HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

LIBRARY

OF THE

MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY

Library of
SAMUEL GARMAN

¥

>Tt//Vt'VULcA___

SALMONIA.

By the same Author,

CONSOLATIONS IN TRAVEL; OR, THE LAST DAYS
OF A PHILOSOPHER,

Illustrations. Fcap. 8vo. $1-50.

ADVEKTISEMENT TO THE EOUBTH

EDITION.

This Edition is printed from a copy of Salmoxia
which had been revised by the Author shortly before
his decease. The few alterations, additions, and
omissions which have been made, are either chiefly
from his dictation, or in compliance with instructions
expressed by him at the time.

Some Notes are subjoined and appended, most of
them relating to facts recently ascertained j they are
distinguished by being inserted in brackets, and by
the initials of the Editor.

J. D.

Lesketh How, Ambleside,
Dec. 7th. 1850.

viii PEEFACE.

and long-continued attention ; and he could not but
have in mind a model, which has fully proved the
utility and popularity of this method of treating the
subject — The Complete Angler, by Walton and Cotton.

The characters, chosen to support these Conversa-
tions, are — Halieus, who is supposed to be an
accomplished fly-fisher ; Oexithee, who is to be
regarded as a gentleman generally fond of the sports
of the field, though not a finished master of the art
of angling ; Poietes, who is to be considered as an
enthusiastic lover of nature, and partially acquainted
with the mysteries of fly-fishing ; and Physicus, who
is described uninitiated as an angler, but as a person
fond of inquiries in natural history and philosophy.

These personages are of course imaginary, though
the sentiments attributed to them, the Author may
sometimes have gained from recollections of real
conversations with friends, from whose society much
of the happiness of Iris early life has been derived ;
and in the portrait of the character of Halieus,
given in the last dialogue, a likeness, he thinks, will
not fail to be recognised to that of the character of a

PREFACE. ix

most estimable Physician, ardently beloved by his
friends, and esteemed and venerated by the public*

He has limited his description of fish to the
varieties of the Salmo most usual in the fresh waters of
Europe, and which may be defined as a genus having
eight fins, the one above the tail fleshy, and without
spines.

It is to be hoped M. Cuvier's new work on fishes
will supply accurate information on this genus, which
is still very imperfectly known.

Laybach, Illykia.

Sept. 30tk, 1828.

[* That excellent man the late Dr. Babington, to whom the first
edition was dedicated, " in remembrance of some delightful days passed
in his society, and in gratitude for an uninterrupted friendship of a
quarter of a century." It should be kept in mind, however, that
it is in the last Dialogue only that the likeness is sustained. In the
other Dialogues, the personages are not to be identified with any
individuals entirely ; though here and there, in the sentiments ex-
pressed, and the pursuits attributed to them, features of likeness of
distinguished friends of the Author may be traced. This is mentioned
as, notwithstanding the caution in the text, I have been more than
once asked who are the originals represented; the disposition on the
part of readers seeming to be, to consider each throughout as a
portrait. — J. D.]

CONTENTS.

FIRST DAY

PAR8

Vindication of fly-fishing — Poem in praise of Walton — Distin-
guished anglers — Fishing a natural, philosophical, and
scientific pursuit — Scenery — Fish possessed of little sen-
sibility— Praise of fly-fishing — Field-sports related to natural
history — Proposed fishing excursion — Comparison of a river
to human life ........ 3 — 17

SECOND DAY.

Trout-fishing — Flies — May-fly and gray-drake — Alder-fly —
Object of fishing — Escape of a fish after being hooked — Sense
of smelling in fish — Baits — The natural fly — Pricked trout —
Local habits of animals — Trout of the Colne — Throwing the
fly — Trout described — Spots on trout — Perch — Anecdote —
Haunts of trout — Evening fishing — Management of a fish
when hooked — Flies of different seasons — Fishing season —
Difference of the gillaroo from the common trout — Diminu-
tion of flies in some rivers — Gillaroo trout found only in
Ireland — Parr or samlet — Other varieties of trout — Dr.
Darwin — Experiment on trout by Mr. Tonkin of Polgaron
— Cause of the varieties of trout — Mule fish — Crossing the
breed — Impregnation of the ova of fish — Experiment of Mr.
Jacobi on this point — Causes that hasten or retard the
maturity of the ova — Why fish approach shallows to spawn
— Admiration of the designs of Providence . . 18 — 76

xii CONTENTS.

THIRD DAY.

FAGS

Morning fishing — Effect of shadows in fishing — Anecdotes illus-
trating the effect of sunshine — Swallows . . . 77 — 82

FOURTH DAY.

Scenery — Loch Maree — Eagles — The inn — The river Ewe — Sea
trout — Poaching Highlander — Salmon — Cause offish heing
drowned — Salmon — Death hy suffocation — Nature of pain —
Instances of death without pain — Sea trout — Crimping — The
dinner — The double snipe — Value of temperance in eating
and drinking — Wading in boots a bad practice — Salmon and
trout compared — Varieties of salmon . . . 83 — 114

FIFTH DAY.

Salmon fishing — Produce of a morning's sport — Rivers of Norway
and Sweden — English rivers — Salmon rivers — Scotch rivers
— Irish rivers — The Sabbath day — Instincts — Instincts to
animals what revelation is to man .... 115 — 148

SIXTH DAY.

Flies — Hooks — Salmon of the Ewe — Sense of smelling in
animals — Salmon fishing with parr — Food of salmon — Indi-
cations of rainy weather — Omens .... 149 — 169

SEVENTH DAY.

Grayling — Anatomy of the grayling— Grayling fishing— Scenery
— Habits of the grayling — Grayling rivers — Baits for gray-
ling— Generation of eels — Migration of eels — The congei
cel 170—200

EIGHTH DAY.

Scenery — Natural history— Origin of the common house-fly —
—Bees and ants— The libellula— Ephemerae— Michaelmas
daisy— Humble bee— Thoughts on death, suggested by this

. 201—221

CONTENTS. xiii

NINTH DAY.

PAGR

Fishing for hucho — Hereditary instinct — Causes of variety in
trout — Salmo hucho — Taking a salmo hucho — Resemblance
of the hucho to trout — Interior of the hucho examined —
Habits of the hucho — Pleasure of angling — Cockney fisher-
men— Lame boy and his boats — Amusements — Sea serpent
— Kraken — Mermaid — Austrian method of conveying fish
— Education — The press — Effect of continuous fishing —
Difference of rivers — Angling for frogs — Water ouzel —
Umbla — Laveret — Organisation of the hucho — Craniology —
Fat and fiesh of the hucho — Naturalisation of fish — The
Traun — Colour of water — Colour of the ocean — Waterfalls
—Reflections— The late Mr. B. West . . . 222—282

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

On the supposed cross-breed of the parr — On the scolopax — On
the vitality of fish, and how to prevent their lingering death —
On the senses of fishes — On the colouring of the salmonidae —
On the structure of stomach of the gillaroo trout — On the
parr — Queries relative to the natural history of the trout —
On the spawning localities of the charr — On the young trout
on quitting the egg — On the digestive powers and growth
of the salmonidse — On the rivers and water most favourable
to the grayling — Use of the scales of the eel — On the food of
the shelley, and its breeding-place .... 283 — 305

LIST OF ENGKAVINGS.

— ♦ —

PA6H

HEADS OF THE AUTHOR, DR. WOLLASTON, AND DR. BABINGTON

From Portraits

DENHAM 18

TROUT FROM THE COLNE 32

TROUT FROM THE WANDLE 37

GILLAROO — LOCH MELVIN 58

PARR, OR SAMLET ... 59

GREAT LAKE TROUT 63

SEA TROUT — SALMO TllUTTA MARINA 83

SALMON — SALMO SALAR 83

HALSTADT LAKE AND TOWN 115

THE TEME. — GROUNDS OF DOWNTON, FROM A SKETCH BY

MRS. STACKHOUSE ACTON 149

LEINTWARDINE, ON THE TEME, FROM A SKETCH BY MRS.

STACKHOUSE ACTON 170

GRAYLING 180, 182

DOWNTON CASTLE, ON THE TEME, FROM A SKETCH BY MRS.

STACKHOUSE ACTON 201

PHRYGANE.E, WITH THEIR IMITATIONS ON HOOKS . .210

xvi LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

PAGE

EPHEMERA, WITH THEIR IMITATIONS ON HOOKS . . 212, 214

TRAUN FALL 222

SALMO HUCHO 231

CHARR OF WINDERMERE AND OF HAWES WATER, AND

GWTNIAD, OR SCHELLY, OF HAWES WATER . . .260

LMBLA 262

GRUNDTL LAKE, UPPER AUSTRIA „ . 282

SALMONIA;

OR,

DAYS OF FLY FISHING.

SALMONIA. [first day.

HAL. — I ought to know, as it was this morning in
the waters of the Wandle, not ten miles from the
place where we sit, and it is through my means that
you see it at table.

PHYS. — Of your own catching ?

HAL. — Yes, with the artificial fly.

PHYS. — I admire the fish, but I cannot admire the
art by which it was taken ; and I wonder how a man
of your active mind and enthusiastic character can
enjoy what appears to me a stupid and melancholy
occupation.

HAL. — I might as well wonder in my turn, that a
man of your discursive imagination and disposition to
contemplate should not admire this occupation, and
that you should venture to call it either stupid or
melancholy.

PHYS. — I have at least the authority of a great
moralist, Johnson, for its folly.

HAL. — I will allow no man, however great a philo-
sopher, or moralist, to abuse an occupation he has not
tried ; and as well as I remember, tins same illustrious
person praised the book and the character of the great
Patriarch of Anglers, Isaac Walton.

PHYS. — There is another celebrated man, however,
who has abused tins your patriarch, Lord Byron,
and that in terms not very qualified. He calls him,
as well as I can recollect, " a quaint old cruel cox-

first day.] ISAAC WALTON. 5

comb/' * I must say, a practice of this great fisher-
man, where he recommends you to pass the hook
through the body of a frog with care, as though you
loved him, in order to keep him alive longer, cannot
but be considered as cruel.

HAL. — I do not justify either the expression or the
practice of Walton in this instance ; but remember, /
fish only with inanimate baits, or imitations of them,
and I will not exhume or expose the ashes of the
dead, nor vindicate the memory of Walton, at the
expense of Byron, who, like Johnson, was no fisher-
man : but the moral and religious habits of Walton,
his simplicity of manners, and his well-spent life,
exonerate him from the charge of cruelty; and the
book of a coxcomb would not have been so great
a favourite with most persons of refined taste. A
noble lady, long distinguished at court for pre-
eminent beauty and grace, and whose mind possesses
undying charms, has written some lines in my copy
of Walton, winch, if you will allow me, I will repeat
to you :

Albeit, gentle Angler, I
Delight not in thy trade,

From Don Juan, Canto xn. Stanza cvi.

" And angling, too, that solitary vice,

"Whatever Izaac Walton sings or says :
The quaint old cruel coxcomb in his gullet
Should have a hook and a small trout to pull it.*

6 SALMONIA. \mvst da?.

Yet in thy pages there doth lie
So much of quaint simplicity,

So much of mind,

Of such good kind,
That none need be afraid,
Caught by thy canning bait, this book,
To be ensnared on thy hook.

Gladly from thee, I'm lured to bear

With things that seem'd most vile before,
For thou didst on poor subjects rear
Matter the wisest sage might hear.
And with a grace,
That doth efface
More labour'd works, thy simple lore
Can teach us that thy skilful lines,
More than the scaly brood confines.

Our hearts and senses, too, we see,
Rise quickly at thy master hand,
And, ready to be caught by thee,
Are lured to virtue willingly.
Content and peace,
With health and ease,
Walk by thy side. At thy command
We bid adieu to worldly care,
And joy in gifts that all may share.

Gladly, with thee, I pace along,
And of sweet fancies dream ;
Waiting till some inspired song,
Within my memory cherish'd long,
Comes fairer forth,
With more of worth,
Because that time upon its stream
Feathers and chaff will bear away,
But give to gems a brighter ray.

C. C. 1812.

first day.] A UTHORITIES FOR ANGLING. 7

And though the charming and intellectual author of
tins poem is not an angler herself, yet I can quote the
example of her lovely daughters to vindicate fly-fishing
from the charge of cruelty, and to prove that the most
delicate and refined minds can take pleasure in this
innocent amusement. One of these young ladies, I
am told, is a most accomplished and skilful salmon
fisher. And if you require a poetical authority against
that of Lord Byron, I mention the philosophical and
powerful poet of the lakes, and the author of

" An Orphic tale indeed,
A tale divine, of high and passionate thoughts,
To their own music chanted ;*' *

who is a lover both of fly-fishing and fly-fishermen.
Gay's poem you know, and his passionate fondness for
the amusement, which was his principal occupation in
the summer at Amesbury ; and the late excellent John
Tobin, author of the Honey Moon, was an ardent
angler.

PHYS. — I am satisfied with your poetical authorities.

HAL. — Nay, I can find authorities of all kinds,
statesmen, heroes, and philosophers. I can go back
to Trajan, who was fond of angling. Nelson was t a

* The Friend, page 303, hy S. T. Coleridge.
f I have known a person who fished with him at Merton, in the
Wandle. I hope this circumstance will be mentioned in the next
edition of that most exquisite and touching Life of our Hero, by the
Laureate, an immortal monument raised by Genius to Valour.

SALM0N1A. [fiest day.

good fly-fisher, and as a proof of his passion for it,
continued the pursuit even with his left hand. Dr.
Paley was ardently attached to this amusement; so
much so, that when the Bishop of Durham inquired
of him, when one of his most important works would
be finished, he said, with great simplicity and good
humour, " My Lord, I shall work steadily at it when
the fly-fishing season is over," as if this were a busi-
ness of his life. And I am rather reserved in intro-
ducing living characters, or I could give a list of the
highest names of Britain, belonging to modern times,
in science, letters, arts, and arms, who are ornaments
of tins fraternity, to use the expression borrowed from
the freemasonry of our forefathers.

PHYS. — I do not find much difficulty in understand-
ing why warriors, and even statesmen, fishers of men,
many of whom I have known particularly fond of
hunting and shooting, should likewise be attached to
angling ; but I own, I am at a loss to find reasons for
a love of this pursuit amongst pliilosophers and poets.

HAL. — The search after food is an instinct belong-
ing to our nature ; and from the savage in his rudest
and most primitive state, who destroys a piece of game,
or a fish, with a club or spear, to man in the most
cultivated state of society, who employs artifice, ma-
chinery, and the resources of various other animals, to
secure Ins object, the origin of the pleasure is similar,

first day.] PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 9

and its object the same : but that kind of it requiring
most art may be said to characterise man in his highest
or intellectual state; and the fisher for salmon and
trout with the fly employs not only machinery to
assist Ins physical powers, but applies sagacity to
conquer difficulties; and the pleasure derived from
ingenious resources and devices, as well as from active
pursuit, belongs to this amusement. Then, as to its
philosophical tendency, it is a pursuit of moral disci-
pline, requiring patience, forbearance, and command
of temper. As connected with natural science, it may
be vaunted as demanding a knowledge of the habits of
a considerable tribe of created beings — fishes, and the
animals that they prey upon, and an acquaintance with
the signs and tokens of the weather and its changes,
the nature of waters, and of the atmosphere. As to
its poetical relations, it carries us into the most wild
and beautiful scenery of nature, amongst the moun-
tain lakes, and the clear and lovely streams that gush
from the higher ranges of elevated hills, or that make
their way through the cavities of calcareous strata.
How delightful in the early spring, after the dull and
tedious time of winter, when the frosts disappear and
the sunshine warms the earth and waters, to wander
forth by some clear stream, to see the leaf bursting
from the purple bud, to scent the odours of the bank
perfumed by the violet, and enamelled, as it were,

10 SALMONIA. [FIRST DAY.

with the primrose and the daisy ; to wander npon the
fresh tnrf below the shade of trees, whose bright
blossoms are filled with the mnsic of the bee ; and
on the surface of the waters to view the gaudy flies
sparkling like animated gems in the sunbeams, whilst
the bright and beautiful trout is watching them from
below ; to hear the twittering of the water-birds, who,
alarmed at your approach, rapidly hide themselves
beneath the flowers and leaves of the water-lily; and
as the season advances, to find all these objects
changed for others of the same kind, but better and
brighter, till the swallow and the trout contend as it
were for the gaudy May-fly, and till in pursuing your
amusement in the calm and balmy evening, you are
serenaded by the songs of the cheerful thrush and
melodious nightingale, performing the offices of pater-
nal love, in thickets ornamented with the rose and
woodbine.

PHYS. — All these enjoyments might be obtained
without the necessity of torturing and destroying an
unfortunate animal, that the true lover of nature
would wish to see happy in a scene of loveliness.

HAL. — If all men were Pythagoreans and professed
the Brahmin's creed, it would undoubtedly be cruel
to destroy any form of animated life ; but if fish are to
be eaten, I see no more harm in capturing them by skill
and ingenuity with an artificial fly, than in pulling

fibst day.] SENSIBILITY OF FISH. 11

them out of the water by main force with the net ;
and in general when taken by the common fisherman,
fish are permitted to die slowly, and to suffer in the
air, from the want of their natural element; whereas,
svery good angler, as soon as his fish is landed, either
destroys his life immediately, if he is wanted for food,
3r returns him into the water.

PHYS. — But do you think nothing of the torture of
the hook, and the fear of capture, and the misery of
struggling against the powerful rod ?

HAL. — I have already admitted the danger of
analysing, too closely, the moral character of any of
our field-sports ; yet I think it cannot be doubted
that the nervous system of fish, and cold-blooded
animals in general, is less sensitive than that of warm-
blooded animals. The hook usually is fixed in the
cartilaginous part of the mouth, where there are no
nerves ; and a proof that the sufferings of a hooked
fish cannot be great is found in the circumstance, that
though a trout has been hooked and played for some
minutes, he will often, after his escape with the arti-
ficial fly in his mouth, take the natural fly, and feed
as if nothing had happened ; having apparently learnt
only from the experiment, that the artificial fly is not
proper food. And I have caught pikes with four or
five hooks in their mouths, and tackle which they had
broken only a few minutes before; and the hooks

12 SALMONIA. [first day.

seemed to have had no other effect than that of serving
as a sort of sauce piquante, urging them to seize
another morsel of the same kind.

PHYS. — Fishes are mute, and cannot plead, even in
the way that birds and quadrupeds do, their own
cause ; yet the instances you quote only prove the
intense character of their appetites, which seem not so
moderate as Winston imagined, in his strange philoso-
phical romance on the Deluge ; in winch he supposes,
that in the antediluvian world the heat was much
greater than in tins, and that all terrestrial and aerial
animals had their passions so exalted by this high
temperature, that they were lost in sin, and destroyed
for their crimes ; but that fish living in a cooler
element, were more correct in their lives, and were
therefore spared from the destruction of the primitive
world. You have proved, by your examples, the
intensity of the appetite of hunger in fishes ; Spalanzani
has given us another proof of the violence of a different
appetite, or instinct, in a cold-blooded animal, that
has most of the habits of the genus — the frog ; which,
in the breeding season, remains attached to the female,
though a limb, or even his head, is removed from the
body.

HAL. — This is likewise in favour of my argument,
that the sensibility of this class of animals to physical
pain is comparatively small.

first dat.] AGREEARLENESS OF ANGLING. 13

PHYS. — The advocates for a favourite pursuit never
want sophisms to defend it. I have even heard it
asserted, that a hare enjoys being hunted. Yet I will
allow that fly-fishing, after your vindication, appears
amongst the least cruel of field-sports : — I can go no
farther; as I have never thought of trying it, I can
say nothing of its agreeableness as an amusement,
compared with hunting and shooting.

HAL. — I wish that you would allow me to convince
you, that for a contemplative man, as you are, and a
lover of nature, it is far superior, more tranquil, more
philosophical, and, after the period of early youth,
more fitted for a moderately active body and mind,
requiring less violent exertion; and pursued with
discretion, affording an exercise conducive to health.
There is a river, only a few miles off, where I am sure
I could obtain permission for you, and our friend
Poietes, to fish.

PHYS. — I am open to conviction on all subjects,
and have no objection to spend one May-day with you
in this idle occupation ; premising, that you take at
least one other companion, who really loves fishing.

HAL. — You, who are so fond of natural history,
even should you not be amused by fishing, will, I am
sure, find objects of interest on the banks of the river.

