THE SALMON. 
53 
*hat waved over the falls, and pick out the eyes of several at 
a time, before they flew back to their resting-places.” 
The Salmon formerly frequented the Hudson* and Con- 
necticut, but the steamboat navigation on these beautiful 
rivers, have interfered with their passage, and by increasing 
interruption, they have been driven farther north, and like the 
aboriginal inhabitants of our land, seem destined to find a 
resting-place far beyond the home of their fathers. The 
Kennebec, the St. Lawrence, the waters of the upper Mis- 
souri, the Ohio, and many of our western lakes, now furnish 
largo quantities, equal in beauty and flavor to those of any 
part of the world. They leap up the falls of many of these 
livers with astonishing and almost incredible velocity, sur- 
mounting obstacles of great magnitude by the extraordinary 
muscular power of their tail. Michael Drayton, an English 
miter, speaks of their summersault, or leap, in the following 
lines : ■ 
41 As when the salmon seeks a fresher stream to find, 
(Which hither from the sea comes yearly by his kind,) 
As lie towards season grows : and stems the watery tract 
Where Tivy, falling down, makes a high cataract, 
Forced by the rising rocks that thero her course oppose, 
As though within her bounds they meant her to enclose; 
Here, when the laboring fish docs at the foot arrive, 
And finds that by his strength ho docs but vainly strive ; 
His tail takes in his mouth, and bending like a bow 
That’s to full compass drawn, aloft himself doth throw, 
Then springing at his height, os doth a little wand, 
That bended end to end, and started from mail’s baud 
For off itself doth cast; so does the salmon vault; 
And if at first he fail, his second summersault 
He instantly essays, nnd from his nimblo ring 
Still yerking, never leaves until himself ho fling 
Above the opposing stream.” 
* A number were taken in netts, in the Bay of New-York, in the 
month of June, 1844. 
