SAL 
they effed in about twenty days. At this time 
their flefli is of no value: and, to prevent their 
defl:ru6lion, the laws of this country inflid a pe- 
nalty on thofe who deftroy Salmon between the 
lith of Augull and the 226. of November; but, 
perhaps, it would be better for the community if 
the reftriftions were laid from September to De- 
cember, 
Nothing is more curious, with r^fpe£l to the 
hiftory of thefe fifh, than their furprifing agility in 
leaping over every obftacle which oppofes their 
paffage, either to or from the fea ; for they are fre- 
quently feen to throw themfelves up catarafls and 
precipices many yards above the level of the wa- 
ter. They fometimes make feveral effays before 
they can accomplifh their point; and, when they 
have effected it, their deftru6tion has often been 
the confequence, from baflcets placed for their re- 
ception at the top of the fall. On the river 
Twy, in Pembrokefhire, there is a remarkable 
catara61, where the furrounding natives often 
ftand admiring the ftrength and agility of thefe 
creatures while endeavouring to recover the river 
from the fea; and on this account it is known in 
thofe parts by the name of the Salmon-leap. On 
the river Wear, near the city of Durham, there 
is another of this kind, fuppofed to be the beft in 
England. And there is a third in the river Don, 
at Old Aberdeen, where thefe fifh have been 
caught in fuch abundance, as to be deemed the 
principal trade of the place. 
Whenever the paffage of Salmon to the fea is 
intercepted by wiers, or other fimilar contriv- 
ances, they foon grow fickly, lean, and languid; 
and, if caught in that condition, prove taftelefs 
and infipid: and the fecond year, unlefs they find 
accefs to the falt-water, pine away and die. It is 
alfo obfervable, that thefe fifh are not only de- 
firous of returning back to the rivers in general, 
but to that very river where they were fpawned ; 
as evidently appears by an experiment made by 
fiihermen and others who have caught them when 
very fmall, and run a fmall ribband, tape, or 
thread, through the caudal fin; by which mark 
they have been aflTured that the identical fifh has 
been retaken at the fame place as it returned from 
the fea; and by this means have alfo difcovered 
that the growth of the Salmon is more rapid than 
that of any other fifli. 
The mofb celebrated Salmon rivers in England 
are the Thames, the Severn, the Merfey, the 
Trent, the Med way, the Dee, the Ex, the Ufk, 
the Wye, the Lon, the Tyne, the Werkingcon, 
and the Weaver: however, the London markets 
are chiefly fupplied from the north, where thefe 
fifh are not only more plentiful, but earlier in fea- 
Ibn than in the fouthern rivers. 
The Merfey greatly abounds with Salmon, 
which in fpring ftrive to afcend that arm of the 
fea, and with difficulty evade the nets of the fifh- 
ermen before they reach Warrington Bridge, 
where the river becoines narrower; and the land- 
owners having an exclufive right, each proprietor, 
by his agents, catches Salmon, amounting annu- 
ally to upwards of a thoufand pounds. By this 
capture the towns of Warrington, Manchefter, 
and Stockport, are well fupplied ; and the over- 
plus is either fent to London by the flages, or 
carried on horfeback to Birmingham and other 
inland towns. 
Having given a general hiftory of the Salmon, 
it will not be amifs to notice the method of 
SAL 
catching it with the angle. And here it may be 
necefTary to premife, that this fifh does not conti- 
nue long in one place, but feems defirous of get- 
ting nearer and nearer to the fountain-head. It 
neither lurks near the bank, nor under the roots 
of trees, but fwims in the deep and broad parts of 
the water, generaHy in the middle, and near the 
bottom. However, the Salmon fmelts commonly 
lie in the rough and upper parts of a gentle 
ftream, pretty near the middle, during the months 
of April and May; and nearer the fide earlier in 
the fpring. 
In the Hebrides, a raw cockle taken out of 
the fliell is found to be the mod alluring bait for 
Salmon; and v/ith this the fifliers angle at the bot- 
tom, ufing a running bullet. This method is alfo 
pradifed with fuccefs in the river Medway, by 
letting the cockle fall into a fiiallow, from whence 
there is a gradual defcent into a deep hole. In 
moft of the Salmon rivers on the continent, and 
particularly in France, they ule prawns, or mufcles 
taken out of the fhell. 
In the month of 0£lober, thefe fifhes afcend 
the fmall rivers as far as they are able, in order to 
depofit their fpawn ; and at that feafon many get 
high up in the Merfey, where fome few are caught 
by angling: but the far greatefl: part of them are 
deftroyed with fpears, by poachers, though their 
fieih is at that time of very little value. Thus 
confiderable damage is done to the breed of Sal-^ 
mon, v/ithout any profpeil of advantage to the 
perpetrators of this mifchief; a circumftance 
which inclines us to wifli that the laws were more 
ftriftly enforced, and private property better af- 
certained, in order to the prefervation of thefe va-^ 
luable fifh. 
In England, the moil ufual baits for Salmon 
are lob-worms, fmall dace, gudgeons, bleaks, 
m.innows, or two well fcoured dew-worms, v^hich 
fliouid be often varied, to gratify the humour of 
this capricious fifli ; for what it delights in one 
day, it often defpifes the next; and indeed it is 
fometimes utterly impofTible for an angler to find 
a bait fuitabie to it's tafte. However, it gene- 
rally bites beft about three in the afternoon, in 
May, June, and July, efpecially if the weather 
happens to be clear, and there is a flnall breeze 
of v/ind fbirring; but there is ftill a greater pro- 
fpeft of fuccefs if the wind and fcrcam happen to 
fet contrary ways. 
For the Salmon-fry, called alfo the Salmon- 
fmelt, the propereft baits are ant-flies, brandlings, 
earth-bobs, gentles, black and dun gnats,' fmall 
hackles of all colours, and dub'd flies, according 
to the feafon: they are alfo taken v/ith various 
other forts of bait, particularly the red-worm. 
The places where they generally abound are the 
fcours near the deeps, or among woods or weeds* 
They always leave the Merfey in May or June. 
The chief Salm.on-fifheries in Europe, are along 
the coafts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 
The fifhing ufually begins about tlie firfl of Ja- 
nuary, and ends on the eleventh of Augufr. It 
is performed with nets in thofe places where the 
rivers empty themfelves into the Tea, and along 
the fea-coafls in the vicinity: becaufe thefe fifh 
are obferved to croud thither from all parts in 
fearch of frefli water. They are alfo fifhed fur 
higher up in the rivers, fometimes with nets, and 
at others with locks or wiers built for that pur- 
pofe; and fo contrived, that the fifh, in pafling 
up the rivers, can open them with their heads; but 
they 