PHYS. — I fear I am not entomologist enough to
follow the life of the May-fly, but I shall willingly

14 SALM0N1A. [first day.

have nay attention directed to its habits. Indeed, I
have often regretted that sportsmen were not fonder
of zoology ; they have so many opportunities, which
other persons do not possess, of illustrating the origin
and qualities of some of the most curious forms of
animated nature, the causes and character of the
migrations of animals, their relations to each other,
and their place and order in the general scheme of the
universe. It has always appeared to me, that the two
great sources of change of place of animals, were the
providing of food for themselves, and resting-places
and food for their young. The great supposed migra-
tions of herrings from the pole to the temperate zone
have appeared to me to be only the approach of
successive shoals from deep to shallow water, for the
purpose of spawning. The migrations of salmon and
trout are evidently for the purpose of depositing their
ova, or of finding food after they have spawned.
Swallows, and bee-eaters, decidedly pursue flies over
half the globe. The scolopax or snipe tribe, in like
manner, search for worms and larvae, — flying from
those countries where either frost or dryness prevents
them from boring, — making generally small flights at
a time, and resting on their travels where they find
food. And a journey from England to Africa is no
more for an animal that can fly, with the wind, one
hundred miles in an hour, than a journey for a

first day. MIGRATIONS OF FISHES. 15

Londoner to Ins seat in a distant province. And the
migrations of smaller fishes or birds always occasion
the migration of larger ones, that prey on them.
Thus, the seal follows the salmon, in summer, to the
months of rivers ; the hake follows the herring and '
pilchard; hawks are seen in great quantities, in the
month of May, coming into the east of Europe, after
quails and land-rails; and locusts are followed by
numerous birds, that, fortunately for the agriculturist,
make them their prey.

HAL. — It is not possible to follow the amusement of
angling, without having your attention often directed
to the modes of life of fishes, insects, and birds, and
many curious and interesting facts, as it were, forced
upon your observation. I consider you (Physicus),
as pledged to make one of our fishing party ; and I
hope, in a few days, to give you an invitation to meet
a few worthy friends on the banks of the Colne. And
you (Poietes), who, I know, are an initiated disciple
of Walton's school, will, I trust join us. We will
endeavour to secure a fine day ; two hours, in a light
carriage with good horses, will carry us to our ground ;
and I think I can promise you green meadows, shady
trees, the song of the nightingale, and a full and a
clear river.

POIET. — This last is, in my opinion, the most poeti-
cal object in nature. I will not fail to obey your

16 SALMON! A. |first i>av\

summons. Pliny has, as well as I recollect, compared
a river to human life. I have never read the passage
in Ins works, but I have been a hundred times struck
with the analogy, particularly amidst mountain scenery.
The river, small and clear in its origin, gushes forth
from rocks, falls into deep glens, and wantons and
meanders through a wild and picturesque country,
nourishing only the uncultivated tree or flower by its
dew or spray. In this, its state of infancy and youth,
it may be compared to the human mind in which fancy
and strength of imagination are predominant ; — it is
more beautiful than useful. When the different rills
or torrents join, and descend into the plain, it becomes
slow and stately in its motions ; it is applied to move
machinery, to irrigate meadows, and to bear upon its
bosom the stately barge ; — in this mature state, it is
deep, strong, and useful. As it flows on towards the
sea, it loses its force and its motion, and at last, as it
were, becomes lost, and mingled with the mighty
abyss of waters.

HAL. — One might pursue the metaphor still further,
and say, that in its origin — its thundering and foam,
when it carries down clay from the bank, and becomes
impure, it resembles the youthful mind, affected by
dangerous passions. And the influence of a lake, in
calming and clearing the turbid water, may be com-
pared to the effect of reason in more mature life, when

FIRST DAY.J FLIES. 17

the tranquil, deep, cool and unimpassioned mind is
freed from its fever, its troubles, bubbles, noise and
foam. And, above all, the sources of a river — which
may be considered as belonging to the atmosphere —
and its termination in the ocean, may be regarded as
imaging the divine origin of the human mind, and its
being ultimately returned to and lost in the Infinite
and Eternal Intelligence from which it originally
sprung.

ft

>'■

mm

ft\t
Si"

SECOND DAY.
EALIEUS—POIETES—ORNITHER—PHTSICUS.

TROUT FISHING, DEXHAM. — MAY, 1810.

Morning.

HAL. — I am delighted to see you, my worthy friends,
on the banks of the Colne ; and am happy to be able
to say, that my excellent host has not only made you
free of the river for this day's angling, but insists
upon your dining with him, — wishes you to try the
evening fishing, and the fishing to-morrow morning, —
and proposes to you, in short, to give up twenty-four
hours to the delights of an angler's May-day.

SECOND DAY.] FLIES. 19

POIET. — "We are deeply indebted to him ; and I
hardly know how we can accept his offer, without
laying ourselves under too great an obligation.

HA L. — Fear not : he is as noble-minded a man as
ever delighted in good offices; and so benevolent,
that I am sure he will be almost as happy in knowing
you are amused, as you can be in your sport ; and he
hopes for an additional satisfaction in the pleasure of
your conversation.

POIET. — So let it be.

HAL. — I will take you to the house; you shall
make your bow, and then you will be all free to follow
your own fancies. Remember, the dinner hour is
five; the dressing bell rings at half-past four; be
punctual to tins engagement, from winch you will be
free at seven.

POIET. — Tins is really a very charming villa scene,
I may almost say, a pastoral scene. The meadows
have the verdure winch even the Londoners enjoy as
a peculiar feature of the English landscape. The
river is clear, and has all the beauties of a trout stream
of the larger size, — there rapid, and here still, and
there tumbling in foam and fury over abrupt dams
upon clean gravel, as if pursuing a natural course.
And that island with its poplars and willows, and the
flies making it their summer paradise, and its little
fishing-house, are all in character; and if not ex-

c 2

20 SALMONIA. [second day.

tremely picturesque, it is at least a very pleasant scene,
from its verdure and pure waters, for the lovers of our
innocent amusement.

HAL.— It is ten o'clock : you may put up your rods,
or take rods from the hall; for so hospitable is the
master of this mansion, that everything is supplied
to our hands. And Physicus, as you are the only one
of our party ignorant of the art of fly-fishing, I will
fit you with a rod and flies ; and let me advise you
to begin with a Hue shorter than your rod, and throw
at first slowly and without effort, and imitate us as
well as you can. As for precepts, they are of little
value ; practice and imitation will make you an angler.

POIET. — I shall put together my rod, and fish with
my own flies. It may be fancy, but I always think
I do best with tackle with which I am used to fish.

HAL. — You are right ; for fancy is always something:
and when we believe that we can do things better in a
particular way, we really do, by the influence of imagi-
nation, perform them both better and with less effort.
I agree with moralists, that the standard of virtue should
be placed higher than any one can reach ; for in trying
to rise, man will attain a more excellent state of being
than if no effort were made. But to our business. As
far as the perfection of the material for the angler is
concerned, the flies you find on tins table are as good
as can be made, and for this season of the year, there

8RC02TD DAT.] FLIES. 21

is no great variety on this river. AVe have had lately
some warm days, and though it is but the 18th of
May, yet I know the May-fly has been out for three
or four days, and this is the best period of this destruc-
tive season for the fisherman. There are, I observe,
many male flies on the high trees, and some females
on the alders.

PHYS. — But I see flies already on the water, which
seem of various colours, — brown and gray, and some
very pale, — and the trout appear to rise at them
eagerly.

HAL. — The fly you see is called by fishermen the
alder fly, and appears generally in large quantities
before the May-fly. Imitations of this fly, and of
the green and the gray drake, of different shades, are
the onlv ones vou will need this mornimr, though I
doubt if the last can be much used, as the gray drake
is not yet on the water in any coiantity.

PHYS. — Pray can you give us any account of these
curious little animals ?

HAL. — We ought to draw upon your stores of
science for information on these subjects.

PHYS. — I really know nothing of Entomology, but
I am desirous of accuiiring knowledge.

HAL. — I have made few observations on flies as a
philosophical naturalist. What I know I will state
at another time. But see, the green drake is descending

22 SAL MO XI A, [second day.

upon the water, and some are leaving the alders to
sport in the sunshine, and to enjoy the pleasures of
their brilliant, though short existence : and their life,
naturally ephemeral, is made one of scarcely a moment,
by the fishes and birds : that which the swallow or the
duck spares is caught by the fish, The fly is new,
and in the imitation, I recommend the olive tint, or
what the Irish call the green monkey ; — that is, an
artificial fly, with a wing of dyed yellow drake's
feather, a body of yellow monkey's fur, and a small
quantity of olive mohair for legs. Tor myself, I shall
fish for some time with a large red alder-fly, and I
dare say, with as much success ; — that is, with a fly
with a dark peacock's harle for body, a red hackle
for legs, and wings of the land-rail below, and starling
above.

POIET. — The water is quite in motion : what noble
fish I see on the feed ! I never beheld a finer sight,
though I have often seen the May-fly on well-stocked
waters.

HAL. — This river is most strictlypreserved; not a fish
has been killed here since last August, and this is the
moment when the large fish come to the surface, and
leave their cad bait search and minnow hunting. But I
have hardly time to talk ; I have hold of a good fish :
they take either the alder or May-fly, and having never
been fished for tins year, they make no distinction, and

SECOND DAT.] BAITS. 23

greedily seize any small object in motion on the water.
You see the alder-fly is quite as successful as the May-
fly; but there is a fish which has refused it, and because
he has been feeding, glutton-like, on the May-fly :
that is the fifth he has swallowed in a minute. Now
I shall throw the drake a foot above liim. It floats
down, and he has taken it. A fine fish ; I think at
least 4 lbs. This is the largest fish we have yet seen,
but in the deep water still lower down, there are still
greater fish. One of 5 lbs. I have known taken here,
and once a fish a little short only of 6 lbs.

POIET. — I have just landed a fish which I suppose
you will consider as a small one ; yet I am tempted
to kill him.

HAL. — He is not a fish to kill ; throw him back, he
is much under 2 lbs., and, as I ought to have told you
before, we are not allowed to kill any fish of less size ;
and I am sure we shall all have more than we oucdit
to carry away even of tins size. Pray put him into
the well, or rather give him to the fisherman to turn
back into the water.

POIET. — I cannot say I approve of. this manner of
fishing ; I lose my labour.

HAL. — As the object of your fishing, I hope, is
innocent amusement, you can enjoy tins, and show
your skill in catching the animal ; and if every fish
that took the May-fly were to be killed, there would

24 8ALM0N1A. [SECOND DAY

be an end to the sport in the river, for none would
remain for next year.

PHYS. — The number of flies seems to increase as
the day advances, and I never saw a more animated
water scene : all nature seems alive ; even the water-
wagtails have joined the attack upon these helpless
and lovely creations from the waters.

HAL. — It is now one o'clock ; and between twelve
and three is the time when the May-fly rises with
most vigour. It is a very warm day, and with such
a quantity of fly, every fish in the river will probably
be soon feeding. See, below the wear, there are two
large trout lately come out ; and from the quiet way
in which they swallow their prey, and from the size
of the tranquil undulation that follows their rise, I
suspect they are the giants of this river. Try if you
cannot reach them : one is near the bank in a con-
venient place for a throw, for the water is sufficiently
rough to hide the deception, and these large fish do
not take the fly well in calm water, though with
natural flies on the hook they might all be raised.

POIET. — I have him ! Alas ! he has broken me,
and carried away half my bottom line. He must have
been a fish of 7 or 8 lbs. What a dash he made !
He carried off my fly by main force.

HAL. — You should have allowed your reel to play
and your line to run : you held hhn too tight.

sscotfD day] THE NA TUBA L FL Y. 25

POIET. — He was too powerful a fish for my tackle;
and even if I had clone so, would probably have
broken me by running amongst the weeds.

HAL. — Let me tell you, my friend, you should
never allow a fish to run to the weeds, or to strike
across the stream ; you should carry him always down
stream, keeping his head high, and in the current.
If in a weedy river you allow a large fish to run up
stream, you are almost sure to lose him. There, I
have hooked the companion of your lost fish on the
other side of the stream, — a powerful creature : he
tries, you see, to make way to the weeds, but I hold
him tight,

POIET. — I see you are obliged to run with him,
and have carried him safely through the weeds.

HAL. — I have him now in the rapids on the shallow,
and I have no fear of losing him, unless he strikes the
hook out of his mouth.

POIET. — He springs again and again.

UAL. — He is off; in one of these somersets he
detached the steel, and he now leaps to celebrate his
escape. We will leave this place, where there are
more great fish, and return to it after a while,
when the alarm produced by our operations has
subsided.

PHYS. — That fish take the artificial fly at all is
rather surprising to me, for in its most perfect form

26 SALMON I A. [second day.

it is but a rude imitation of nature ; and from the
greedy manner in which it is seized, fish, I think,
cannot possess a refined sense of smell, or any nervous
system corresponding to the nasal one in animals that
breathe air : no scent can be given to water by an
artificial fly, or, at least, none like that of the natural fly.
HAL. — The principal use of the nostrils in fishes, T
believe, is to assist in the propulsion of water through
the gills for performing the office of respiration ; but I
think there are some nerves in these organs which
give fishes a sense of the qualities of the water, or of
substances dissolved in, or diffused through it, similar
to our sense of smell, or, perhaps, rather our sense of
taste, for there can be no doubt that fishes are attracted
by scented pastes and scented worms, which are some-
times used by anglers who employ ground-baits ; and
in old angling-books there are usually receipts for
attracting fish in this manner, and though the absurdity
of many of these prescriptions is manifest, yet I do
not think this proves that they are entirely useless,
for, upon such principles, all the remedies for diseases
in the old pharmacopoeias would be null.*

* [That the olfactory nerves in fishes are destined for the same
function as these nerves in the mammalia, seems hardly to admit of
doubt, especially considering the fact, that we can perceive odours
when the head is immersed in water : this is easily proved by plunging
the head in water to which some eau-de-Cologne or other scent has
been added ; on drawing in the water through the nostrils, the peculiar
odour (as I have ascertained) is distinctly perceived. — J. D.]

second day.] PRICKED TROUT. 27

With respect to the fly, as it usually touches the
stream by a very small surface, that of the air-bubbles
on the fringes on its legs, it can scarcely affect the
water so as to give it any power of communicating
smell. And as you have seen, a ripple or motion on
the water is necessary to deceive fishes ; and as they
look at the fly from below, they see distinctly only
the legs and body, winch, when the colours are like
those of the natural fly, may easily deceive them;
the wings, which are the worst imitated parts of the
artificial fly, seldom appear to them, except through
the different refractive power of the moving water
and the atmosphere, and when immersed, they form
masses not unlike the wings of a drowned fly, or one
wetted in rising;.*

*****

It is now a quarter of an hour since we left the
large pool: let us return to it; I see the fish are
again rising.

* [In confirmation of the above view, an anecdote may be given
illustrating the discriminating power of the trout, communicated in
conversation by the excellent author of " The British Fishes."
In the neighbourhood of Gravesend, in a cottage-garden, some Trouts
have been kept, which have become almost tame and of large size,
which visitors are in the habit of feeding for amusement. Frogs
which Mr. Yarrell had thrown in, for want of other food to give
them, they seized instantly, and swallowed unhesitatingly, — but not
so, a toad ; when it was thrown in, they dashed towards it, but retreated
before touching it, leaving it afterwards free and unmolested, as if aware
of its "sweltered venom." — J. D.]

28 SALM0N1A. [second day.

POIET. — I am astonished ! It appears to me that
the very same fish are again feeding. There are two
fish rising nearly in the same spot where they rose
before ; can they be the same fish ?

HAL. — It is very possible. It is not likely that three
other fish of that size should occupy the same haunts.

POIET. — But I thought after a fish had been hooked,
he remained sick and sulky for some time, feeling his
wounds uncomfortable.

HAL. — The fish that I hooked is not rising in the
same place, and therefore, probably, was hurt by the
hook ; but one of these fish seems to be the same
that carried off your fly, and it is probable that the
hook only struck him in a part of the mouth where
there are no nerves ; and that he suffered little at the
moment, and does not now feel Iris annoyance.

POIET. — I have seen him take four or five flies :
I shall throw over him. There, he rose, but refused
the fly. He has at least learnt, from the experiment
he has made, to distinguish the natural from the
artificial fly.

HAL. — This, I think, always happens after a fish
has been hooked with an artificial fly. He becomes
cautious, and is seldom caught that year, at least
with the same means in the same pool : but I dare
say that fish might be taken with a natural fly ; or,
what is better, two upon the hook.

second dat.] TROUT OF THE COLNE. 29

POIET. — Pray try him.

HAL. — I am no artist at this kind of angling, but
Ornither I know has fished in June with the clubs
at Stockbridge, where this method of fishing is usual.
Pray let him try Ins fortune, though it is hardly fair
play; and it is rather to endeavour to recover your
tackle, than for the sake of the fish, that I encourage
him to make the essay.

POIET. — Pray make no apologies for the trial.
Such a fish — certainly a monster for tins river —
should be caught by fair means, if possible, but caught
by any means.

ORN. — You lost that fish, and you overrate Ins size,
as you will see, if I have good luck. I put my live
flies on the hook with some regret and some disgust.
I will not employ another person to be my minister
of cruelty, as I remember a lady of fashion once did,
who was very fond of fishing for perch, and who
employed her daughter, a little girl of nine years of
age, to pass the hook through the body of the worm !
Now there is a good wind, and the fish has just taken
a natural fly. I shall drop the flies, if possible,
within a few inches of his nose. He has risen. He
is caught ! I must carry him down stream to avoid
the bed of weeds above. I now have him on fair
ground, and he fights with vigour. Fortunately, my
silkworm gut is very strong, for he is not a fish to be

30 SALMONIA. [secon-d day.

trifled with. He begins to be tired ; prepare the net.
We have him safe, and see yonr link hangs to his
lower jaw : the hook had struck the cartilage on the
ontside of the bone, and the fly, probably, was scarcely
felt by him.

PHYS. — I am surprised ! That fish evidently had
discovered that the artificial fly was a dangerous bait,
yet he took the natural fly which was on a hook, arid
when the silkworm gut must have been visible.

HAL. — I do not think he saw either the gut or the
hook. In very bright weather and water, I have
known very shy fish refuse even a hook baited with the
natural fly, scared probably by some appearance of
hook or gut. The vision of fishes when the surface is
not ruffled is sufficiently keen. I have seen them
rise at gnats so small as to be scarcely visible to my

eye.*

PHYS. — You just now said, that a fish pricked by
the hook of an artificial fly would not usually take it
again that season.

HAL. — I cannot be exact on that point : I have
known a fish that I have pricked retain his station in
the river, and refuse the artificial fly, day after day,

* [If the stomach of a trout be examined when flies are abundant,
often very many different species will be found amongst its contents,
large and small, some so small as to be distinguished with difficulty ;
marking equally the acuteuess of vision of the fish and its industry and
pains-taking in procuring sustenance. — J. D.]

second day.] TROUT DESCRIBED. 31

for weeks together j but his memory may have been
kept awake by this practice, and the recollection seems
local and associated with surrounding objects ; and if
a pricked trout is chased into another pool, he will, I
believe, soon again take the artificial fly. Or if the
objects around him are changed, as in Autumn, by
the decay of weeds, or by their being cut, the same
thing happens; and a flood, or a rough wind, I
believe, assists the fly-fisher, not merely by obscuring the
vision of the fish, but, in a river much fished, by
changing the appearance of their haunts : large trouts
almost always occupy particular stations, under, or
close to, a large stone or tree; and, probably, most
of their recollected sensations are connected with this
dwelling.

PHYS. — I think I understand you, that the memory
of the danger and pain does not last long, unless
there is a permanent sensation with winch it can
remain associated, — such as the station of the trout ;
and that the recollection of the mere form of the
artificial fly, without this association, is evanescent.

ORN. — You are diving into metaphysics ; yet I
think, in fowling, I have observed that the memory
of birds is local. A woodcock, that has been much
shot at and scared in a particular wood, runs to the
side where he has usually escaped, the moment he
hears the dogs; but if driven into a new wood, he

32

SALM0N1 A.

[SECOND DAT.

seems to lose his acquired habits of caution, and
becomes stupid.

POIET. — Tins great fish, that Ornither has just
caught, must be nearly of the weight I assigned to him.

HAL. — Oh no ! he is, I think, above 5 lbs., but not
6 lbs. ; but we can form a more correct opinion by
measuring him, which I can easily do, the butt of my
rod being a measure. He measures, from nose to
fork, a very little less than twenty-four inches, and
consequently, upon the scale which is appropriate to
well-fed trouts, should weigh 5 lbs. lOoz. — which,
within an ounce, I doubt not, is Ins weight.

Trout from the Colne.

PHYS. — Oh ! I see you take the mathematical law,
that similar solids are to each other in the triplicate
ratio of one of their dimensions.

HAL. — You are right.

second day.] TROUT OF THE COLNE. 33

PHYS. — But I tliink you are below the mark, for
this appears to me to be an extraordinarily thick fish.

HAL. — He is a well-fed fish, but, in proportion,
not so thick as my model, which was a fish of 17
inches by nine inches, and weighed 2 lbs. ; — this is my
standard solid. We will try him. Ho ! Mrs. B. ! —
bring your scales, and weigh this fish. There, you
see, he weighs 5 lbs. 10 ^oz.

PHYS. — Well, I am pleased to see this fish, and
amused with your sport; but though I have been
imitating you in throwing the fly, as well as I can,
yet not a trout has taken notice of my fly, and they
seem scared by my appearance.

HAL. — Let me see you perform. There are two
good trout taking flies opposite that bank, which you
can reach. You threw too much line into the
water, and scared them both ; but I will take you to
the rapid of the Tumbling Bay, where the river falls ;
there the quickness of the stream will prevent your
line from falling deep, and the foam will conceal your
person from the view of the fish. And let me advise
you to fish only in the rapids till you have gained
some experience in throwing the fly. There are several
fish rising in that stream.

