SALMON. 
859 
then in its best condition, though infested with a num- 
ber of parasites, which it gets rid of in fresh water, 
where they die. For a time it roves to and fro in 
the brackish water; but when the spring floods come, 
it commences the ascent in earnest. But not all the 
Salmon arrive at the same time; the companies seem 
generally to contain some 30 — 100 fish, and the ascent 
may last the whole summer. Throughout the season 
for the upward journey, the Salmon may be seen 
thronging at the surface and leaping into the air both 
in the sea off the mouths of the rivers and in the 
lower part of their course; but higher up the stream 
they muster in an angular formation, like that observed 
by birds of passage, with one of the strongest fish at 
their head, and the others tailing off gradually on each 
wing. In this array they sometimes advance “with 
such vigour,” says Gisler, “that the din thereof has 
been heard on shore like a storm or subdued thunder, 
the fish now and then swimming with the back half 
above water or appearing like waves on the surface.” 
In stormy weather or oppressive heat, hoAvever, they 
keep nearer to the bottom. The females usually lead 
the way, the smallest males bringing up the rear; and 
when the fisherman takes one of the latter, he may 
conclude that the main body of the shoal has passed 
by. When obstacles bar their progress, they disperse; 
but the ranks are again closed when by strength or 
cunning the impediment has been surmounted. If they 
come to a fall, they pass it by leaping, perhaps after 
many unsuccessful attempts and only by springing 
from one resting-place to another, found behind some 
stone or jutting rock with slack water under its lee. 
In this manner the Salmon leap to a height of 1 — 
1 a / 2 m. and a distance of 2 — 3 m., if necessary; and 
from the brink of the fall they advance seemingly 
none the worse for their exertions. But many of them 
fail in the endeavour, and pay the penalty with their 
lives. Natural obstacles are, however, less destructive 
to the Salmon than the contrivances of man. In the 
sea it is intercepted, as we have mentioned above, by 
apparatus of ordinary design, nets hung on stakes 
driven into the bottom, strandsdtt in Halland, stakandt 
( mockor ) in Norrland (fig. 214), and kilnotar (mostly 
in Norway), with a long arm straight out from the 
shore and a bend (kil) at the outer end, or Finnish 
storryssjor, in which the bend is replaced by a huge 
ryssja (p. 33, fig. 7) and its short arm. In the lower 
parts of the rivers too similar nets are used, ior in 
\ 
Fig. 214. Plan of a stake-net, with the so-called inocka or jut a 
(the angle at the outer end). After Lundberg. 
the R. Laga. Salmon-pens ( laxgdrclar ) are also con- 
structed, these consisting, according to law, of upright 
stakes at a fixed distance from each other; within these 
the larger Salmon are detained for a time also ap- 
pointed by law and taken in seines, into which they 
are driven with ‘beaters’, or enticed into so-called kar, 
constructed in the same manner, where they may be 
caught with greater ease. Baskets are also hung in 
the falls, for the Salmon to drop into if they miss the 
leap. The rivers a, re lined too with more expensive 
engines, pcitor, minor , tinbyggnader, and vrakhus. The 
first are built on the same principle as the Salmon- 
pens, of upright stakes, but the shore arm and the 
interior of the court itself are covered with nets, and 
Fig. 215. Plan of a pata in the Ume Elf, built out from the right 
bank. The arrows indicate the direction of the current. 
After Lundberg. 
within the court, the entrance of which is first closed 
with a net, seines are hauled. The minor (fig. 216) 
Fig. 216. Plan of a Salmon mina at Baggbole (Ume Elf). The 
arrows indicate the direction of the current. After Lundberg. 
