SALMON. 175 
dible bending towards each other more or less in 
different individuals, and at different seasons. 
Salmon inhabit both the fresh and salt water ; 
they are unknown in warm climates, never stretch- 
ing even so far as the Mediterranean sea. The 
most remarkable part of their history is the account 
we have of their persevering industry in surmount- 
ing every obstacle to reach the place where they de- 
posit their spawn. We are assured that to accom- 
plish this purpose they will ascend rivers for hun- 
dreds of miles ; force themselves against the most 
rapid streams, and spring with amazing agility over 
cataracts of several feet in height. At Pont Aber- 
glaslyn Mr. Pennant observed the efforts of scores 
of these fish, who attempted to pass a perpendicular 
fall in the river. This gave him an opportunity to 
contradict the vulgar error of their taking their tail 
in their mouth when they attempt to leap, as he 
noticed that they all sprang up quite straight, and 
with a strong tremulous motion. They often mis- 
carry several times before they surmount the dif- 
ficulty, and this occasions many of them to be cap- 
tured ; for at the falls of Kilmorach in Scotland, 
where the salmon are very numerous, the peasants 
are in the habit of laying branches of trees on the 
edges of the rocks, by which means they often take 
such fish as miss their leap. At other places it is 
a common practice to fix baskets made of twigs 
near the edge of the stream to catch them in their 
fall. The natives of Kamtschatka almost depend 
for their subsistence on the salmon, which visit 
