z$o 
THE SALMON, 
Among feveral nations the falmon has different name!, 
according to the age of the filli. The ancients diftin- 
guifhed them into falmones , fariones, and falares, accord- 
ing to their age *. In England, the inhabitants of Tori- 
Jhire call thofe of the firfl year, fmelts ; of the fecond, 
fprods ; of the third, morts ; of the fourth, fork-tails ; 
and of the fifth, half filh ; for it is not till the fixth year 
that this animal attains its fall fize. 
There are falmon -filheries in Iceland , Norway, and 
Lapland f ; but no where are they carried on to greater 
extent than in Britain and Ireland ; the fifhery of Col - 
raine in the latter kingdom being an inexhauftible fund 
of provifion and of wealth. 
The long migrations of the falmon at the fpawning 
feafon is, perhaps, the moft extraordinary part of its 
hiftory. It annually mounts rivers, fometimes to the 
tlitlance of feveral hundred miles, till it finds a place in 
their gravelly bed, fit for depofiting the feeds of a future 
family. There are hardly any obftru&ions which it will 
not overcome, to attain this purpofe. It eafily makes its 
way againft the mod rapid current, and will leap up ca- 
tara&s of an aftonilhing height. In endeavouring to fur- 
mount thefe perpendicular falls, it often fails in the at- 
tempt, and tumbles back into the water, and thus is in 
fome places caught in bnlkets placed below the current. 
The manner of depofiting their fpawn, after having 
performed thefe arduous journies, is curious. When a 
proper place is feleded for the purpofe, the male and fe- 
2 male 
* Tcqne inter geminas fpecies neutrumq. & utrumque, 
Qui nec dum Salmo, nec jam Salar, ambiguufque ; 
ytmborum, medio Fario, intercepte fub «vo. At'sow, 
f Haclduyt, Voy. I. 416, 