PHYS. — I have raised one, but he refused my fly.

HAL. — Now you have a fish.

PHYS. — I am delighted ; — but he is a small one.

D

34 SALM0N1A. [second day.

HAL. — Unluckily, it is a dace.

PUTS. — I have now a larger fish, which has pulled
my line out.

HAL — Give him time. That is a good trout. Now
wind up ; he is tired, and your own. I will land hhn.
He is a fish to keep, being above 2 lbs.

PHYS. — I am well pleased.

HAL. — There are many larger trouts here : go on
fishing, and you will hook some of them. And when
you are tired of this rapid, you will find another a
quarter of a mile below. And continue to fish with a
short line, and drop your fly, or let it be carried by
the wind on the water, as lightly as possible. Well,
Poietes, what success ?

POIET. — I have been fishing in the stream above ;
but the flies are so abundant, that the large fish will
not take my artificial fly, and I have caught only
three fish, all of which the fisherman has thrown into
the water, though I am sure one of them was more
than 2 lbs.

HAL. — You may trust his knowledge : with a new
angler, our keeper would be apt rather to favour the
fisherman than the fish. But we will have all fish
you wish to be killed, and above 2 lbs., put into the
well of the boat, where they can be examined, and, if
you desire, weighed and measured, and such kept as are
worth keeping. No good angler should kill a fish, if

second day; TROUT DESCRIBED. 35

possible, till he is needed to be crimped; for the
sooner he is dressed after this operation the better; —
and I assure you, a well-fed trout of the Come, crimped
and cooled ten minutes before he is wanted for the
kettle or the gridiron, is a fish little inferior to the
best salmon of the best rivers. It is now nearly two
o'clock, and there is a cloud over the sun : the fly is
becoming less abundant ; you are now likely, Poietes,
to have better sport. Try in that deep pool below the
Tumbling Bay ; I see two or three good fish rising
there, and there is a lively breeze. The largest fish
refuses your fly again and again ; try the others.
There, you have hooked him ! now carry him down
stream, and keep Iris head high, out of the weeds.
He plunges and fights with great force ; — he is the
best-fed fish I have yet seen at the end of the line,
and will weigh more, in proportion to Iris length. I
will land him for you. There he is, — and measures
19 inches; and I dare say his weight is not much
short of 3 lbs. We will preserve him in the well.

POIET. — He has hardly any spots, and is silvery all
over ; and the whole of the lower part of Iris body is
beautifully clean.

HAL. — He is likewise broad-backed ; and you mav
observe his few spots are black, and these are very
small. I have always remarked, in this river, that
the nearer the fish approach to perfection, the colour

d2

36 SALMONIA. [second day.

of the body becomes more uniform, — pale olive above,
and bright silver below; and these qualities are always
connected with a small head, — or rather, an oval body,
and deep-red flesh.

POIET. — May not the red spots be marks of disease
— a hectic kind of beauty ? for I observed in a very
thin and poor fish, and great-headed, that I caught
an hour ago, which had leeches sticking to it, a
number of red spots, and a long black back, and
black or bluish marks even on the belly.

HAL. — I do not think red spots a symptom of
disease ; for I have seen fish in other rivers, and even
small fish in this river, in perfectly good season, with
red spots ; but the colours of fish are very capricious,
and depend upon causes which cannot be easily
defined. The colouring matter is not in the scales,
but in the surface of the skin immediately beneath
them, and is probably a secretion easily affected by
the health of the animal. I have known fish, from
some lakes in Ireland, mottled in a most singular
way, — their colour being like that of the tortoise ; the
nature of the water, exposure to the light, and proba-
bly the kind of food, produce these effects. I think
it possible, when trout feed much on hard substances,
such as larvae and their cases, and the ova of other
fish, they have more red spots, and redder fins. This
is the case with the gillaroo and the char, who feed

SECOND DAT.]

SPOTS OX TROUT.

37

on analogous substances j and the trout, that have
similar habits, might be expected to resemble them.

Sir

-i^>.

-v -

Trout lroin the Wandle.

AVhen trout feed most on small fish, as minnows, and
on flies, they have more tendency to become spotted
with small black spots, and are generally more silvery.
The Colne trout are, in their advanced state, of this
kind ; and so are the trout called in Ireland buddocks
and dolochans, found in Lough Neah. Particular
character becomes hereditary, and the effects of a
peculiar food influence the appearance of the next
generation. I hope, Ornither, you have had good
sport.

ORN. — Excellent ! Since you left me, below the
wear, I have hooked at least fifteen or twenty good
fish, and landed and saved eight above 2 lbs. ; but I
have taken no fish like the great one which I caught

38 SALMONIA. [second day.

by poaching with the natural flies. The trout rose
wonderfully well within the last quarter of an hour,
but they are now all still ; and the river, which was
in such active motion, is now perfectly quiet, and
seems asleep and almost dead.

HAL. — It is past four o' clock, and some dark,
heavy clouds are come on, — the fly is off. It is
almost the hour for the signal of the dressing bell ;
and there is nothing more to be done now till even-
ing. But see ! our host is come to examine our fish
in the well, and to inquire about our sport ; and, I
dare say, will order some of our fish to be dressed for
the table.

HOST. — I hope, gentlemen, you have been amused?

HAL. — Most highly, sir. As a proof of it, there
are in the fish-well eighteen good trout, — and one
not much short of 6 lbs. • three above 4 lbs. ; and
four above 31bs. in weight. I hope you will order
that great fish for your dinner.

HOST. — "We will see. He is a fine fish, and fit for
a present, even for a prince — and you shall take him
to a prince. Here is a fish, and there another, of
the two next sizes, winch I am sure will cut red.
Prepare them, fisherman. And, Halieus, you shall
catch two or three perch, for another dish ; I know
there are some good ones below the piles of the wear ;
I saw them hunting small fish there yesterday

6EC0XD DAT.] PERCH. 39

morning. Some minnows, ho ! — and the perch
rods !

HAL. — I am tired, sir, and would willingly avoid
minnow fishing after such a morning's sport.

HOST. — Come, then, I will be a fisher for the
table. I have one — and another, that will weigh
nearly a pound a-piece. Now, there is a cunning
perch that has stolen my minnow ; I know he is a
large one. He has robbed me again and again ; and
if I fish on in this way, with the hook through the
upper lip, will, I dare say, carry away all the minnows
in the kettle. I shall put on a strong small hook, on
a stout, though fine, gut, with slender wire round the
top, and pass the hook through the back fin of the
minnow, and try my sagacity against his. Lo ! I
have him ! — and a very strong fish he is, and gone to
the bottom ; but even though the greatest perch in
the river, he cannot bite the gut, — he will soon be
tired and taken. He now comes up, and is landed.
He must be above 3 lbs. — a magnificent perch!
Kill him and crimp him, fisherman; take our two
trout, and the three perch, to the kitchen, and let
them be dressed as usual. You shall have a good
dish of fish, worthy of such determined anglers. But
I see one of your party coming up by the side of the
river, who seems tired and out of spirits.

HAL. — It is Physicus, who has this day commenced

10 SALMONIA. [SECOND DAY.

his career as a fly-fisher, and who, I dare say, has
been as successful as the uninitiated generally are.
I hope you have followed my advice, and been
fortunate ?

PHTS. — I caught two trout in the rapid where you
left me; but they were small, and the fisherman
threw them in. Below the wear, in the quick stream,
I caught two dace, and, what astonished me very
much, a perch, which you see here, and winch I
thought never took the fly.

HAL. — 0 yes, sometimes ; and particularly when it
is below the surface : and what more ?

PHIS. — By creeping on my knees, and dropping
my fly over the bank, I hooked a very large fish
which I saw rising, and winch was like a salmon ; but
he was too strong for my tackle, ran out all my line,
and at last broke off by entangling my link in a post
in the river. I have been very uiducky ! I am sure
that fish was larger than the great one Ornither took
with the natural fly.

HAL. — Come, you have been initiated, and I see
begin to take an interest in the sport, and I do not
despair of your becoming a distinguished angler.

PETS. — With time and some patience : but I am
sorry I tortured that enormous fish without taking
him.

HAL. — I dare say he was a large fish ; but I have

second dat.i ANECDOTE. 41

known very correct, and even cool, reasoners in error
on a point of this kind. You are acquainted with
Chemicus ; he is not an ardent fisherman, and certainly
not addicted to romance ; I will tell you an anecdote
respecting him. He accompanied me to this very
spot last year, on a visit to our host, and preferred
angling for pike to fly-fishing. After the amusement
of a morning, he brought back with him to the house
one pike, and with some degree of disappointment
complained that he had hooked another of an enor-
mous size, which carried off his tackle by main force,
and which he was sure must have been above 10 lbs.
At dinner, on the table, there were two pikes ; one
the fish that Chemicus had caught, and another a
little larger, somewhat more than 3 lbs. "We put
some questions as to who had caught this second
pike, winch we found had been taken by our host,
who smiling, and with some kind of mystery, asked
Chemicus if he thought it weighed 10 lbs. Chemicus
refused to acknowledge an identity between such a
fish and the monster he had hooked; when my
friend took out of his pocket a paper containing some
hooks and tackle carefully wrapped up, and asked
Chemicus if he had ever seen such an apparatus.
Chemicus owned they were the hooks and tackle the
great fish had carried away. " And I found them,"
said our friend, "in the mouth of that little fish

42 SALMON I A. [second day

which you see on the table, and winch I caught half
an hour ago."

HOST. — I answer for the correctness of tins anec-
dote, but I do not sanction its application to the case
of our novitiate in angling. I have seen a fish
under that bank where he was so unfortunate, which
I am sure was above 41bs., and which I dare say was
the subject of his unsuccessful experiment.

POIET. — From what our host has just said, I con-
clude, Halieus, that fish do not usually change their
stations.

HAL. — Large trouts unquestionably do not; — they
always hide themselves under the same bank, stone,
stock, or weed, as I said this morning before, and
come out from their permanent habitations to feed ;
and when they have fled to their haunt, they may be
taken there by the hand ; and on this circumstance
the practice of tickling trout is founded. A favourite
place for a large trout in rivers is an eddy behind a
rock or stone, where flies and small fishes are carried
by the force of the current : and such haunts are
rarely unoccupied ; for if a fish is taken out of one of
them, his place is soon supplied by another, who
quits for it a less convenient situation.

PHYS. — So much knowledge and practice is
required to become a proficient, that I am afraid it is
too late in life for me to begin to learn a new art.

secoxd day.] EVENING FISHING. 43

HAL. — Do not despair. There was — alas ! that I
must say there was — an illustrious philosopher, who
was nearly of the age of fifty before he made angling
a pursuit, yet he became a distinguished fry-fisher,
and the amusement occupied many of his leisure
hours during the last twelve years of his life. He,
indeed, applied Iris pre-eminent acuteness, his science,
and his philosophy to aid the resources, and exalt the
pleasures of this amusement. I remember to have
seen Dr. Wollaston, a few days after he had become
a fly-fisher, carrying at his button-hole a piece of
caoutchouc, or Indian rubber, when, by passing Iris
silkworm link through a fissure in the middle, he
rendered it straight and fit for immediate use. Many
other anglers will remember other ingenious devices
of my admirable and ever-to-be lamented friend.

(TJiey go to dinner.)

* * * * «

{They return from the house.)

EVENING.

HAL. — You have, I am sure, gentlemen, dined
well ; no one ever dined otherwise in this house. It
is a beautiful calm evening, and many fish might be
caught where we fished in the morning ; but I will
take you to another part of the river ; you shall each

44 8ALM0NIA. [second day.

catch a fish, and then we will give over; for the
evening's sport should be kept till a late season, —
July or August, — when there is little fly on in the
day-time : and it would be spoiling the diversion of
our host, to catch or prick all the fish in the upper
water j and with a gentleman so truly liberal, and so
profuse of his means of giving pleasure to others, no
improper liberties should be taken. I shall not fish
myself, but shall have my pleasure in witnessing your
sport. It must be in a boat, and you must steal
slowly up the calm water, and glide like aerial beings
on the surface, making no motion in the water, and
showing no shadow. Your fly must be an orange or
brown palmer with a yellow body ; for the gray drake
is not yet on the water. The fish here are large, and
the river weedy, so you must take care of your fish
and your tackle.

POIET. — We have at least passed over half-a-mile
of water, and have seen no fish rise ; yet there is a
yellowish or reddish fly in the air, winch moves like
a drake, and there are clouds of pale brown flies
encircling the alders. Now I tlnnk I see a large
trout rise below that alder.

EAL. — That is not a trout, for he rises in a different
place now, and is probably a large roach or chub ; do
not waste your time upon him. You may always
know a large trout when feeding in the evening. He

second day.] EVENING FISHING. 45

rises continuously, or at small intervals, — in a still
water almost always in the same place, — and makes
little noise, — barely elevating Ins mouth to suck in
the fly, and sometimes showing Ins back-fin and tail.
A large circle spreads around him, but there are
seldom any bubbles when he breaks the water, which
usually indicate the coarser fish. We will wait a few
minutes ; I know there must be trout here, and the
sun is setting, and the yellow fly, or dun cut, coming
on the water. See, beneath that alder is a trout
rising, and now there is another thirty yards higher
up. Take care, get your line out in another part of
the water, and in order, for reaching the fish, and do
not throw till you are sure you can reach the spot,
and throw at least half-a-yard above the fish.

ORN. — He rose, I suppose, at a natural fly, the
moment before my fly touched the water.

HAL. — Try again. You have hooked him, and
you have done well not to strike when he rose. Now
hold him tight, wind up your line, and carry him
down the stream. Push the boat down stream,
fisherman. Keep your fish's head up. He begins
to tire, — and there, is landed. A fine well-fed fish,
not much less than 4 lbs. Throw him into the well.
Now, Poietes, try that fish rising above, — and there
are two more.

POIET. — I have him !

46 SALMONIA. [second day.

HAL. — Take care. He lias turned you, and you
have suffered him to run out your Hue, and he is gone
into the weeds under the willow : let him fall down
stream.

POIET. — I cannot get him out.

HAL. — Then wind up. I fear he is lost, yet we
will try to recover hhn by taking the boat up. The
line is loose ; he has left the link entangled in the
weeds, and carried your fly with him. He must have
been a large fish, or he could not have disentangled
himself from so strong a gut. Try again, there are
fish now rising above and below ; where the water is
in motion, opposite that willow, there are two fish
rising.

POIET. — I have one of them.

HAL. — Now you are doing well. Down with the
boat, and drag your fish downwards. Continue to do
so, as there are weeds all round you. You can
master liim now ; keep him high, and he is your own.
Put the net under hhn, and bring him into the boat ;
he is a well-fed fish, but not of the proper size for a
victim, — about 2 lbs. Now, Physicus, try your fortune
with the fish above, that rises so merrily still. You
have him! Now use hhn as Poietes did the last.
Yery well ; I see he is a large fish, — take your time.
He is landed; a fish nearly of 3 lbs., and in excellent
season.

SECOND DAY .J FLIES. i.1

PHYS. — Anche Io son Pescatore — I too am a
fisherman — a triumph.

HAL. — Now we have finished our fishing, and must
return to the light supper of our host. It would be
easy now, and between this hour and ten, to take
half-a-dozen large fish in this part of the water ; but
for the reason I have already stated, it would be
improper.

POIET. — Pray would not tins be a good part of
the water for day-fishing ?

HAL. — Undoubtedly, a skilful angler might take
fish here in the day ; but the bank is shaded by trees,
there is seldom any sensible wind on the water, and
the apparatus and the boat in motion are easily
perceived in the daylight ; and the water is so deep,
that a great quantity of fly is necessary to call up the
fish j and in general there is a larger quantity of fly
in hot summer evenings, than even in the brightest
sunshine.

PHYS. — The fly appears to me like a moth that is
now on the water.

HAL. — It is.

POIET. — What flies come on late in the season
here ?

HAL. — Plies of the same species; some darker,
and some with a deeper shade of red ; and there are
likewise the true moths, the brown and white, winch,

4.8 SALMONIA. [second day.

in June and July, are seized with avidity by the fish,
and, being large flies, take large fish.

ORN. — Surely the May-fly season is not the only
season for day-fishing in this river ?

HAL. — Certainly not. There are as many fish to
be taken perhaps in the Spring fishing ! but in this
deep river they are seldom in good season till the
May-fly has been on, and a fortnight hence they will
be still better than even now. In September there
may be good fish taken here ; but the autumnal flies
are less plentiful in tins river than the Spring flies.

PHYS. — Pray tell me what are the species of fly
which take in these two seasons ?

HAL. — You know that trout spawn or deposit their
ova in the end of the autumn or beginning of whiter,
from the middle of November till the beginning of
January, then maturity depending upon the tempe-
rature of the season, their quantity of food, &c. Tor
some time (a month or six weeks) before they are
prepared for the sexual function, or that of re-produc-
tion, they become less fat, particularly the females;
the large quantity of eggs and their size probably
affecting the health of the animal, and compressing
generally the vital organs in the abdomen. They are
at least six weeks or two months after they have
spawned before they recover their flesh ; and the time
when these fish are at the worst is likewise the worst

SECOND DAY.] FLIES. 49

time for fly-fishing, both on account of the cold
weather and because there are fewer flies on the water
than at any other season. Even in December and
January there are a few small gnats or water-flies on
the water in the middle of the day, in bright days,
or when there is sunshine. These are generally black,
and they escape the influence of the frost by the
effects of light on their black bodies, and probably by
the extreme rapidity of the motions of their fluids,
and generally of their organs. They are found only
at the surface of the water, where the temperature
must be above the freezing point. In February a
few double-winged water-flies which swim down the
stream are usually found in the middle of the day, —
such as the willow -fly ; and the cow-dung-fly is
sometimes carried on the water by winds. In March
there are several flies found on most rivers. The
grannam or green-tail-fly, with a wing like a moth,
comes on generally morning and evening, from five
till eight o'clock a. m. in mild weather in the end of
March and through April. Then there are the blue
and the brown, both Ephemerae, which come on, the first
in dark days, the second in bright days ; these flies,
when well imitated, are very destructive to fish. The
first is a small fly with a palish-yellow body, and
slender beautiful wings, which rest on the back as it
floats down the water. The second, called the cob in

E

50 SALMON I A. [second day

"Wales, is three or four times as large, and has brown
wings, which likewise protrude from the back, and its
wings are shaded like those of a partridge, brown and
yellow brown. These three kinds of flies lay their
eggs in the water, which produce larva? that remain
in the state of worms, feeding and breathing in the
water till they are prepared for their metamorphosis
and quit the bottoms of the rivers, and the mud and
stones, for the surface, and the light and air. The
brown fly usually disappears before the end of April,
likewise the grannam ; but of the blue dun there is
a succession of different tints, or species, or varieties,
which appear in the middle of the day all the summer
and autumn long. These are the principal flies on
the Wandle — the best and clearest stream near
London. In early spring these flies have dark olive
bodies; in the end of April and the beginning of
May, they are found yellow ; and in the summer, they
become cinnamon-coloured ; and again, as the winter
approaches, gain a darker hue. I do not, however,
mean to say that they are the same flies ; but more
probably successive generations of Ephemerae of the
same species. The excess of heat seems equally
unfavourable, as the excess of cold, to the existence
of the smaller species of water-insects, which, during
the intensity of sunshine, seldom appear in summer,
but rise morning and evening only. The blue dun

SECOND DAY.] FLIES. 51

has in June and July a yellow body j and there is a
water-fly which in the evening is generally found
before the moths appear, called the red-spinner.
Towards the end of August, the Ephemerae appear
again in the middle of the day, — a very pale small
Ephemera, winch is of the same colour as that which
is seen in some rivers in the beginning of July. In
September and October this kind of fly is found with
an olive body, and it becomes darker in October,
and paler in November. There are two other flies
which appear in the end of September, and continue
during October if the weather be mild, — a large
yellow fly with a fleshy body and wings like a moth ;
and a small fly with four wings, with a dark or claret-
coloured bodv, that when it falls on the water has its
wings, like the great yellow fly, flat on its back.
This, or a claret-bodied fly very similar in character,
may be likewise found in March or April, on some
waters. In this river I have often caught many
large trout in April and the beginning of May with
the blue dun, having the yellow body; and in the
upper part of the stream below St. Alban's, and
between that and Watford, I have sometimes, even
as early as April, caught fish in good condition ; but
the true season for the Colne is the season of the
May-fly. The same may be said of most of the large
English rivers containing large trouts, and abounding

E 2

52 SALMONIA. [second day.

in Ma3r-fly — such as the Test and the Kennet, the
one running by Stockbridge, the other by Hungerford.
But in the Wandle at Carshalton and Beddington,
the May-fly is not found ; and the little blues are the
constant, and when well imitated, killing flies on this
water ; to winch may be joined a dark alder-fly, and
a red evening fly. In the Avon, at Ringwood and
Fordingbridge, the May-fly is likewise a killing fly ;
but as this is a grayling river, the other flies,
particularly the grannam and blue and brown, are
good in spring, and the alder-fly or pale blue later,
and the blue dun in September and October, and
even November. In the streams in the mountainous
parts of Britain, the spring and autumnal flies are by
far the most killing. The Usk was formerly a very
productive trout stream, and the fish being well fed
by the worms washed down by the winter floods
were often in good season, cutting red in March,
and the beginning of April; and at this season the
blues and browns, particularly when the water was a
little stained after a small flood, afforded the angler
good sport. In Herefordshire and Derbyshire, where
trout and grayling are often found together, the same
periods are generally best for angling; but in the
Dove, Lathkill, and Wye, with the natural May-fly,
many fish may be taken; and in old times, in
peculiarly windy days, or high and troubled water,

second day.] FISHING IN IRELAND. 53

even the artificial May-fly, according to Cotton, was
very killing.

