionately large, owing to the body not being 
filled up, and upon opening the gill covers, the white worm, 
before mentioned, will almost invariably be found adhering. 
The hatching of the eggs and the growth of the young fry 
is the next great event in salmon life, and leaving, therefore, 
the exhausted and more or less ill-conditioned kelts to recruit 
themselves in their salt-water bath, we return to the spawning 
bed where the eggs are approaching the time of hatching. 
Into this bed, during the preceding three months, a dozen 
females have each poured the germs of, say, from seventeen 
to twenty thousand salmon, which, if they all arrived at matu- 
rity, would represent in approximate figures some three million 
five hundred thousand pounds weight of wholesome food, or a 
