oOO Clinton's letter on the fishes of new-york. 



poor and lean. They feed on other fish, and the flesh of all the species 

 is excellent." 



The salmo salar makes its appearance in lake Oneida, in May, and 

 continues until winter. It is said to eat nothing during its residence 

 there. By a statute of this state, the taking of salmon in October and 

 November, in Fish or Wood Creek, by net, hook, or spear, or any other 

 device whatever, is prohibited : this provision was probably designed to 

 protect the young brood. The Indians take this fish by spears : In the 

 night time they fix pine lights in their canoes, and traverse the lake for 

 the purpose. The number of canoes, and the various and brilliant 

 lights on the waters, exhibit a most beautiful and picturesque appear- 

 ance. 



But to return from this digression : I believe it may be laid down as 

 an incontrovertible truth, that the principal cause of the ascent of fishes 

 into fresh water, from the ocean, is for the purpose of spawning. Along 

 the borders of the favourite rivers of the salmon, are to be seen collec- 

 tions of gravel in a conical shape, where that fish deposites its spawn ; 

 and this is also the case in streams resorted to by it in Europe. In order 

 to allure this fish, the rivers must be shallow near their margin, and they 

 must also contain gravel and sand, suitable for the erection of those 

 places of deposite. Niagara river is destitute of these accommodations, 

 and, of course, the salmon does not resort to it for the purpose of pro- 

 pagation. 



It is believed, by many well-informed naturalists, that anadromous 

 fishes invariably resort, in their periodical migrations, to the waters 

 where they are produced. It is said that young salmons, in England, 

 have been caught, marked, and set at liberty ; and that, during the next 

 season, they have been again taken in the same rivers, and have been 

 identified by the same marks. Shaw, in his Zoology, (vol. v. p. 40.) 

 says, " The salmon, like the swallow, is said to return, each season, 