POIET. — I have heard various accounts of the
excellent fishing in some of the great lakes in Ireland.
Can you tell us anything on the subject ? and if the
same flies may be used in that island ?

HAL. — I have been several times in Ireland, but

never at this season, which is considered as best for

lake-fishing. I have heard that in some of the lakes

in Westmeath, very large trout, and great quantities,

may be taken in the beginning of June, with the

very flies we have been using this day. Wind is

necessary; and a good angler sometimes takes in a

day, or rather formerly took, from ten to twelve fish,

which weighed from 3 to 10 lbs., and winch occasionally

were even larger. In the summer after June, and in

the autumn, the only seasons when I have fished in

Ireland, I have seldom taken any large trout ; but in

the river Boyle, late in October, after a flood, I once

had some sport with these fish, that were running up

the river from Lock Key to spawn. I caught one

day two above 3 lbs. that took a large reddish-brown

fly of the same kind as a salmon-fly ; and I saw some

taken that weighed 5 lbs., and heard of one that

equalled 9 lbs. These fish were in good season, even

at this late period, and had no spots, but were

coloured red and brown — mottled like tortoise-shell,

54 SALMONIA. [second day,

onlv with smaller bars. I have in July, likewise,
fished in Loch Con, near Ballina, and Loch Melvin,
near Ballyshannon. In Loch Con, the party caught
many small good trout, that cut red; and in the
other I caught a very few trout only, but as many of
them were gillaroo or gizzard trout as common trout.

POIET. — Tins must have been an interesting kind
of fishing. In what does the gillaroo differ from the
trout ?

HAL. — In appearance very little, except that they
have more red spots, and a yellow or golden-coloured
belly and fins, and are generally a broader and thicker
fish ; but internally they have a different organisation,
possessing a large thick muscular stomach, which has
been improperly compared to a fowl's, and which gene-
rally contains a quantity of small shell-fish of three or
four kinds ; and though in those I caught the stomachs
were full of these shell-fish, yet they rose greedily at
the fly.

POIET. — Are they not common trout which have
gained the habit of feeding on shell-fish ?

HAL. — If so, they have been altered in a succession
of generations. The common trouts of this lake have
stomachs like other trouts, which never, as far as my
experience has gone, contain shell-fish; but of the
gillaroo trout, I have caught with a fly some not
longer than my finger, which have had as perfect a

second day.] GILLAROO.— TROUT. 55

hard stomach as the larger ones, with the coats as
thick in proportion, and the same shells within ; so
that this animal is at least nmv a distinct species, and
is a sort of link between the tront and charr, which has
a stomach of the same kind with the gillaroo, but not
quite so thick, and which feeds at the bottom in the
same way. I have often looked in the lakes abroad
for gillaroo trout, and never found one. In a small
lake at the foot of the Crest of the Brenner, above
4000 feet above the level of the sea, I once caught
some trout, winch, from their thickness and red
spots, I suspected were gillaroo, but on opening the
stomach I found I was mistaken ; it had no particular
thickness, and was filled with grasshoppers : but there
were charr, winch- fed on shell-fish, in the same lake.

POIET. — Are water-flies found on all rivers ?

HAL. — Tins is a question which I find it impossible
to answer; yet from my own experience I should
suppose, that in all the habitable parts of the globe
certain water-flies exist wherever there is running
water. Even in the most ardent temperature, gnats
and musquitoes are found, which lay their congeries
of eggs on the water, which, when hatched, become
first worms, afterwards small slirimp-like aurelise, and
lastly flies. There are a great number of the largest
species of these flies on stagnant waters and lakes,
winch form a part of the food of various fishes,

56 SALM0N1A. [second day.

principally of the carp kind : but the true fisherman's
flies, — those winch are imitated in our art, principally
belong to the northern, or at least temperate part of
Europe, and I believe are nowhere more abundant
than in England. It appears to me, that since I have
been a fisherman, which is now the best part of half a
century, I have observed in some rivers where I have
been accustomed to fish habitually, a diminution of
the numbers of flies. There were always some seasons
in which the temperature was favourable to a quantity
of fly ; for instance, fine warm days in spring for the
grannam, or brown fly; and like days in May
and June for the alder-fly, May-fly, and stone-fly :
but I should say that, within these last twenty years,
I have observed a general diminution of the spring
and autumnal flies, except in those rivers which
are fed from sources that run from chalk, and
winch are perennial — such as the TVandle, and
the Hampshire and Buckinghamshire rivers; in
these streams the temperature is more uniform,
and the quantity of water does not vary much. I
attribute the change of the quantity of flies in the
rivers to the cultivation of the country. Most of the
bogs or marshes winch fed many considerable streams,
are drained; and the consequence is, that they are
more likely to be affected by severe droughts and
great floods — the first killing, and the second washing

6EC0KD DAY.] FLIES. 57

away the larvse and aurelias. May-flies thirty years
ago were abundant in the upper part of the Teme
river in Herefordshire, where it receives the Clun:
they are now rarely seen. Most of the rivers of that
part of England, as well as of the west, with the
exception of those that rise in the still uncultivated
parts of Dartmoor and Exmoor, are rapid and
unfordable torrents after rain, and in dry summers
little more than scanty rills; and Exmoor and
Dartmoor, almost the only considerable remains of
those moist, spongy, or peaty soils, which once covered
the greatest part of the high lands of England, are
becoming cultivated, and their sources will gradually
gain the same character as those of our midland and
highly improved counties. I cannot give you an idea
of the effects of peat mosses and grassy marshes on
the water thrown down from the atmosphere, better
than by comparing their effects to those of roofs of
houses of thatched straw, as contrasted with roofs of
slate, on a shower of rain. The slate begins to drop
immediately, and sends down what it receives in
a rapid torrent, and is dry soon after the shower is
over. Erom the sponge-like roof of thatch, on
the contrary, it is long before the water drops ; but it
continues dropping and wet for hours after the shower
is over and the slate dry.*

[* The above remark with its illustration is applicable to surface-

58

SALMON I A.

[SECOXD DAT.

POIET. — You spoke just uov.r of the gillaroo trout
as belonging only to Ireland. I can, however, hardly

Gillaroo — Loch Melvin.

bring myself to believe, that such a fish is not to be
found elsewhere. Tor lakes with shell-fish and charr
are common in various parts of Europe, and as the
gillaroo trout is congenerous, it ought to exist both
in Scotland and the Alpine countries.

HAL. — It is not possible from analogies of this
kind to draw certain inferences. Subterraneous
cavities and subterranean waters are common in
various countries, yet the Proteus Anguinus is only
found in two places in Carniola — at Adelsburg and

draining, but not to deep thorough draining, the tendency of which is
the reverse, similar to that of peat mosses, and perhaps even in a
higher degree. The constant stream of water that flows from land
thus drained, even in a period of drought, is proof of the influence
adverted to. — J. D.]

SECOXD DAT.]

PARR, OR SAMLET.

59

Sittich. As I mentioned before, I have never yet met
with a gillaroo trout, except in Ireland. It is true, it
is only lately that I have had my attention directed to
the subject, and other fishermen or naturalists may be
more fortunate.

POIET. — Have you ever observed any other varieties
of the trout kind, which may be considered as, like
the gillaroo, forming a distinct species ?

HAL. — I think the parr, samlet, or brandling,
common to most of our rivers which communicate
with the sea, has a claim to be considered a distinct

^zmgs^

Parr, or Samlet.

species ; yet the history of this fish is so obscure, and
so little understood, that, perhaps, I ought not to
venture to give an account of it. But in doing so,
you will consider me as rather asking for new infor-

60 SALMONIA. [second day.

raation, than as attempting a satisfactory view of this
little animal.

ORN. — I have seen this fish in the rivers of Wales
and Herefordshire, and have heard it asserted, on
what appeared to me good authority, that it was
a mule, — the offspring of a trout and a salmon.

HAL. — This opinion, I know, has been supported
by the fact, that it is found only in streams
winch are occasionally visited by salmon; yet I
know no direct evidence in favour of the opinion,
and I should think it much more probable, if it
be a mixed race, that it is produced by the sea
trout and common trout. In a small river, winch
runs into the Moy, near Ballina in Ireland, I once
caught in October a great number of small sea trout,
which were generally about half-a-pound in weight,
and were all males ; and unless it be supposed, that
the females were in the river likewise, and would not
take the fly, these fish, in which the spermatic system
was fully developed, could only have impregnated the
ova of the common river trout. The sea trout and
river trout are, indeed, so like each other in character,
that such a mixture seems exceedingly probable ; but
I know no reason why such mules should always
continue small, except that it may be a mark of
imperfection. The only difference between the parr
and common small trout is in the colours, and its

second day.] PARR, OR SAMLET. 61

possessing one or two spines more in the pectoral fin.
The parr has large blue or olive bluish marks on the
sides, as if they had been made by the impression of
the fingers of a hand ; and hence the fish is called in
some places fingerling. The river and sea trout seem
capable of changing permanently their places of
residence ; and sea trout appear often to become
river trout. In this case they lose their silvery
colour, and gain more spots ; and in their offspring
these changes are more distinct. Fish, likewise,
which are ill-fed remain small; and parrs are exceed-
ingly numerous in those rivers where they are found,
which are never separated from the sea by impassable
falls; from winch I think it possible that they are
produced by a cross between sea and river trout.*

[* Since the researches of Mr. Shaw, published in 1837, naturalists,
with few exceptions, have come to the conclusion that the parr is the
young of the salmon, as is also the smelt, or smolt, — the one in its
earlier stage, having characteristic transverse marks — those which have
given rise to the designation of fingerling, perhaps of brandling, — the
other, after those marks have disappeared, and the fish has acquired the
uniformity of silvery colouring of the salmon, preparatory to its quitting
its native stream for the sea. In relation to the fresh-water parr
compared with the salt-water salmon, there are some circumstances
which are remarkable, and which might well lead to the conclusion
that the parr is distinct from the salmon. The parr, whilst in fresh
water, grows slowly, the young salmon, as soon as it enters the sea,
very rapidly, as has been proved by the observations of Mr. Young,
but though growing slowly in fresh water, the parr feeds well and is in
good condition, — using the varied food of the common trout — flies,
worms, larvae, fresh-water shell-fish, and squillae — as if a distinct

o2 SALMONI A. [second day.

The varieties of the common trout are almost infinite;
from the great lake trout, winch weighs above 60 or
70 lbs., to the trouts of the little mountain brook or
small mountain lake, or tarn, which is scarcely larger
than the finger. The smallest trout spawn nearly at
the same time with the larger ones, and their ova are
of the same size ; but in the large trout there are
tens of thousands, and in the small ones rarely as
many as forty, — often from ten to forty. So that in
the physical constitution of these animals, their pro-
duction is diminished as their food is small in
quantity ; and it is remarkable that the ova of the
large and beautiful species which exist in certain

species. And in accordance, both its roe and soft milt are found more
or less developed, so that the sexes can be easily distinguished. In
most instances the milt is more fully formed than the roe ; but there
are examples of the latter having been found of full size. Mr. Yarrell,
in his " Hist, of British Fishes," quotes one on the authority of
a trust-worthy observer, Dr. Heysham of Carlisle ; and he has in
his possession, preserved in spirits, a like specimen taken undoubtedly
from a parr, which he had the kindness to show me. These circum-
stances and others lead to the inference that the young salmon, as
a parr, is capable of breeding, and does occasionally breed in some of
our rivers, so that the species can be continued ; and that a descent
to the sea and high feeding there are not absolutely essential to the
preservation of the species. Of those parrs which I have examined,
taken from streams in the lake districts, as many have been females as
males : the proportion in which the marks of the sex were not
distinguishable, was very small. For much valuable information on
this interesting subject, see the article " Salmonidse," in vol. ii., 1st
and 2nd editions, of Mr. YarrelPs excellent work on " British Fishes,"
and Mr. Scrope's " Days and Nights of Salmon Fishing." — J. D.]

SECOND DAY.]

VARIETIES OF TROUT.

63

lakes, and which seem always to associate together,
appear to produce offspring, which, in colour, form,
and power of growth and reproduction, resemble

■*'*'- J. V \ ^ JH^PV -=JA -^B-i^V. /■■■:t--f.-*-^ja^/ -

Great Lake Trout.

the parent fishes ; and they generally choose the same
river for their spawning. Thus, in the lake of
Guarda, the Benacus of the ancients, the magnificent
trout, or Salmo fariOj which in colour and appearance
is like a fresh run salmon, spawns in the river at
Biva, beginning to run up for that purpose in June,
and continuing to do so all the summer ; and this
river is fed by streams from snow and glaciers in the
Tyrol, and is generally foul : whilst the small spotted
common trouts, which are likewise found in this lake,
go into the small brooks, which have their sources
not far off, and in which, it is probable, they were
originally bred. I have seen taken in the same net

64 SALM0N1A. [second day.

small fish of both these varieties, which were as
marked as possible in their characters, — one silvery,
like a young salmon, blue on the back, and with
small black spots only, — the other, with yellow belly
and red spots, and an olive-coloured back. I have
made similar observations in other lakes, particularly
in that of the Traun near Gmiinden, and likewise at
Loch Neah in Ireland. Indeed, considering the sea
trout as the type of the species trout, I think all the
other true trouts may not improperly be considered as
varieties, in which the differences of food and of habits
have occasioned, in a long course of ages, differences
of shape and colours, transmitted to offspring in the
same manner as in the variety of dogs, which may
all be referred to one primitive type.*

* I have known the number of spines in the pectoral fins different,
in different varieties of trout; I have seen them 12, 13, and 14 : but
the anal fin always, I believe, contains 11 spines, the dorsal 12 or
13, the ventral 9, and the caudal 21. The smallest brook trout,
when well and copiously fed, will increase in stews to four or five
pounds in weight, but never attains the size or characters of lake
trout.

Mr. Tonkin of Polgaron put some small river trout, 2| inches in
length, into a newly-made pond. He took some of these out the
second year, and they were above 12 inches in length ; the third year,
he took one out that was 16 inches; and the fourth year, one of 25
inches: this was in 1734. (Carew's Survey of Cornwall, p. 87.
Lord de Dunstanville's edition.)

[It is now generally admitted by those naturalists who are the
highest authorities relative to the species of fish, that there are, ex-

second DAT.j VARIETIES OF TROUT. 65

PHYS — I am somewhat amused at your idea
of the change produced in the species of trout
by the formation of particular characters by
particular accidents, and their hereditary trans-
mission. It reminds me of the ingenious but
somewhat unsound views of Darwin on the same
subject.

HAL.— I will not allow you to assimilate my views
to those of an author, who, however ingenious, is far
too speculative ; whose poetry has always appeared to
me weak philosophy, and his philosophy indifferent
poetry : and to whom I have been often accustomed
to apply Blumenbach's saying, that there were many
things new and many tilings true in Ins doctrines ;
but that what was new was not true, and what was
true was not new.

POIET.—l think Halieus is quite in the right to
be a little angry at your observation, Physicus, in
making him a disciple of a writer, who, as well as I
can recollect, has deduced the genesis of the human
being, by a succession of changes dependent upon

elusive of the salmon (Salmosalar), three distinct species of the trout :

two migratory, the salmon trout, or salmon peal (Salmo trutta), and

the sea trout, or hull trout (Salmo eriox) ; and one not migratory, the

common trout (Salmo fat'io); each possessing certain distinctive

structural marks, especially in the relative proportions of their maxillae.

Ample information is given on this subject in Mr. YarrelFs " History

of British Fishes."— J. D.]

F

6Q SALMONIA. [second day.

irritabilities, sensibilities, and appetencies, from the
fish ; blending tlie wild fancies of Bnffon with the
profonnd ideas of Hartley, and thus endeavouring to
give currency to an absurd romance, by mixing with
it some philosophical truths. I hope your parallel
will induce him to do us the favour to state Ins own
notions more at large.

HAL.— Physicus has mistaken me; and I will explain.
What I mentioned of the varieties of dogs as sprung
from one type, he will, I am sure, allow me to apply,
with some modifications, to all our cultivated breeds
of animals, whether horses, oxen, sheep, hogs, geese,
ducks, turkeys, or pigeons; and he will allow, that
certain characters gained by accidents, either from
peculiar food, air, water, or domestic treatment, are
transmitted to, and often strengthened in, the next
generation ; — the qualities being, as it were, doubled
when belonging to both parents, and retained in
spite of counteracting causes. It will be sufficient
for me to mention only a few cases. The blood-
horse of Arabia is become the favourite of the north
of Europe, and the colts possess all the superior
qualities of their parents, even in the polar circle.
The offspring of the Merino sheep retain the fineness
of their wool in England and Saxony. Poultry,
bantams, tumbling and carrier pigeons, geese, ducks,
turkevs, &c, all afford instances of the same kind;

second day.] VARIETIES OF TROUT. 67

and in the goose and duck, not only is the colour of
the feathers changed, but the form of the muscles of
the legs and wings, — those of the wings, being little
employed, become weak and slender, — those of the
legs, on the contrary, being much used, are strong
and fleshy. And it is well to know this, as, in the
young birds, the muscles of the legs and thighs are
the best parts for the epicure, a large quantity of
flesh being developed there, but not yet hardened or
rendered tough by exercise. These facts are of the
same kind and depend on the same principles, as the
peculiarity of the breeds or races in trouts. Fish in
a clear cool river, that feed much on larvae, and that
swallow their hard cases, become yellower, and the
red spots increase so as to outnumber the black ones ;
and these qualities become fixed in the young fishes,
and establish a particular variety. If trout from a
lake, or another river of a different variety, were
introduced into this river, they would not at once
change their characters ; but the change would take
place gradually. Thus I have known trout from a
lake in Scotland, remarkable for their deep red flesh,
introduced into another lake, where the trout had
only white flesh, and they retained the peculiar
redness of their flesh for many years. At first they
all associated together in spawning in the brook
which fed the lake, but those newly introduced were

F 2

68 SALM0N1A. [second day.

easilv known from their darker backs and brighter

0

sides. By degrees, however, from the influence of
food and other causes, they became changed; the
young trout of the introduced variety had flesh less
red than their parents; and in about twenty years
the variety was entirely lost, and all the fish were
in their original white state. A very speculative
reasoner might certainly defend the hypothesis, of the
change of species in a long course of ages, from the
establishment of particular characters as hereditary.
It might be said, that trout, after having thickened
their stomachs by feeding on larvae with hard
cases, gained the power of eating shell-fish, and were
Gradually changed to gillaroos and to charr, — their
red spots and the yellow colour of their belly and fins
increasing. In the same manner it might be said,
that the large trout which feed almost entirely on
small fishes, gained more spines in the pectoral fins
and became a new species ; but I shall not go so far,
and I know no facts of this kind. The gillaroo and
the charr appear always with the same characters;
and I have never seen any fish that seemed in a
state of transition from a trout to a gillaroo or a
charr ; which, I think, must have been the case if
such changes took place. I hope, after this explana-
tion, Physicus will not find any analogy between my
ideas and those of a school, to which I am not

second day.] VARIETIES OF TROUT. 69

ambitious of being thought to belong ; and that he
will allow my views to be sound, or at least founded
upon correct analogies.

POIET.— Do you know any facts of a similar kind
in confirmation of your idea that the parr is a
mule?

HAL.— I have heard of similar instances, but I
cannot say I have myself witnessed them. The
common carp and the cruscian are said to produce a
mixed race, and likewise the rud and the roach ; but
I have never paid much attention to varieties of the carp
kind. A friend of mine informed me, that in a branch
of the Test, into which graylings had recently been
introduced, his fisherman caught a fish winch appeared
to be from a cross between the trout and grayling,
having the high back fin of the grayling, and the head
and spots of the trout: this is the more remarkable,
if correct, as the grayling spawns in the late spring,
and the trout in the late autumn or winter : yet I do
recollect that I once took a grayling in the end of
November, in which the ova were so large, as nearly
to be ready for protrusion. The fisherman of the
Griindtl See, in Styria, informed me, that he had seen
a fish which he believed to be a mule between the
trout and charr, the fins of winch resembled those of a
trout, though the body was in other respects like that
of a charr. The seasons at which these two species

70 8ALM0NIA. [second day

spawn approach nearer to each other ; but the charr
spawns in still and the trout in running water. In
general the trout are mature before the charr, yet I
have seen in the Leopoldstein See, in Styria, a female
charr, of which the eggs were almost fully developed
as early as June : the fisherman of the Grundtl See
said, that these peculiar fish were very rare, and that
he caught only one in about 500 charr. It is not, I
think, impossible, that it may be an umbla, a fish that
might be expected to be found in that deep, cold,
Alpine lake, a peculiar species and not a mixed variety.
It is a fertile and very curious subject for new
experiments, that of crossing the breeds of fishes, and
offers a very interesting and untouched field of
investigation, which I hope will soon be taken up by
some enlightened country gentleman, who in this
way might make not only curious but useful dis-
coveries.

