118 
THE GOLDEN RIVER. 
seasonal and periodic, that is, whether he truly 
migrates or not, is an interesting question. He 
does not go down into the sea; and whether he 
migrates in fresh water is conjecture. There 
is nothing recorded in any book of reference, 
nor can the authorities at the South Kensington 
Museum say anything on this point. One has 
therefore to fall back on the opinion of fisher¬ 
men, always an unreliable source, and, in this 
case, contradictory. Some fishermen believe 
that he does migrate, some that he does not. 
Some think that he goes far into the tropic 
during the winter of the southern hemisphere 
and returns to cooler waters for spring and 
summer. And certainly the season of fishing 
for him bears this out. He is fished for 
during the summer months, from September to 
January. I am speaking, be it noted, of fishing 
south of the Tropic of Capricorn, which 
includes the whole of the Uruguay, the Parana 
up to the Falls of Guayra, and the Paraguay 
up to near Conception. Of what happens 
north, on the distant Paranahyba, or in the 
wilds of Matto Grosso, I know nothing. But 
confining myself to the southern area, the 
Fishing Guide of the Dorado Club in Buenos 
Aires gives September to January, our March 
to July, as the season for the Uruguay, and says 
that October and November, our April and 
May, are the best months on the Alto-Parana. 
But that of itself proves nothing : in the other 