POIET. — So much science would be required to
make these experiments with success, and there would
be so many difficulties in the way of preserving fishes
at the time they are proper for reproduction, that
I fear very few country gentlemen would be capable
of prosecuting the inquiry.

HAL. — The science required for tins object is easily
attained, and the difficulties are quite imaginary.
The impregnation of the ova of fishes is performed out

second dat. J BREEDING OF FISH. 71

of the body, and it is only necessary to pour the
spermatic liquor from the milt upon the ova in water.
Mr. Jacobi, a German gentleman, who made many
years ago experiments on the increase of trout and
salmon, informs us, that the ova and milt of mature
fish, recently dead, will produce living offspring. His
plan of raising trout from the egg was a very simple
one. He had a box made with a small wire grating
at one end in the cover, for admitting water from
a fresh source or stream, and at the other end of the
side of the box there were a number of holes to
permit the exit of the water : the bottom of the box
was filled with pebbles and gravel of different sizes,
winch were kept covered with water that was always
in motion. In November or the beginning of Decem-
ber, when the trout were in full maturity for spawning,
and collected in the rivers for this purpose upon beds
of gravel, he caught males and females in a net, and
by the pressure of Ins hands, received the ova in a
basin of water, and suffered the milt to pass into the
basin; and after they had remained a few minutes
together, he introduced them upon the gravel in the
box, which was placed under a source of fresh, cool,
and pure water. In a few weeks the eggs burst,
and the box was filled with an immense number of
young trout, winch had a small bag attached to the
lower part of their body containing a part of the yolk

72 SALMONIA. [second day

of the egg, which was still their nourishment. In
this state they were easily carried from place to place
in confined portions of fresh water for some days,
requiring, apparently, no food; but, after about
a week, the nourishment in their bag being exhausted,
they began to seek their food in the water, and
rapidly increased in size. As I have said before, Mr.
Jacobi assures us, that the experiment succeeded as
well with mature fish, that had been killed for the
purpose of procuring the roe and milt, these having
been mixed together in cold water immediately after
they have been taken out of the body. I have had
this experiment tried twice, and with perfect success,
and it offers a very good mode of increasing to any
extent the quantity of trout in rivers or lakes ; for the
young ones are preserved from the attacks of fishes,
and other voracious animals or insects, at the time
when they are most easily destroyed, and perfectly
helpless. The same plan, I have no doubt, would
answer equally well with grayling or other varieties of
the salrno genus. But in all experiments of this
kind, the great principle is, to have a constant current
of fresh and aerated water running over the eggs.
The uniform supply of air to the embryo in the egg is
essential for its life and growth, and such eggs as are
not supplied with water saturated with air are unpro-
ductive. The experimenter must be guided exactly

sbcond day.] BREEDING OF FISH. 73

by the instinct of the parent fishes, who take care to
deposit the impregnated eggs that are to produce
their offspring, only in sources continually abounding
in fresh and aerated water.*

PETS. — But as every species of fish has a particular
and usually different time for spawning, I do not see
how it could be contrived to cross their breeds, or how
the ova of a trout, which spawns in December, could
be impregnated by the spermatic fluid of the grayling,
which spawns in May; for I conclude it would be
impossible to preserve the eggs of a fish out of the
body in a state in which they could retain or recover
their vitality.

HAL. — I believe I mentioned before, that I had
found instances, in winch the ova of fish were deve-
loped at a different period from their natural one ; and
I have no doubt, that a little inquiry respecting the
habits of fishes would enable us to acquire a knowledge
of the circumstances, which either hasten or retard their
maturity. Plenty of food and a genial season hasten
the period of their reproduction, which is delayed by

[* For success in such trials it may be well to imitate nature as closely
as possible, and to have the breeding box made of stone with perforated
stone partitions. I have heard of a failure on a large scale, made appa-
rently under favourable circumstances and conducted with care, in wbich
the boxes used were of wood and the partitions of perforated zinc.
Leeches, it is well known, can be long preserved in stone tanks, and
even breed in them, but not in tanks of wood. — J. D.]

74 SALMOXIA. [second day

want of proper nourishment, and by unfavourable
weather. Males and females likewise, confined
from each other, have their generative powers
impeded; and trout, grayling, and salmon, will not
deposit their ova except in running water ; so that by
keeping them in tanks, the period of their maturity
might be considerably alterecL I have seen charr even,
which had been kept in confined water from September
till July; and so slow had been the progress of the
ova, that they appeared to be about this time fit for
exclusion, though, in the natural course of tilings,
they would have been ripe in the end of October of
the year before. By attending to and controlling all
these circumstances, I have no doubt many interesting
experiments might be made, as to the possibility of
modifying the varieties of the salino, by impregnating
the ova of one species with the spermatic fluid of
another. With fishes of other genera the task would
be still more easy. Carp, perch, and pike, deposit
their ova in still water in spring and summer, when it
is supplied with air by the growth of vegetables : and
it is to the leaves of plants, which afford a continual
supply of oxygen to the water, that the impregnated
eggs usually adhere ; so that researches of this kind
might be conducted within doors in close vessels, filled
with plants, exposed to the sun. I have myself kept
minnows and sticklebacks alive for many months in

second day.] BREEDING OF FISH. 75

the same confined quantity of "water, containing a few
confervas ; and their ova and milt increased in the
same manner, as if they had been in their natural
situation.

ORN. — I conclude from your statements, Halieus,
that nothing more is required for the production of
fishes from impregnated eggs, than a constant supply
of water of a certain temperature furnished with air ;
and of course the same principles will apply to fishes
of the sea.

HAL. — There can be no doubt of it : and fishes in
spawning time always approach great shallows, or
shores covered with weeds, that, in the process of
their growth, under the influence of the sunshine,
constantly supply pure air to the water in contact
with them.

POIET. — In every thing belonging to the economy
of nature, I find new reasons for wondering at the
designs of Providence, — at the infinite intelligence by
which so many complicated effects are produced by
the most simple causes. The precipitation of water
from the atmosphere, its rapid motion in rivers,
and its falls in cataracts, not only preserve this
element pure, but give it its vitality, and render it
subservient even to the embryo life of the fish ; and
the storms which agitate the ocean, and mingle it
with the atmosphere, supply at once food to marine

76 SALMONIA. [second day

plants, and afford a principle of life to the fishes
which inhabit its depths. So that the perturbation
and motion of the winds and waves possess a use,
and ought to impress us with a beauty higher and
more delightful even than that of the peaceful and
glorious calm.

THIRD DAY.
HA LIEUS—P0IETES—0RN1THER—PH TSICUS.

SCENE DENHAM.

Morning.

HAL. — You will soon take tout leave, gentlemen,
of tins agreeable villa ; but we must catch at least two
brace of trout to carry with us to London, as a
present for two worthy patrons of the angle. For
though I know our liberal host will have a basket of
fish packed up for each of our party, yet fish taken
this morning will be imagined a more acceptable
present than those caught yesterday. The May-fly
is already upon the water, though not in great
quantity, and it will consequently be more easy to
catch the fish, which I see are rising with great
activity. I advise you to go to the deep water below,
where you will find the largest fish, and I will soon
follow you.

POIET. — I hope I shall catch a large fish, — a

78 SALMON I A. [third da*

companion to that which Ornither took yesterday
with a natural fly.

{Halieus leaves them fishing, and returns to the house ; but soon
comes back and joins his companions, whom he finds fishing
below in the river.]

HAL. — "Well, gentlemen, what sport ?

POIET. — The fish are rising everywhere; but
though we have been throwing over them with all
our skill for a quarter of an hour, yet not a single
one will take, and I am afraid we shall return to
breakfast without our prey.

HAL. — I will try ; but I shall go to the other side,
where I see a very large fish rising. There ! I have
him at the very first throw. Land this fish, and put
him into the well. Now I have another ; and I have
no doubt I could take half a dozen in this very place,
where you have been so long fishing without
success.

PHYS. — You must have a different fly; or have
you some unguent or charm to tempt the fish ?

HAL. — No such tiling. If any of you will give me
your rod and fly, I will answer for it, I shall have
the same success. I take your rod, Physicus. — And
lo ! I have a fish !

PHYS. — "What can be the reason of this? It is
perfectly inexplicable to me. Yet Poietes seems to

THIRD DAT.] SHADOWS.

throw as light as you do, and as well as he did
yesterday.

HAL. — I am surprised, that you, who are a philoso-
pher, cannot discover the reason of this. Think a
little.

ALL. — We cannot.

HAL. — As you are my scholars, I believe I must
teach you. The sun is bright, and you have been,
naturally enough, fishing with your backs to the sun,
winch, not being very high, has thrown the shadows
of your rods and yourselves upon the water; and
you have alarmed the fish whenever you have thrown
a fly. You see I have fished with my face towards
the sun; and though inconvenienced by the light,
have given no alarm. Follow my example and you
will soon have sport, as there is a breeze playing on
the water.

PHYS. — Your sagacity puts me in mind of an
anecdote which I remember to have heard respecting
the late eloquent statesman, Charles James Fox, who,
walking up Bond Street from one of the club-houses
with an illustrious personage, laid him a wager that
he would see more cats than the Prince in his walk,
and that he might take which side of the street he
liked. When they got to the top, it was found that
Mr. Fox had seen thirteen cats, and the Prince not
one. The royal personage asked for an explanation

80 SALMOXIA. [THIRD DAY.

of this apparent miracle, and Mr. Pox said, " Yonr
Royal Highness took, of course, the shady side of the
way, as most agreeable ; I knew that the sunny side
would be left to me, and cats always prefer the
sunshine."

HAL. — There ! Poietes, by following my advice
you have immediately hooked a fish; and while you
are catching a brace, I will tell you an anecdote
which as much relates to fly-fishing as that of
Physicus; and affords an elucidation of a particular
effect of light.

A manufacturer of carmine, who was aware of the
superiority of Prench colour, went to Lyons for the
purpose of improving Ins process, and bargained with
the most celebrated manufacturer in that capital for
the acquisition of Iris secret ; for which he was to pay
a thousand pounds. He was shown all the processes
and saw a beautiful colour produced, yet he found
not the least difference in the Prench mode of
fabrication and that which he had constantly adopted.
He appealed to the manufacturer, and insisted that
he must have concealed something. The manufacturer
assured him that he had not, and invited him to see
the process a second time. He minutely examined
the water and the materials, which were the same as
his own; and, very much surprised, said, "I have
lost my labour and my money, for the air of England

THIRD DAY.] SUNSHINE. 81

does not permit us to make good carmine." " Stay/'
says the Frenchman, " do not deceive yourself : what
kind of weather is it now ?" "A bright sunny day/'
said the Englishman. " And such are the days/' said
the Frenchman, "on which I make mv colour.
"Were I to attempt to manufacture it on a dark
or cloudy day, my result would be the same as yours.
Let me advise you, my friend, always to make carmine
on bright and sunny days." "I will," says the
Englishman; "but I fear I shall make very little
in London."

POIET. — Your anecdote is as much to the purpose
as that of Physicus ; yet I am much obliged to you
for the hint respecting the effect of shadow, for I have
several times in May and June had to complain of too
clear a sky, and wished, with Cotton, for

A day with not too bright a beam ;
A warm, but not a scorching, sun.

HAL. — Whilst we have been conversing, the May-
flies, which were in such quantities, have become much
fewer; and I believe the reason is, that they have
been greatly diminished by the flocks of swallows,
which everywhere pursue them : I have seen a single
swallow take four, in less than a quarter of a minute,
that were descending to the water.

POIET. — I delight in this living landscape ! The

82 SALMONIA. [third day.

swallow is one of my favourite birds, and a rival of
the nightingale : for he cheers my sense of hearing ;
he is the glad prophet of the year — the harbinger of
the best season ; he lives a life of enjoyment amongst
the loveliest forms of nature ; winter is unknown to
him ; and he leaves the green meadows of England
in autumn, for the myrtle and orange groves of Italy,
and for the palms of Africa : — he has always objects
of pursuit, and Iris success is secure. Even the
beings selected for his prey are poetical, beautiful,
and transient; the ephemerae are saved by his means
from a slow and lingering death in the evening, and
killed in a moment, when they have known nothing
of life but pleasure. He is the constant destroyer of
insects, — the friend of man ; and, with the stork and
the ibis, may be regarded as a sacred bird. His
instinct, which gives him his appointed seasons, and
teaches him always when and where to move, may be
regarded as flowing from a Divine Source ; and he
belongs to the Oracles of Nature, which speak the
awful and intelligible language of a present Deity.

I

Sea Trout — Salmo Trutta Marina.

Salmon — Salmo Salar.

FOURTH DAY.
HA LIEUS-POIETES— ORNITHER—PII YSICUS.

FISHING FOR SALMON AND SEA TROUT.

Scene — Loch Maree, West of Eosshire, Scotland.
Time — Middle of July.

POIET. — I begin to be tired. This is realty a

long day's journey ; and these last ten miles through

bogs, with no other view than that of mountains half

G 2

Si SALMONIA. [FOURTH DAT.

hid in mists, and brown waters that can hardly be
called lakes, and with no other trees than a few
stunted birches, that look so little alive, that they
might be supposed immediately descended from the
bogwood, every where scattered beneath our feet,
have rendered it extremely tedious. This is the
most barren part of one of the most desolate countries
I have ever passed through in Europe ; and though
the inn at Strathgarve is tolerable, that of Auchnasheen
is certainly the worst I have ever seen, — and I hope
the worst I shall ever see. We ought to have good
amusement at Pool Ewe, to compensate us for this
uncomfortable day's journey.

HAL — I trust we shall have sport, as far as
salmon and sea trout can furnish sport. But the
difficulties of our journey are almost over. See, Loch
Maree is stretched at our feet, and a good boat with
four oars will carry us in four or five hours to our
fishing ground ; a time that will not be mispent, for
this lake is not devoid of beautiful, and even grand
scenery.

POIET. — The scenery begins to improve ; and that
cloud-breasted mountain on the left is of the best
character of Scotch mountains; these woods, like-
wise, are respectable for this northern country. I
think I see islands also in the distance; and the
quantity of cloud always gives effect to this kind of

FOrRTH DAY.] SCENERY. 85

view, — perhaps, without such assistance to the
imagination, there would be nothing even approaching
to the sublime in these countries ; but cloud and mist,
by creating obscurity and offering a substitute for
greatness and distance, give something of an Alpine
and majestic character to this region.

ORN. — As we are now fixed in our places in the
boat, you will surely put out a rod or two with a set
of flies, or try the tail of the par for a large trout or
salmon : our fishing will not hinder our progress.

HAL. — In most other lakes I should do so; here I
have often tried the experiment, but never with
success. This lake is extremely deep, and there are
very few fish which haunt it generally except chart* ;
and salmon seldom rest but in particular parts along
the shore, which we shall not touch. Our vovace
will be a picturesque, rather than an angling one. I
see we shall have little occasion for the oars, for a
strong breeze is rising, and blowing directly down the
lake ; we shall be in it in a minute. Hoist the sails !
On we go ! — we shall make our voyage in half the
number of hours I had calculated upon ; and I hope
to catch a salmon in time for dinner.

POIET. — The scenery improves as we advance
nearer the lower parts of the lake. The mountains
become higher, and that small island or peninsula
presents a bold, craggy outline ; and the birch wood

8(3 SALMOXIA. [fourth day.

below it, and the pines above, form a scene somewhat
Alpine in character. But what is that large bird
soaring above the pointed rock, towards the end of
the lake ? Surely it is an eagle !

HAL. — You are right, it is an eagle, and of a rare
and peculiar species — the gray or silver eagle, a noble
bird ! Prom the size of the animal, it must be the
female ; and her aery is in that high rock. I dare
say the male is not far off.

PHYS. — I think I see another bird, of a smaller
size, perched on the rock below, which is similar in
form.

HAL. — You do : it is the consort of that beautiful
and powerful bird ; and I have no doubt their young
ones are near at hand.

POIET. — Look at the bird ! How she dashes into
the water, falling like a rock, and raising a column
of spray : she has dropt from a great height. And
now she rises again into the air : what an extraor-
dinarv siffht !

HAL. — She is pursuing her prey, and is one of our
fraternity, — a catcher of fish. She has missed her
quarry this time, and has soared further down
towards the river, to fall again from a great height.
There ! You see her rise with a fish in her
talons.

POIET. — She gives an interest to this scene, winch

fourth day.] THE EAGLE. 87

I hardly expected to have found. Pray are there
many of these animals in this country ?

HAL. — Of this species, I have seen but these two,
and I believe the young ones migrate as soon as they
can provide for themselves ; for this solitary bird
requires a large space to move and feed in, and does
not allow its offspring to partake its reign, or to live
near it. Of other species oc the eagle, there are
some in different parts of the mountains, particularly
of the Osprey, and of the great fishing or brown
eagle. I once saw a very fine and interesting sight
above one of the Crags of Ben Weevis, near Strath-
garve, as I was going, on the 20th of August, in
pursuit of black game. Two parent eagles were
teaching their offspring, — two young birds, the
manoeuvres of flight. They began by rising from the
top of a mountain in the eye of the sun ; — it was about
midday, and bright for this climate. They at first
made small circles, and the young birds imitated
them; they paused on their wings, waiting till they
had made their first flight, and then took a second
and larger gyration, — always rising towards the sun,
and enlarging their circle of flight so as to make a
gradually extending spiral. The young ones still
slowly followed, apparently flying better as they
mounted ; and they continued this sublime kind of
exercise, always rising, till they became mere points

88 SALMONIA. [fourth day,

in the air, and the young ones were lost, and after-
wards their parents, to our aching sight.* But we
have touched the shore, and the lake has terminated ;
you are now on the river Ewe.

POIET. — Are we to fish here ? It is a broad clear
stream, but I see no fish, and cannot think it a good
angling river.

* [This incident, so poetical, the Author first described in verse, with
aspirations that can hardly fail to interest the general reader — J.D.]

THE EAGLES.

" The mighty birds still upwards rose,
In slow, but constant, and most steady flight,
The young ones following ; and they would pause
As if to teach them how to bear the light,
And keep the solar glory full in sight !
So went they on, till, from excess of pain,
I could no longer bear the scorching rays :
And, when I looked again, they Ave re not seen,
Lost in the brightness of the solar blaze.
Their memory left a type, and a desire :
So should I wish towards the light to rise,
Instructing younger spirits to aspire
Where I could never reach amidst the skies,
And joy below to see them lifted higher,
Seeking the light of purest glory's prize ;
So would I look on splendour's brightest dav,
With an undazzled eye, and steadily
Soar upwards full in the immortal ray,
Through the blue depths of the unbounded sky,
Pourtraying wisdom's boundless purity.
Before me still a lingering ray appears,
But broken and prismatic, seen tlno' tears.
The light of joy and immortality."

FOURTH DAT.] THE INN. 89

HAL. — "We are nearly a nrile above our fishing
station, and we must first see our quarters and
provide for our lodging, before we begin our fishing :
to the inn we have only a short walk.

POIET. — Whv tins inn is a second edition of
Auchnasheen.

HAL. — The interior is better than the exterior,
thanks to the Laird of Brahan. We shall find one
tolerable room and bed, and we must put up our
cots and provide our food. What is our store,
Mr. Purveyor ?

PHYS. — I know we have good bread, tea, and
sugar. Then there is the quarter of roebuck, presented
to us at Gordon Castle; and Ornither has furnished
us with a brace of wild ducks, three leash of snipes,
and a brace of golden plovers, by his mountain
expedition of yesterday j and for fish we depend on
you. Yet our host says there are fresh herrings to
be had, and small cod-fish, and salmon, and trout in
any quantity; and the claret and the Ferintosh are
safe.

HAL. — "Why we shall fare sumptuously. As it is
not time yet for shooting grouse, we must divide our
spoil for the few days we shall stay here. Yet there
are young snipes and plovers on the mountains above,
and I have no doubt we might obtain the Laird's
permission to kill a roebuck in the woods, or a hart

90 SALMONIA. [fourth day.

on the mountains ; but this is always an uncertain
event, and I advise yon, Ornither, to become a
fisherman.

ORN. — I shall wait till I see the results of your
skill. At all events, in this country I can never
want amusement ; and, I dare say, there are plenty
of seals at the mouth of the river, and killing them is
more useful to other fishermen than catching fish.

HAL. — Let there be a kettle of water, with salt,
ready boiling in an hour, mine host, for the fish we
catch or buy; and see that the potatoes are well
dressed — the servants will look to the rest of our
fare. Now for our rods.

POIET. — This is a fine river; clear, full, but not
too large; with the two handed rod it may be
commanded in most parts.

HAL. — It is larger than usual. The strong wind
which brought us so quickly down has made it fuller ;
and it is not in such good order for fishing as it was
before the wind rose.

POIET. — I thought the river was all the better for
a flood, when clear.

HAL. — Better after a flood from rain; for this
brings the fish up, who know when rain is coming, and
likewise brings down food and makes the fish feed.
But when the water is raised by a strong wind, the
fish never run, as they are sure to find no increase

FOURTH DAT.] THE EWE. 91

in the spring heads, which are their objects in
running.

POIET. — You give the fish credit for great sagacity.

HAL. — Call it instinct rather; for if they reasoned,
they would run with every large water, whether from
wind or rain. "What the feeling or power is, which
makes them travel with rain, I will not pretend to
define. But now for our sport.

POIET. — The fish are beginning to rise; I have
seen two here already, and there is a third, and a
fourth ; scarcely a quarter of a minute elapses without
a fish rising in some part of the pool.

HAL. — As the day is dark, I shall use a bright and
rather a large fly, with jay's hackle, kingfisher's
feather under the wing, and golden pheasant's tail,
and wing of mixed grouse, and argus pheasant's tail.
I shall throw over these fish ; I ought to raise one.

POIET. — Either you are not skilful, or the fish
know their danger. They will not rise.

HAL. — I will try another and a smaller fly.

POIET. — You do nothing.

HAL. — I have changed my fly a third time, yet no
fish rises. I cannot understand this. The water is
not in good order, or I should certainly have raised a
fish or two. Now I will wager ten to one, that this
pool has been fished before to-day.

ORK— By whom ?

92 SALMONIA. [FOURTH DAT,

HAL. — I know not; but take my wager and we
will ascertain.

ORN. — I shall ascertain without the wager if
possible. See, a man connected with the fishery
advances, let us ask him. There you see; it has
been fished once or twice by one, who claims without
charter the right of angling.

HAL. — I told you so. Now I know this, I shall
put on another kind of fly, such as I am sure they
have not seen this day.

POIET. — It is very small and very gaudy, I believe
made with humming bird's feathers.

HAL. — No, — the brightest Java dove's hackle,
kingfisher's blue, and golden pheasant's feathers, and
the red feathers of the paroquet. There was a fish
that rose and missed the fly — a sea trout. There, he
has taken it, a fresh run fish, from his white belly and
blue back.

POIET. — How he springs out of the water ! He
must be 6 or 7 lbs.

HAL. — Under five, I am sure; he will soon be
tired. He fights with less spirit : put the net under
him. There, he is a fine fed sea trout, between 4 and
5 lbs. But our intrusive brother angler (as I must
call him) is coming down the river to take his evening
cast. A stout Highlander, with a powerful tail, — or,
as we should call it in England, suite. He is resolved

FOVUTH DAY.] SEA TROUT. 93

not to be driven off, and I am not sure that the Laird
himself could divert him from his purpose, except by
a stronger tail, and force of arms ; but I will try my
eloquence upon hini. " Sir, we hope you will excuse
us for fishing in this pool, where it seems you were
going to take your cast; but the Laird has desired us
to stand in his shoes for a few days, and has given up
angling while we are here ; and as we come nearly a
thousand miles for this amusement, we are sure you
are too much of a gentleman to spoil our sport ; and
we will take care to supply your fish kettle while we
are here, morning and evening, and we shall send
you, as we hope, a salmon before night."

POIET. — He grumbles good sport to us, and is off
with his tail : you have hit him in the right place.
He is a pot fisher, I am sure, and somewhat hungry,
and, provided he gets the salmon, does not care who
catches it !

HAL. — You are severe on the Highland gentleman,
and I think extremely unjust. Nothing could be
more ready than his assent, and a keen fisherman
must not be expected to be in the best possible
humour, when he finds sport which he believes he has
a right to, and which perhaps he generally enjoys
without interruption, taken away from him by entire
strangers. There is, I know, a disputed point about
fishing with the rod, between him and the Laird ;

94 SALMOXIA. [foubth day.

and it would have been too much to have anticipated
a courteous greeting from one, who considers us as
the representatives of an enemy. But I see there is
a large fish which has just risen at the tail of the pool.
I think he is fresh run from the sea, for the tide is
coming in. My fly and tackle are almost too fine for
so large a fish, and I will put on my first fly with a
very strong single gut link and a stretcher of triple
gut. He has taken my fly, and I hold him— a
powerful fish: he must be between 10 and "1 5 lbs.
He fights well, and tries to get up the rapid at the
top of the pool. I must try my strength with him,
to keep him off that rock, or he will break me. I
have turned him, and he is now in a good part of the
pool : such a fish cannot be tired in a minute or two,
but requires from ten to twenty — depending upon his
activity and strength, and the rapidity of the stream
he moves against. He is now playing against the
strongest rapid in the river, and will soon give in,
should he keep his present place.

POIET. — You have tired him.

HAL. — He seems fairly tired : I shall bring him in
to shore. Now gaff him ; strike as near the tail as
you can. He is safe ; we must prepare him for the
pot. Give him a stunning blow on the head to
deprive him of sensation, and then make a transverse
cut just below the gills, and crimp him, by cutting to

focbth day.] DRESSING SALMON. 95

the bone on each side, so as almost to divide him into
slices : and now hold him by the tail that he may
bleed. There is a small spring, I see, close under
that bank, which I dare say has the mean temperature
of the atmosphere in this climate, and is much under
50° — place lnm there, and let him remain for ten
minutes ; then carry him to the pot, and before you
put in a slice let the water and salt boil furiously, and
give time to the water to recover its heat before you
throw in another; and so proceed with the whole
fish : leave the head out, and tlrrow in the thickest
pieces first.

PHYS. — "Why did you not crimp your trout ?

HAL. — We will have lrim fried. Our poacher
prevented me from attending to the preparation ; but
for frying he is better not crimped, as he is not large
enough to give good transverse slices.

POIET. — This salmon is a good fish, and fresh as
you said from the sea. You see the salt-water louse
adheres to Ins sides, and he is bright and silvery, and
a thick fish ; I dare say his weight is not less than
141bs., and I know of no better fish for the table
than one of that size.

PHYS. — It appears to me that so powerful a fish
ought to have struggled much longer : yet, without
great exertions on your part, in ten minutes he
appeared quite exhausted, and lay on his side as if

96 SALMONIA. [fourth day.

dying : this induces me to suppose, that there must
be some truth in the vulgar opinion of anglers, that
fish are, as it were, drowned by the play of the rod
and reel.

HAL. — The vulgar opinion of anglers on this
subject I believe to be perfectly correct ; though, to
apply the word drowning to an animal that lives in
the water is not quite a fit use of language. Fish,
as you ought to know, respire by passing water,
which always holds common air in solution, through
their gills or branchial membrane, by the use of a
system of muscles surrounding the fauces, which
occasion constant contractions and expansions, or
openings and closings of this membrane, and the
life of the fish is dependent on the process in
the same manner as that of a quadruped is on in-
spiring and expiring air. When a fish is hooked
in the upper part of the mouth by the strength of the
rod applied as a lever to the line, it is scarcely
possible for him to open the gills as long as this
force is exerted, particularly when he is moving in
a rapid stream ; and when he is hooked in the lower
jaw, his mouth is kept closed by the same application
of the strength of the rod, so that no aerated water
can be inspired. Under these circumstances he is
quickly deprived of his vital forces, particularly when
he exhausts his strength by moving in a rapid stream.

FOURTH DAY.] SALMON.

A fish, hooked in a part of the mouth where the
force of the rod will render his efforts to respire
unavailing, is much in the same state as that of a
deer caught round the neck by the lasso of a South
American peon, who gallops forwards, dragging his
victim after him, which is killed by strangulation in a
very short time. When fishes are hooked foul, that
is, on the outside of the body, as in the fins or tail,
they will often fight for many hours, and in such
cases very large salmon are seldom caught, as they
retain their powers of breathing unimpaired ; and
if they do not exhaust themselves by violent muscular
efforts, they may bid defiance to the temper and the
skill of the fisherman. A large salmon, hooked in
the upper part of the mouth in the cartilage or bone
will sometimes likewise fight for a long while, parti-
cularly if he keep in the deep and still parts of the
river, for he is able to prevent the force of the hook,
applied by the rod, from interfering with his respira-
tion, and by a powerful effort, can maintain his place,
and continue to breathe in spite of the exertions of the
angler. A fish, in such case, is said to be sulky, and
his instinct, or his sagacity, generally enables him to
conquer his enemy. It is, however, rarely that fishes
hooked in the mouth are capable of using freely the
muscles subservient to respiration ; and their powers
are generally, sooner or later, destroyed by suffocation.

H

98 SALMONIA. [fourth day.

POIET. — The explanation that you have just been
giving us of the effects of playing fish, I confess
alarms me, and makes me more afraid than I was
before, that we are pursuing a very cruel amusement ;
for death by strangulation, I conceive, must be very
laborious, slow, and painful.

PHYS. — I think as I did before I was an angler,
as to the merciless character of field-sports; but I
doubt if this part of the process of the fly-fisher
ought so strongly to alarm your feelings. As far as
analogies from warm-blooded animals can apply to
the case, the death that follows obstructed respiration
is quick, and preceded by insensibility. There are
many instances of persons who have recovered from
the apparent death produced by drowning, and had
no recollection of any violent or intense agony ;
indeed, the alarm or passion of fear generally absorbs
all the sensibility, and the physical suffering is lost in
the mental agitation. I can answer from my own
experience, that there is no pain which precedes the
insensibility occasioned by breathing gases unfitted
for supporting life, but oftener a pleasurable feeling,
as in the case of the respiration of nitrous oxide.
And in the suffocation produced by the gradual
abstraction of air in a close room where charcoal is
burning, we have the record of the son of a celebrated
chemist, that the sensation winch precedes the deep

fourth day.] DEA TH BY SUFFOCA T10N. 99

sleep that ends in death is agreeable. There is far
more pain in recovering from, the insensibility
produced by the abstraction of air than in under-
going it, as I can answer from my own feelings;
and it is, I believe, quite true, what has been
asserted, that the pain of being born, winch is
acquiring the power of respiration, is greater than
that of dying, which is losing the power.

ORN. — I have heard, that persons who have been
recovered from the insensibility produced by hanging,
have never any recollection of the sufferings which
preceded it ; and as the blood is immediately
determined to the head in this operation, probably
apoplectic insensibility is almost instantaneous.

HAL. — The laws of nature are all directed by

Divine Wisdom for the purpose of preserving life

and increasing happiness. Pain seems in all cases

to precede the mutilation or destruction of those

organs which are essential to vitality, and for the end

of preserving them; but the mere process of dying

seems to be the falling into a deep slumber ; and in

animals, who have no fear of death dependent upon

imagination, it can hardly be accompanied by very

intense suffering. In the human being moral and

intellectual motives constantly operate in enhancing

the fear of death, winch, without these motives in a

reasoning being, would probably become null, and the

h2

100 SALMONIA. [fourth day.

love of life be lost upon every slight occasion of pain
or disgust ; but imagination is creative with respect
to both these passions, which, if they exist in animals,
exist independent of reason, or as instincts. Pain
seems intended by an all-wise Providence to prevent
the dissolution of organs, and cannot follow their
destruction, I know several instances in winch the
process of death has been observed, even to its
termination, by good philosophers ; and the instances
are worth repeating : Dr. Cullen, when dying, is said
to have faintly articulated to one of his intimates, " I
wish I had the power of writing, or speaking, for
then I would describe to you how pleasant a thing it
is to die : " Dr. Black, worn out by age and a
disposition to pulmonary hemorrhage, which obliged
him to live very low, whilst eating his customary
meal of bread and milk, fell asleep, and died in so
tranquil a manner, that he did not even spill the con-
tents of the basin whicli rested on his knee ; and the
late Sir Charles Blagden, whilst at a social meal with his
friends, Mons. and Mad. Berthollet, and Gay-Lussac,
died in his chair so quietly, that not a drop of the
coffee in the cup, which he held in his hand, was spilt.

POIET. — Give us no more such instances, for I do
not think it wise to diminish the love of life, or to
destroy the fear of death.

HAL. — There is no danger of this. These passions

FOURTH DAT.] NATURE OF PAIN '. 101

are founded on immutable laws of our nature, which
philosophy cannot change ; and it would be good if
we could give the same security of duration to the
love of virtue and the fear of vice or shame, which
are connected with immutable interests, and which
ought to occupy far more the consideration of beings
destined for immortality. But to our business.

Now we have fish for dinner, my task is finished :
Physicus and Poietes, try your skill. I have not
fished over the best parts of this pool : you may catch
a brace of fish here before dinner is ready.

PHYS. — It is too late, and I shall go and see that
all is right.

POTET. — I will take one or two casts; but give
me your fly ; I like always to be sure that the tackle
is taking.

HAL. — Try at first the very top of the pool, though
I fear you will get nothing there ; but here is a cast
which I think the Highlander can hardly have
commanded from the other side, and which is
rarely without a good fish. There, he rose ; a large
trout of 10 lbs., or a salmon. Now wait a few
minutes. When a fish has missed the fly, he will
not rise again till after a pause — particularly if he
has been for some time in the fresh water. Now try
him again. He has risen, but he is a dark fish that
has been some time in the water, and he tries to

102 SALMONIA. [fourth day.

drown the fly with a blow of his tail. I fear you
will not hook him except foul, when most likely
he would break you. Try the bottom of the pool,
below where I caught my fish.

POIET. — I have tried all the casts and nothing rises.

HAL. — Come, we will change the fly for that which
I used.

POIET. — Now I have one; he has taken the fly
under water, and I cannot see him.

HAL. — Straighten your line, and we shall soon see
him. He is a sea trout, but not a large one.

POIET. — But he fights like a salmon, and must be
near 5 lbs.

HAL. — Under 3 lbs. ; but these fish are always
strong and active, and sometimes give more sport
than larger fish. Shorten your line, or he will carry
you over the stones and cut the link gut. He is
there already; you have allowed him to carry out
too much line : wind up as quick as you can, and
keep a tight hand upon him. He is now back to a
good place, and in a few minutes more will be spent.
I have the net. There, he is a sea trout of nearly
3 lbs. This will be a good addition to our dinner;
I will crimp him, that you may compare boiled sea
trout with broiled, and with salmon. Now, if you
please, we will cool this fish at the spring, and then
go to our inn.

FOURTH DAY.] CRIMPING. 103

POIET. — If you like. I am endeavouring to find a
reason for the effect of crimping and cold in
preserving the curd of fish. Have you ever thought
on this subject ?

HAL. — Yes; I conclude that the fat of salmon
between the Hakes of the muscles is mixed with
much albumen and gelatine, and is extremely liable
to decompose, and by keeping it cool, the decompo-
sition is retarded ; and by the boiling salt and water,
winch is of a higher temperature than that of common
boiling water, the albumen is coagulated, and the
curdiness preserved. The crimping, by preventing
the irritability of the fibre from being gradually
exhausted, seems to preserve it so hard and crisp,
that it breaks under the teeth ; and a fresh fish not
crimped is generally tough. A friend of mine, an
excellent angler, has made some experiments on the
fat of fish ; and he considers the red colour of trout,
salmon, and charr, as owing to a peculiar coloured oil,
winch may be extracted by alcohol; and this accounts
for the want of it in fish that have fed ill, and after
spawning. In general the depth of the red colour
and the quantity of curd are proportional.

POIET. — Would not the fish be still better, or at
least possess more curd, if caught in a net and
killed immediately ? In the operation of tiring
by the reel there must be considerable muscular

104 SALMONIA. [fourth bAY.

exertion, and I should suppose expenditure of oily
matter.

HAL. — There can be no doubt but the fish would
be in a more perfect state for the table from the nets ;
vet a fish in high season does not lose so much fat
during the short time he is on the hook, as to make
much difference ; and I am not sure, that the action
of crimping after does not give a better sort of
crispness to the fibre. This, however, may be fancy ;
we will discuss the matter again at table. See ! our
companion on the lake, the eagle, is coming down
the river, and has pounced upon a fish in the pool
near the sea.

PHYS — I fear he will interfere with our sport : let
us request Ornither to shoot him. I wish to see him
nearer, and to preserve him as a specimen for the
Zoological Society.

HAL. — O ! no. He will not spoil our sport ; and
I think it would be a pity to deprive this spot of one
of its poetical ornaments. Besides, the pool where he
is now fishing contains scarcely any thing but trout ;
it is too shallow for salmon, who run into the cruives.

POIET. — I am of your opinion, and shall use my
eloquence to prevent Ornither from attempting the
life of so beautiful a bird ; so majestic in its form, so
well suited to the scenery, and so picturesque in all
its habits.

toubth day.] THE DINNER. 105

THE INNKEEPER. — Gentlemen, dinner is ready : —

THE DINNER.

HAL. — Now take your places. What think you
of our fish ?

PHYS. — I never ate better; but I want the
Harvey or Reading sauce.

HAL. — Pray let me entreat you to use no other
sauce than the water in which he was boiled. I
assure you this is the true Epicurean way of eating
fresh salmon : and for the trout, use only a little
vinegar and mustard, — a sauce a la Tartar e, without
the onions.

POIET — Well, nothing can be better ; and I do
not think fresh net-caught fish can be superior
to these.

HAL. — And these snipes are excellent. Either my
journey has given me an appetite, or 1 think they are
the best I ever tasted.

ORN. — They are good, but I have tasted better.

HAL.— Where ?

ORN. — On the continent; where the common
snipe, that rests during its migration from the north
to the south in the marshes of Italy and Carniola,
and the double or solitary snipe, become so fat, as
to resemble that bird, which was formerlv fattened

106 SA LMONIA . [fourth day.

in Lincolnshire, the ruff ; and they have, I think, a
better flavour from being fed on their natural food.

HAL. — At what time have you eaten them?

ORN. — I have eaten them both in spring and
autumn; but the autumnal birds are the best, and
are like the ortolan of Italy.

HAL — Where does the double snipe winter ?

ORN — I believe in Africa and Asia Minor. They
are rarely seen in England, except driven by an
east wind in the spring, or by a strong north wind in
the autumn. Their natural progress is to and from
Finland and Siberia, through the continent of Europe,
to and from the east and south.* In autumn they
pass more east, both because they are aided by west

* From the food, and the remains of food found in the stomach of the
douhle snipe, I think I have ascertained, that it requires a kind of worm
which is not found in winter even in the temperate climes of Europe ;
and that it feeds differently from the snipe. There are certainly none
found after the end of October in either Illyria or Italy ; and I believe
the same may be said of the end of May, as to their summer migration,
or their breeding migration. I have opened the stomachs of at least a
dozen of these birds, and their contents were always of the same kind;
long slender white hexapode larvae, or their skins, of different sizes,
from that of the maggot of the horse-fly to one thrice as long. I
believe all these insects were the larvae of tibulae of different species.
In the stomach of the common snipe, which is stronger and larger, I
have generally found earth-worms, and often seeds, and rice, and
gravel. I conjecture, that, in the temperate climates of Europe, most
of the aquatic larvae on which the solitary snipe feeds are converted
into flies in the late spring and autumn, which probably limits the
period of their migration. In 1827 the solitary snipe passed through

fourth day.] DOUBLE SNIPE. 107

winds, and because the marshes in the east of Europe
are wetter in that season : and in spring they return,

Italy and lllyria between the 15th of March and the 6th of May. I
heard of the first at Ravenna the 17th of March, and I shot two near
Laybach on the 5th of May ; but though I was continually searching
for them a fortnight after, I found no more. This year they returned
from the north early ; and I saw some in the marshes of lllyria on
the 19th of August. In 1828 they were later in their vernal passage,
and likewise in their return. I found them in lllyria through May,
as late as the 17th, on which day I shot three, and they did not re-
appear till the beginning of September. I found one on the 3rd, and
three on the 4th, and twenty were shot on the 7th.

As this bird is rarely seen in England, I shall mention its pecu-
liarities. It is more than one-third larger than the common snipe, and
has a breast spotted with gray feathers. Its beak is shorter than that
of the snipe ; the old ones have feathers almost pure white in their
tails, and as they spread them when rising, they are easily distinguished
by this character from the snipe ; but in the young birds that I have
seen in August, this character was wanting. They are usually very
fat, particularly the young birds ; their weight varies from six to nine
ounces ; but even the fattest ones are rarely above seven ounces and a
half ; and though I have killed more than a hundred, I can speak of
half-a-dozen only that weighed above eight ounces and a half. In
spring they are usually found in pairs, the female being rather larger,
and having a paler breast ; in autumn they are solitary. They prefer
wet meadows to bogs, or large, deep marshes. They usually lie closer
than snipes, and seldom fly far ; their flight is straight, like that of
a jack snipe, and they are easily shot.

Attention to the migrations of birds might, I have no doubt, lead to
important indications respecting the character and changes of the weather
and the seasons. The late migration of the solitary snipe this year
(1828) seems to have been an indication of a wet and backward summer
in the north of Europe. But to form opinions upon facts of this kind
requires much knowledge and caution. The perfection of the larvae of
the tibulae on which this snipe feeds, depends upon a number of

108 SALMONI A. [fourth day.

but the larger proportion through Italy, where they
are carried by the Sirocco, and winch at that time is
extremely wet. Come, let us have another bottle of
claret : a pint per man is not too much after such a
day's fatigue.

HAL. — You have made me president for these four
days, and I forbid it. A half pint of wine for young
men in perfect health is enough, and you will be able
to take vour exercise better, and feel better for this
abstinence. How few people calculate upon the
effects of constantly renewed fever in our luxurious
system of living in England ! The heart is made to
act too powerfully, the blood is thrown upon the
nobler parts, and, with the system of wading adopted
by some sportsmen, whether in shooting or fishing, is
delivered either to the hemorrhoidal veins, or, what is
worse, to the head. I have known several free livers,
who have terminated their lives by apoplexy, or have
been rendered miserable by palsy, in consequence of
the joint effects of cold feet and too stimulating a diet;
that is to say, as much animal food as they could eat,
with a pint or perhaps a bottle of wine per day. Be
guided by me, my friends, and neither drink nor wade.

circumstances — the temperature of the last year, the period when the
eggs were laid, the heat of the water when they were deposited, and
the quantity of rain since. The migration of the solitary snipe is only
one link in a great chain of causes and effects, all connected, and
extending from Africa to Siberia.

FOURTH DAY.] WADING. J 09

I know there are old men who have done both, and
have enjoyed perfect health ; bnt these are devil's decoj/s
to the unwary, and ten suffer for one thai escapes. I
could quote to you an instance from this very county,
in one of the strongest men I have ever known. He
was not intemperate, but he lived luxuriously, and
waded as a salmon fisher for many years in this very
river j but before he was fifty, palsy deprived him of
the use of Ins limbs, and he is still a living example
of the danger of the system winch you are ambitious
of adopting.

ORN. — Well, I give up the wine, but I intend to
wade in Hancock's boots to-morrow.

HAL. — Wear them, but do not wade in them. The
feet become cold in a stream of water constantly passing
over the caoutchouc and leather, notwithstanding the
thick stockings. They are good for keeping the feet
warm, and I think where there is exercise, as in snipe
shooting, they may be used without any bad effects.
But I advise no one to stand still (which an angler
must do sometimes) in the water, even with these
ingenious water-proof inventions. All anglers should
remember old Boerhaave's maxim of health, and act
upon it : " Keep the feet warm, the head cool, and
the body open."" *

PHTS. — I am sorry we did not examine more

* [The above cautions, as regards " drinking," and high living, are

HO SALMONIA. [FOITETH DAT.

minutely the weight and size of the fish we caught,
and compare the anatomy of the salmon and the sea
trout ; but we were in too great a hurry to see them
on the table, and our philosophy yielded to our
hunger.

HAL. — We shall have plenty of opportunities for
this examination ; and we can now walk down to the
fishing-house and see probably half a hundred fish of
different sizes, that have been taken in the cruives,
this evening, and examine them at our leisure.

ALL. — Let us go !

PHYS. — I never saw so many fish of this kind
before ; and I conclude that heap of smaller fish is
composed of trout.

HAL. — Certainly. Let us compare one of the

warranted by the amplest experience ; but, in relation to wading, they
may be considered as severe, and of questionable propriety. In mode-
ration, especially in autumn, when our rivers are comparatively warm,
I am disposed to think that wading may be practised with little if any
risk by those of sound constitution, and with some benefit even, using
shoes or boots so perforated as not to confine the water, and wearing
worsted stockings. Such a foot bath as is thus obtained is an excellent
remedy for corns, superior to any other I am acquainted with ; it also
diminishes fatigue and makes the exercise more agreeable, as well as
ensures better sport. With all deference to the received maxim of
Boerhaave — just, in just degree, — it is well to remember, that the
human feet are unprotected by hair, as if it were the intention of
nature that they should be cool. Water-proof boots, unless when
wading, are, to the majority of anglers, intolerable, being so heating and
wearying. — J. D.]

fourth day.] TROUT AND SALMON COMPARED. Ill

largest trout with a salmon. I have selected two
fresh run fish,* which, from their curved lower jaws,
are, I conclude, both males. The salmon you see
is broader, has a tail rather more forked, and the
teeth in proportion are rather smaller. The trout,
likewise, has larger and more black brown spots on the
body j and the head of the trout is a little larger in
proportion. The salmon has 14 spines in the pectoral
fins, 10 in each of the ventral, 13 in the anal, 21 in
the caudal, and 15 in the dorsal. The salmon mea-
sures 3SJ inches in length, and 21 inches in girth,
and his weight, as you see, is 22ilbs. The trout has
one spine less in the pectoral, and two less in the anal
fin, and measures 30 \ inches in length, and 16 inches
in girth, and Ins weight is 11 lbs. We will now open
them. The stomach of the salmon, you perceive,
contains nothing but a little yellow fluid, and, though
the salmon is twice as large, does not exceed much in
size that of the trout. The stomach of the trout,
unlike that of the salmon, will be found full of food :
we will open it. See, there are half digested sand
eels which come out of it.

PHYS. — But surely the stomachs of salmon must
sometimes, when opened, contain food ?

HAL. — I have opened ten or twelve, and never
found anything in their stomachs but tape-worms,

* See Vignettes, p. 83.

112 SALMONIA. [fourth day.

bred there, and some yellow fluid ; but, I believe this
is generally owing to their being caught at the time of
migration, when they are travelling from the sea
upwards, and do not willingly load themselves with
food. Their digestion appears to be very quick, and
their habits seem to show, that after having taken a
bait in the river they do not usually seek another till
the work of digestion is nearly performed : but when
thev are taken at sea, and in rivers in the winter, food,
I am told, is sometimes found in their stomachs.*
The sea trout is a much more voracious fish, and like
the land trout, is not willingly found with an empty
stomach.

PHYS. — I presume the sea trout is the fish called
bv Linnaeus, in his Fauna, Salmo Eriox ?

HAL. — I know not: but I should rather think
that fish a variety of the common salmon. f

PHYS. — But there are surely other species of
salmon, that live in the sea and come into our rivers :
I have heard of fish called grays, bull trout, scurfs,
worts, peales, and wliitlings.

HAL. — I have never been able to identify more than

* [By an experienced salmon fisher on the Tay, I have heen informed
that he often found food in the stomach of the Salmon, such as minnow,
small trouts, and earth worms ; and that not unfrequently he has
witnessed it feeding greedily, taking a bait ravenously, not repulsed
even by the prick of the hook. — J. D.J

*t" See note, p. 64.

fourth day.] VARIETIES OF SALMON . 113

the salmo solar, or salmon, and salmo trutta, or sea
trout, in the rivers of Britain and Ireland. The
whitlings I believe to be the young of the sea trout.
A sea trout which I saw in Ireland, called a bull trout,
was of the same kind as these vou see here ; but fresh
water trout are sometimes carried in floods to the sea,
and come back larger and altered in colour and form,
and are then mistaken for new species : and as each
river possesses a peculiar variety belonging to it, this,
with differences depending upon food and size, will, I
think, account for the peculiarities of particular fish,
without the necessity of supposing them distinct
species. I remember many years ago, the first time I
ever fished for salmon in spring in the Tweed, I caught
with the fly, one fine morning in March, two fish
nearly of the same length : one was a male of the last
season, that had lost its milt ; the other a female fresh
from the sea. They were so unlike, that they did not
appear of the same species : the spent or kipper
salmon was long and lean, showing an immense head,
spotted all over with black and brown spots, and the
belly almost black; the other bright and silvery,
without spots, and the head small. Even the pectoral
and anal fins had more spines in the newly run fish,
some of the smaller ones having been probably rubbed
off in spawning by the other. I would not for some
time, till assured by an experienced fisherman, believe,

114 SAL MO XI A. [fourth day.

that the spent fish ivas a salmon. And when their flesh
was compared on the table, one was white, flabby, and
bad, and without curd; the other of the brightest
pink, and full of dense curd. Then, though of the
same length, one weighed only 41bs., the other 9^1bs.
When it is recollected, that different salmon and sea
trout spawn at different times in the same river, and
that fish of the same year, being born at different
seasons, from Christmas to Lady-day, — and having
migrated to the sea in spring * — run up the rivers of
all sizes in summer and autumn — the young salmon
from 2 to lOlbs. in weight, the young sea trout from
i to 3 lbs. in weight — it is not difficult to account for
the variety of names given by casual observers to indi-
viduals of these two species. But I must not forget
my promise of sending a fish to the Highlander, with
whose sport we have interfered. There is a good
salmon, which shall be taken to him immediately, and
for winch I shall pay the taxman his usual price of
§d. per pound.

* [Relative to the length of time that the young of the salmon
remain in fresh water, see additional note at the end of this volume.
—J. D.]

Halstadt Lake and Town.— See Page 26 1.

FIFTH DAY.
HALIEUS—POIETES—ORNITHER—PHYSICUS.

Morning.

HAL — Well, is your tackle all ready? It is a
fine fresh and cloudy morning, with a gentle breeze —
a day made for salmon fishing.

[They proceed to the river.']

HAL. — Now, my friends, I give up the two best
pools to you till one o' clock : and I shall amuse

i 2

116 SALMOyiA. [FIFTH DAY

myself above and below — probably with trout fishing'.
As there is a promise of a mixed day, with — what is
rare in this country — a good deal of sunslrine, I will
examine your flies a little, and point out those I think
likely to be useful; or rather, I will show you my
flies, and, as you all have duplicates of them, you can
each select the fly which I point out, and place it in
a part of the book where it may easily be found.
First : when the cloud is on, I advise the use of one
of these three golden twisted flies, with silk bodies,
orange, red and pale blue, with red, orange, and gray
hackle, golden pheasant's hackle for tail, and king-
fisher's blue, and golden pheasant's brown hackle
under the wing ; beginning with the brightest fly, and
changing to the darker one. Should the clouds
disappear, and it become bright, change your flies for
darker ones, of which I will point out three : — a fly
with a brown body and a red cock's hackle, one with
a dun body and black hackle and light wing, and one
with a black body, a hackle of the same colour, and a
brown mallard's wing. All these flies have, you see,
silver twist round their bodies, and all kingfisher's
feather under the wing, and golden pheasant's feather
for the tail. For the size of your flies, I recommend
the medium size, as the water is small to-day; but
trying all sizes, from the butterfly size of a hook of
half an inch in width, to one of a quarter. Now,

fifth day.] SALMON FISHING. 117

Physicus, cast your orange fly into that rapid at the
top of the pool; I saw a large fish run there this
moment. You fish well, were common trout your
object ; but, in salmon fishing, you must alter your
manner of moving the fly. It must not float quietly
clown the water ; you must allow it to sink a little,
and then pull it back by a gentle jerk — not raising it
out of the water, — and then let it sink again, till it
has been shown in motion, a little below the surface,
in every part of your cast. That is right, — he has
risen.

PHTS. — I hold him. He is a noble fish !

HAL. — He is a large grilse, I see by his play.
Hold him ti^ht : he will fic;ht hard.

PHYs. — There ! he springs out of the water !
Once, twice, thrice, four times ! He is a merry one !

HAL. — He runs against the stream, and will soon
be tired, — but do not hurry him. Pull hard now, to
prevent him from running round that stone. He
comes in. I will gaff him for you. I have him !
A goodly fish of this tide. But see, Poietes has a
larger fish at the bottom of the great pool, and is
carried down by him almost to the sea.

POIET. — I cannot hold him ! He has run out all
my line.

HAL. — I see him : he is hooked foul, and I fear
we shall never recover him, for he is going out to sea.

118 SALMONIA. [™fth day.

Give me the rod, — I will try and turn him; and do
you run down to the entrance of the pool, and throw
stones, to make him, if possible, run back. Ay !
that stone has done good service ; he is now running
up into the pool again. Now call the fisherman, and
tell him to bring a long pole, to keep him if possible
from the sea. You have a good assistant, and I will
leave you, for tiring this fish will be at least a work of
two hours. He is not much less than 20 lbs. and is
hooked under the gills, so that you cannot suffocate
him by a straight line. I wish you good fortune ;
but should he turn sulky, you must not allow him to
rest, but make the fisherman move him with the pole
again ; your chance of killing him depends upon his
being kept incessantly in action, so that he may
exhaust himself by exercise. I shall go and catch
you some river trout for your dinner : — but I am glad
to see, before I take my leave of you, that Ornither
has likewise hold of fish, — and, from Iris activity, a
lusty sea trout.

[He goes, and returns in the afternoon.']

HAL. — Well, Poietes, I hope to see your fish of
20 lbs.

POIET. — Alas ! he broke me, — turned sulky, and
went to the bottom ; and when he was roused again,
my line came back without the fly ; so that I conclude

fifth day.j PRODUCE OF MORXING'S SPORT. 119

he had cut my links by rubbing them against some
sharp stone. But I have caught two grilses and a
sea trout since, and lost two others, salmons or
grilses, that fairly got the hooks out of their mouths.

HAL. — And, Ornither, what have you done?
"Well, 1 see, — a salmon, a grilse, and a sea trout.
And Physicus ?

PH YS. — I have lost three fish ; one of wliich broke
me, at the top of the pool, by running amongst the
rocks ; and I have only one small sea trout.

HAL. — Your fortune will come another day. Why,
you have not a single crimped fish for dinner, and it
is now nearly two o' clock ; and you have been
catching for the picklers, for those fish may all go to
the boiling-house. I must again be your purveyor.
Can you point out to me any part of this pool where
you have not fished ?

ALL.— No.

HAL. — Then I have little chance.

PHYS. — 0 yes ! you have a charm for catching fish.

HAL. — Let me know what flies you have tried,
and I may, perhaps, tell you if I have a chance.
AYith my small bright humming-bird, as you call it
I will make an essav.

POIET. — But this fishery is really very limited :
and two pools for four persons a small allowance.

HAL. — If you could have seen this river twenty

120 SALMONIA. [fifth day.

years ago, when the cruives were a mile higher up,
then you might have enjoyed fishing. There were
eight or ten pools of the finest character possible for
angling, where a fisherman of my acquaintance has
hooked thirty fish in a morning. The river was then
perfect, and it might easily be brought again into the
same state : but even as it is now, with this single
good pool and this second tolerable one, I know no
place where I could, in the summer months, be so
secure of sport as here — certainly no where in Great
Britain.

POIET. — I have often heard the Tay and the Tweed
vaunted as salmon rivers.

HAL. — They were good salmon rivers, and are still
very good, as far as the profit of the proprietor is
concerned; but, for angling, they are very much
deteriorated. The net fishing, which is constantly
going on, except on Sundays and in close time,
suffers very few fish to escape; and a Sunday's
flood offers the sole chance of a good day's sport,
and this only in particular parts of these rivers.*
I remember the Tweed and the Tay in a far better
state. The Tweed, in the late Lord Somerville's time,

* [It is stated by Mr. Young, in his valuable little treatise,
" Natural History of the Salmon," that in 1812, when stake nets were
in full operation at the mouth of the Tay, the rents of the whole of
that river above Newburgh had fallen to the sum of 5,1 00Z. ; and

fifth day.] THE T AY AN D T WEED. 121

always contained taking-fish after every flood in the
summer. In the Tay, only ten years ago, at Micklevre,
I was myself one of two anglers who took eight fine
fish, three of them large salmon, in a short morning's
fishing; but now, except in springy fishing, when the
fish are little worth taking', there is no certainty of
sport in these rivers ; and one, two, or three fish
(which last is of rare occurrence), are all that even an
experienced angler can hope to take in a day's skilful
and constant angling.

that seven years after, viz., in 1819, they had risen to 14,627?. — the
stake nets having been removed by law as illegal obstructions.

Considering the great deterioration of the majority of salmon rivers,
and the danger there is of their utter ruin if a reform in the manner
of fishing them be not effected, surely the subject is deserving of,
and urgently requires, the immediate attention of the legislature ; and
now that the habits of the salmon, and its peculiarities, are better
known, were competent naturalists consulted in preparing a bill, there
could hardly be any difficulty in forming an effective one for the
regulation of the salmon fisheries.

A new bill is reported to be in preparation for the Scotch rivers,
with this intent, to make the close time earlier, except for rod fishing,
and protracting the time of the latter, so as to allow of more fish
running up to breed, and promoting the early, the most safe and
productive breeding, not endangered by winter floods and ice, and
giving the proprietors of the higher streams, and the streams where the
fish breed, an interest in preserving them.

If this bill be approved, and succeed, it is to be hoped that a
measure of a similar kind will be adopted for the English rivers ; for
many of which it is much more needed than for the Scotch. See
additional note at the end of the volume, relative to the facts recently
ascertained respecting the salmon. — J. D.]

122 SALMOXIA. [fifth day.

POIET- — You have fished in most of the salmon
rivers of the north of Europe — give us some idea of
the kind of sport they afford.

HAL. — I have fished in some, but perhaps not in
the best ; for this it is necessary to go into barbarous
countries — Lapland, or the extreme north of Norway;
and I have generally loved too much the comforts of
life to make any greater sacrifices than such as are
made in our present expedition. I have heard the
river at Drontheim boasted of as an excellent salmon
river, and I know two worthy anglers who have tried
it ; but I do not think they took more fish in a day
than I have sometimes taken in Scotland and Ireland.
All the Norwegian rivers that I tried, and they were
in the south of Norway, contained salmon. I fished
in the Glommen, one of the largest rivers in Europe ;
in the Mandals, which appeared to me the best fitted
for taking salmon; the Arendal and the Torrisdale.
But, though I saw salmon rise in all these rivers,
1 never took a fish larger than a sea trout ; of these
I always caught many — and even in the fiords, or
small inland salt-water bays ; but I think never any
one more than a pound in weight. It is true I was
in Norway in the beginning of July, in exceedingly
bright weather, and when there was no night ; for
even at twelve o' clock the sky was so bright, that
I read the smallest print in the columns of a

fifth DAT.j RIVERS OF NORWA Y 3$ SWEDEN. 123

newspaper. I was in Sweden later, in August;
I fished in the magnificent Gotha, below that grand
fall Trolhetta, winch to see is worth a voyage from
England, but I never raised there any fish worth
taking ; yet a gentleman from Gothenburg told me
he had formerly taken large trout there. I caught,
in this noble stream, a little trout about as long as
my hand ; and the only fish I got to eat at Trolhetta
was bream. The Ealkenstein, a darker water, very
like a second-rate Scotch river — say the Don —
abounds in salmon ; and there I had a very good
day's fishing. I took six fish, which gave me great
sport ; they were grilses, under 61bs. ; but I lost a
salmon, which I think was above lOlbs. Tins river,
I conceive, must be generally excellent; it is not
covered with saw-mills, like most of the Norwegian
rivers ; its colour is good, and it is not so clear as
the rivers of the south of Norway.

PHTS. — Do you think the saw-mills hurt the
fisliing ?

HAL. — I do not doubt it. The immense quantity
of sawdust which floats in the water, and which forms
almost lulls along the banks, must be poisonous to
the fish, by sometimes choking their gills, and
interfering with their respiration. I have never
fished for salmon in Germany. The Elbe and the
Weser, when I have seen them, were too foul for

124 SALMON I A. [fifth day

tiy-fisliing. And in the Rhine, in Switzerland, and
its tributary streams, I have never seen a salmon rise.
I once hooked a fish, under the fall at Schaffhausen,
which, in my youthful ardour, I thought was a
salmon, but it turned out to be an immense chub
— avillanous and provoking substitute. Our islands,
as far as I know, may claim the superiority over
all other lands for tins species of amusement. In
England it is, however, a little difficult to get a
day's salmon fishing. The best river I know of is
the Derwent, that flows from the beautiful lake
of Keswick; I caught once, in October, a very
large salmon there, and raised another ; but it is only
late in the autumn that there is any chance of sport,
though I have heard the spring salmon fishing
boasted of. At Whitwell, in the Hodder, I have
heard of salmon and sea trout being taken — but I
have never fished in that river. The late Lord
Bolingbroke caught many salmon at Christchurch ;
but a fish a week is as much as can be expected
in that beautiful, but scantily stocked, river. Small
salmon and sea trout, or sewens, as they are called in
the country, may be caught after the autumnal floods,
I believe, in most of the considerable Welsh, Devon-
shire, and Cornish streams; but I have fished in
many of them without success. The Conway I may
except ; this river, in the end of October, will some-

nirit day.J ENGLISH RIVERS. 125

times, after a great flood, furnish a good day's sport ;
and, if the net fishers could be set aside, several days'
sport. I have known two salmon, one above 201bs.,
taken there in a day ; and I have taken myself fine
sea trout, or sewens, which, in an autumnal flood in
Wales, are found in most of the streams near the sea.

POIET. — I have heard a Northumberland man
boast of the rivers of that county, as affording good
salmon fishing.

HAL. — I have no doubt that salmon are somethnes
caught in the Tyne, the Coquet, and the Till ; but, in
the present state of these rivers, this is a rare
occurrence. I was once, for a week, on a good run
of the North Tyne ; I fished sometimes, but I never
saw a salmon rise ; and the only place in tins river,
where, from my own knowledge, I can assert salmon
have been caught with the artificial fly, was at
Mounsey, very high up the river. There, in 1820,
two grilses were caught, in the end of August. I
have recorded this as a sort of historical occurrence ;
and I dare say most of the counties of England, in
which there are salmon rivers, would, upon a minute
inquiry, furnish such instances, if they contained salmon
fishers. Yorkshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall, with the
sea on both sides, ought to furnish a greater number.

PUTS. — Give us some little account of the Scotch
and Irish rivers.

126 SALMOXIA. [fifth day.

HAL. — I fear I shall tire you by attempting any
details on this subject, for they are so many, that I
ought to take a map in my hands ; but I will say a
few words on those in which I have had good sport.
First, the Tweed: — of this, as you will understand
from what I mentioned before, I fear I must now say
"fuit" Yet still, for spring salmon fishing, it must
be a good river. The last great sport I had in that
river was in 1817, in the beginning of April. I
caught, in two or three hours, at Merton, four or five
large salmon, and as many in the evening at Kelso —
and one of them weighed 251bs. But this kind of
fishing cannot be compared to the summer fishing :
the fish play with much less energy, and in general are
in bad season ; and the fly used for fishing is almost
like a bird — four or five times larger than the summer
fly, and the coarsest tackle may be employed. I have
heard, that Lord Home has sometimes taken thirty
fish in a day, in spring fishing. About, and above
Melrose, I have taken, in a morning in July, two or
three grilses; and in September the same number.
I have known eighteen taken earlier, by an excellent
salmon fisher, at Merton ; and the late Lord
Somerville often took six or seven fish in a clay's
angling. The same "fuit " I must apply to most of
the Scotch rivers. Of the Tay I have already spoken.
In the Dee I have never caught salmon, though I

fifth day.] SCOTCH RIVERS. 127

have fished in two parts of it, but it was in bad
seasons. In the Don I have seen salmon rise, and
hooked one, but never killed a fish. In the Spey I
enjoyed one of the best day's sport (perhaps the very
best) I ever had in my life : it was in the beginning
of September, in close time ; the water was low, and
as net fishing had been given over for some days, the
lower pools were full of fish. By a privilege, which I
owed to the late Duke of Gordon, I fished at this
forbidden time, and hooked twelve or thirteen fish in
one day. One was above 301bs., but it broke me by
the derangement of my reel. I landed seven or eight,
— one above 201bs., winch gave me great play in the
rapids above the bridge. I returned to the same spot
in 1813, the year after: the river was in excellent
order, and it was the same time of the year, but just
after a flood, — I caught nothing ; the fish had all run
up the river ; the pools, where I had such sport the
year before, were empty. I have fished there since,
with a like result, — but tins was before the 12th of
August, the close day. In the Sutherland and
Caithness rivers, many salmon, I have no doubt, may
still be caught. The Brora, Sutherland, in 1813 and
1814, was an admirable river: I have often rode
from the mansion of the princely and hospitable lord
and lady of that county, after breakfast, and returned
at two or three o'clock, having taken from three to

128 SALMONIA. [fifth day.

eight salmon — several times eight. There were five
pools below the wears of the Brora, which always
contained fish; and at the top of one pool, which
from its size was almost inexhaustible, I have taken
three or four salmon the same day. Another pool,
nearer the sea, was almost equal to it ; and at that
time I should have placed the Brora above the Ewe
for certainty of sport. When I fished there last, in
1817, the case was altered, and I caught only two or
three fish in the very places where I had six years
before been so successful. In the Helmsdale there
are some good pools, and I have caught fine fish there
when the river has been high. I have fished in the
river at Thurso, but without success — it was always
foul when I made my attempt. I have heard of a
good salmon river in Lord Reay's country, the
Laxford ; its name, of Norwegian origin, would seem
to be characteristic.'* Along the coast of Scotland,
most of the streams, if taken at the right time, afford
sport. In tins country the Beauly is a good river,
and I have caught salmon in that very beautiful spot
below the falls of Kilmornack. The Ness, at Inver-
ness, and the Awe, and Lochy, I have fished in, but
without success. I may say the same of the Ayr, and
of the rivers which empty themselves into the Solway
Frith. A little preserved stream, at Ardgowan, was

* Lax is the Teutonic word for salmon.

fifth day.] IRISH RIVERS. 129

formerly excellent, after a flood in September, for sea
trout, and later for salmon : I have had good sport
there, and some of my friends have had better.

In Ireland there are some excellent rivers; and,
what you will hardly believe possible, comparing the
characters of the two nations, some of them are taken
better caxe of than the Scotch rivers ; which arises a
good deal from the influence of the Catholic priests,
when they are concerned in the interests of the pro-
prietors, on the Catholic peasantry. I should place
the Erne, at Ballyshannon, as now the first river, for
salmon fishing from the banks with a rod, in the
British dominions ; and the excellent proprietor of it,
Dr. Sheil, is liberal and courteous to all gentlemen
fly-fishers. The Moy, at Ballina, is likewise an
admirable salmon river; and sport, I believe, may
almost always be secured there in every state of the
waters ; but the best fishing can only be commanded
by the use of a boat. I have taken in the Erne two
or three large salmon in the morning ; and in the
Moy, three or four grilses, or, as they are called in
Ireland, grauls ; and this was in a very bad season for
salmon fishing. The Bann, near Coleraine, abounds
in salmon : but, in this river, except in close time,
when it is unlawful to fish there, there are few good
casts. In the Bush, a small river about seven miles
to the east of the Bann, there is admirable salmon

K

130 SALMONIA. \ytstb. day

fishing always after great floods, but in fine and dry
weather it is of little use to try. I have hooked
twenty fish in a day, after the first August floods, in
this river; and, should sport fail, the celebrated
Giant's Causeway is within a mile of its mouth, and
furnishes to the lovers of natural beauty, or of geo-
logical research, almost inexhaustible sources of
interest. The Blackwater, at Lismore, is a very good
salmon river : and the Shannon, above Limerick and
at Castle Connel, whenever the water is tolerably high,
offers many good casts to the fly-fisher ; but they can
only be commanded by boats. But there is no
considerable river along the northern or western coast^
— with the exception of the Avoca, winch has been
spoiled by the copper mines, — that does not afford
salmon, and, if taken at the proper time, offer sport to
the salmon fisher. — But it is time for us to return
to our inn.

THE INK

POIET. — Should it be a fine day to-morrow, I
think we shall have good sport ; the high tide will
bring up fish, and the rain and wind of yesterday
will have enlarged the river.

HAL. — To-morrow we must not fish; it is the
Lord's day, and a day of rest. It ought likewise to

fifth day.] SABBATH DAY. 131

be a day of worship and thanksgiving to the Great
Cause of all the benefits and blessings we enjoy in
tins life, for winch we can never sufficiently express
our gratitude.

POIET. — I cannot see what harm there can be in
pursuing an amusement on a Sunday, winch you
yourself have called innocent, and which is apostolic :
nor do I know a more appropriate way of returning
thanks to the Almighty Cause of all being, than in
examining and wondering at his works in that great
temple of nature, whose canopy is the sky, and
where all the beings and elements around us are as
it were proclaiming the power and wisdom of Deity.

HAL. — I cannot see how the exercise of fishing
can add to your devotional feelings; but, indepen-
dent of this, you employ a servant to carry your net
and gaff, and he, at least, has a right to rest on this
one day. But even if you could perfectly satisfy
yourself as to the abstracted correctness of the
practice, the habits of the country in winch we now
are, form an insurmountable obstacle to the pursuit
of the amusement : by indulging in it, you would
excite the indignation of the Highland peasants, and
might perhaps expiate the offence by a compulsory
ablution in the river.

POIET. — I give up the point : I make it a rule

never to shock the prejudices of any person, even

k2

132 SALMON I A. [fifth day.

when they appear to me ridiculous ; and I shall still
less do so in a case where your authority is against
me ; and I have no taste for undergoing persecution,
when the cause is a better one. I now remember,
that I have often heard of the extreme severity with
which the sabbath discipline is kept in Scotland;
Can you give us the reason of this ?

HAL. — I am not sufficiently read in the Church
History of Scotland to give the cause historically;
but I think it can hardly be doubted, that it is
connected with the intense feelings of the early
Covenanters, and their hatred with respect to all the
forms and institutes of the Church of Rome, the ritual
of which makes the Sunday more a day of innocent
recreation than severe discipline.

PHYS. — Yet the disciples of Calvin, at Geneva,
who, I suppose, must have hated the pope as much
as their brethren of Scotland, do not so rigidly
observe the Sunday; and I remember having been
invited by a very religious and respectable Genevese
to a shooting party on that day.

HAL. — I think climate and the imitative nature of
man modify this cause abroad. Geneva is a little
state, in a brighter climate than Scotland, almost
surrounded by Catholics, and the habits of the
French and Savoyards must influence the people.
The Scotch, with more severity and simplicity of

fifth day.] SABBATH DAY. 133

manners, have no such examples of bad neighbours,
for the people of the north of England keep the
Sunday much in the same way.

POIET. — Nay, Halieus, call them not bad neigh-
bours ; recollect my creed, and respect at least, what,
if error, was the error of the western Christian world
for 1000 years. The rigid observance of the seventh
day appears to me rather a part of the Mosaic, than
of the Christian dispensation. The Protestants of
this country consider the Catholics bigots, because
they enjoin to themselves and perform certain
penances for their sins ; and surely the Catholics may
see a little still more resembling that spirit, in the
interference of the Scotch in innocent amusements,
on a day celebrated as a festive day, that on which
our Saviour rose to immortal life, and secured the
everlasting hopes of the Christian. I see no reason
why this day should not be celebrated with singing,
dancing, and triumphal processions, and all innocent
signs of gladness and joy. I see no reason why it
should be given up to severe and solitary prayers, or
to solemn and dull walks ; or why, as in Scotland,
whistling even should be considered as a crime on
Sunday, and humming a tune, however sacred, out of
doors, as a reason for violent anger and persecution.

ORN. — I agree with Poietes, in his views of the
subject. I have suffered from the peculiar habits of

134 SALMON I A. [fifth da?

the Scotch Church, and therefore may complain.
Once in the north of Ireland, when a very young
man, I ventured after the time of divine service to
put together my rod, as I had been used to do in
the Catholic districts of Ireland, and fish for sea trout
in the river at Rathmelton, in pure innocence of heart,
unconscious of wrong ; when I found a crowd collect
round me — at first I thought from mere curiosity,
but I soon discovered I was mistaken; anger was
their motive, and vengeance their object. A man
soon came up, exceedingly drunk, and began to
abuse me by various indecent terms, — such as a
Sabbath breaking papist, &c. It was in vain I
assured him I was no papist, and no intentional
Sabbath breaker ; he seized my rod and carried it off
with imprecations ; and it was only with great
difficulty, that I recovered my property. Another
time I was walking on Arthur's Seat, with some of the
most distinguished professors of Edinburgh attached
to the geological opinions of the late Dr. Hutton; a
discussion took place upon the phenomena presented
by the rocks under our feet, and, to exemplify a
principle, Professor Playfair broke some stones, in
winch I assisted the venerable and amiable philoso-
pher. We had hardly examined the fragments, when
a man from a crowd, who had been assisting at a
field preaching, came up to us and warned us off,

FIFTH DAY.] INSTINCTS. 135

saying, u Ye think ye are only stane breakers, but I
ken ye are Sabbath breakers, and ye deserve to be
staned with the stanes ye are breaking ! "

HAL.— Zeal of every kind is sometimes troublesome,
yet I generally suspect the persons, who are very
tolerant, of scepticism. Those who firmly believe,
that a particular plan of conduct is essential to the
eternal welfare of man, may be pardoned if they show
even anger, when this conduct is not pursued. The
severe observance of the Sabbath is connected with
the vital creed of these rigid presbyterians ; it is not
therefore extraordinary, that they should enforce it
even with a perseverance that goes beyond the bounds
of good manners and courtesy. They may quote the
example of our Saviour, who expelled the traders from
the Temple even by violence.

PHYS.—l envy no quality of the mind or intellect
in others, be it genius, power, wit, or fancy : but if
I could choose what would be most delightful, and I
believe most useful to me, I should prefer a firm
religious belief to every other blessing : for it makes
life a discipline of goodness ; creates new hopes,
when all earthly hopes vanish ; and throws over the
decay, the destruction of existence, the most gorgeous
of all lights ; awakens life even in death, and from
corruption and decay calls up beauty and divinity ;
makes an instrument of torture and of shame the

136 SALMONIA. [fifth day

ladder of ascent to paradise ; and, far above all com-
binations of earthly hopes, calls np the most delightful
visions of palms and amaranths, the gardens of the
blest, the security of everlasting joys, where the
sensualist and the sceptic view only gloom, decay,
annihilation, and despair !

POIET.— You transiently referred, Halieus, yester-
day, to that instinct of salmons which induces them
to run up rivers from the sea on the approach of rain.
You have had so many opportunities of attending to
the instincts of the inferior animals, that I should be
very glad to hear your opinion on that very curious
subject — the nature and development of instincts in
general.

HAL.— You must remember, that, in the conversa-
tion to which you allude, I avoided even to pretend
to define the nature of instinct ; but I shall willingly
discuss the subject ; and I expect from yourself,
Ornither, and Physicus, more light thrown upon it
than I can hope to bestow.

ORN.—l believe we have each a peculiar view on
this matter. In discussion we may enlighten and
correct each other. For myself, I consider instincts
merely as results of organisation, a part of the
machinery of organised forms. Man is so constituted,
that his muscles acquire their power by habit ; their
motions are at first automatic, and become voluntary

FIFTH DAY. | INSTINCTS. 13*

by associations, so that a child must learn to walk as
he learns to swim or write ; * but in the colt or chicken,
the limbs are formed with the powers of motion;
and these animals walk as soon as they have quitted
the womb or the egg.

PEYS. — I believe it possible that they may have
acquired these powers of motion in the embryo state ;
and I think I have observed, that birds learn to fly,
and acquire the use of their wings, by continued
efforts, in the same manner as a child does that of
his limbs.

ORN. — I cannot agree with you; the legs of the
foetus are folded up in the womb of the mare ; and
neither the colt nor the chicken can ever have per-
formed, in the embryo state, any motions of their legs
similar to those which they have perfectly at their
command when born. Young birds cannot fly as
soon as they are hatched, because they have no wing
feathers ; but as soon as these are developed, and
even before they are perfectly strong, they use their
wings, fly, and quit their nests without any education
from their parents. Compare a young quail, when a

* [But it cries and sucks, and each with as perfect effect, at the
instant of birth, as days or weeks after, — its organs at the time of
Vtirth, being sufficiently developed for these its needs, — one to excite
the mother's regards, the other to support life. — Both acts may perhaps
be considered instinctive, being complete without teaching or thought ;
and so in accordance with the reasoning in the text. — J.D.]

133 SALMONIA. [fifth day.

few days old, with a child of as many months : he
flies, runs, seeks his food, avoids danger, and obeys
the call of his mother; whilst a child is perfectly
helpless, and can perform few voluntary motions;
has barely learnt to grasp, and can neither stand nor
walk. But to see the most perfect instance of instinct,
as contrasted with acquired knowledge, look at
common domestic poultry : as soon as they are
excluded from the egg, they run round their mother,
nestle in her feathers, and obey her call, without educa-
tion : she leads them to some spot where there is soft
earth or dung, and instantly begins scratching with
her feet ; the chickens watch her motions with the
utmost attention ; if an earth-worm or larva is turned
up, they instantly seize and devour it, but they avoid
eating sticks, grass, or straws : and though the hen
shows them the example of picking up grain, they do
not imitate her in this respect, but for some days
prefer ants, or the larvae of ants, to a barley-corn.
They may have heard the cluck of their mother in the
q^, and having felt the warmth of her feathers agree-
able, so you may consider, Physicus, their collecting
under her wings, and obeying her call, as an acquired
habit. But I will mention another circumstance,
where habit or education is entirely out of the
question. Does the mother see the shadow of a kite
on the ground, or hear his scream in the air, she

KfFTH DAT.] INSTINCTS. 139

instantly utters a shrill suppressed cry ; the chickens,
though born that day, and searching round her with
glee and animation for the food which her feet were
providing for them, instantly appear as if thunder-
struck; those close to her crouch down and hide
themselves in the straw; those further off, without
moving from the place, remain prostrate ; the hen
looks upward with a watchful eye; nor do they
resume their feeding till they have been called again
bv the cluck of their mother, and warned that the
danger is over.

PHYS. — I certainly cannot explain the acquaintance
of the little animals with the note of alarm of the
mother, except upon the principle you have adopted ;
and I fairly own, that their selection of animal food
appears likewise instinctive ; yet it is possible, that
tins selection may depend upon some analogy between
the smell of these animal matters and the yolk, winch
was for a long time their food in the egg.

ORN. — I find I must multiply examples. Examine
young ducks which have been hatched under a hen :
they no sooner quit the shell, than they fly to their
natural element, the water, in spite of the great
anxiety and terror of their foster-parent, who in vain
repeats that sound to which her natural children are
so obedient. Being in the water, they seize insects of
every kind, winch they can only know from their

1^0 SALMONIA. [FIFTH DAY.

instincts to be good for food; and when they are
hatched in the May-fly season, they pursne these
large ephemerae with the greatest avidity, and make
them their favourite food. It is impossible, I think,
to explain these facts, except by supposing, that they
depend upon feelings or desires in the animals
developed with their organs, which are not acquired,
and which are absolutely instinctive. I will mention
another instance. A friend of mine was travelling; in
the interior of Ceylon ; on the shore of a lake he saw
some fragments of shells of the eggs of the alligator,
and heard a subterraneous sound : his curiosity was
excited, and he was induced to search beneath the
surface of the sand: besides two or three young
animals lately come from the shell, he found several
eggs which were still entire : he broke the shell of one
of them, when a young alligator came forth, apparently
perfect in all its functions and motions ; and when my
friend touched it with a stick, it assumed a threatening
aspect, and bit the stick with violence; and it
made towards the water, which, — though born by the
influence of the sunbeams on the burning sand, —
it seemed to know was its natural and hereditary
domain. Here is an animal which, deserted by its
parents, and entirely submitted to the mercy of nature
and the elements, must die if it had to acquire its
knowledge ; but all its powers are given, all its wants

FIFTH DAY.] [NSTINCTS. 141

supplied ; arid even its means of offence and defence
implanted by strong and perfect instincts. I will
mention one fact more. Swallows, quails, and many
other birds migrate in large flocks when their usual
food becomes scarce ; and in these cases it may be
said, — I anticipate a remark of Physicus, — that the
phenomenon depends upon imitation, and that the
young birds follow the old ones, who have before
made the same flight. But I will select the young
cuckoo for an unexceptionable example of the
instinctive nature of this quality. He is produced
from an egg deposited by his mother in the nest of
another bird, generally the hedge-sparrow. He
destroys all the other young ones hatched in the same
nest, and is supplied with food by his foster-parent,
after he has deprived her of all her natural offspring.
Quite solitary, he is no sooner able to fly than he
quits the country of his birth, and finds his way, with
no other guide than his instinct, to a land where his
parents had gone many weeks before him ; and he is
not pressed to make this migration by want of food,
for the insects and grains on which he feeds are still
abundant. The whole history of the origin, education,
and migration of this singular animal, is a history of
a succession of instincts, the more remarkable,
because in many respects contrary to the usual order
of nature.

142 SALMON] A. [fifth day.

PHYS. — I have been accustomed to refer many of
the supposed instincts of animals, such as migrations,
building nests, and selection of food, to imitation;
but, I confess, I cannot explain the last fact you have
brought forward on this principle, Pray, Ornither,
let me state your view, as I understand it, that we
may not differ as to the meaning of language. I
conclude you adopt Hartley's view of association, that
the motions of the muscles in man are first automatic,
and become voluntary by association ; and that reason
is the application of voluntary motions for a particular
end. Tor instance : a child is not afraid of fire, but,
bringing its hand near the fire, it is burnt, and the
convulsions of the muscles produced by the pain end
in removing the hand from the source of pain. These
motions by association are made voluntary ; and after
tins experiment he avoids the fire by reason, and takes
care always to perform those motions which remove
his limbs from this destructive agent. But in
contrasting instinct with this slow process, you would
say, most animals, without having felt the effects of
fire, have an innate dread of it ; and in the same way,
without having been taught, or experienced pleasure
or pain from the object, young ducks seek the water,
young chickens avoid it : their organs have a fitness
or unfitness for certain functions, and they use them
for these functions without education. In short, the

FIFTH DAY.] INSTINCTS. 143

instinctive application of the organ is independent of
experience, and forms part of a train of pure sensations.
ORN. — I have no objection to the statement you
make of my view of the subject; but I certainly
should give to it a little more refinement and gene-
rality. In all the results of reason, ideas are con-
cerned, but never in those of instinct. Without
memory there can be no reason; but in instinct
nothing can be traced but pure sensation.

POIET. — Though in the animal world no ideas
seem connected with instincts, yet they are all
intended for specific and intelligent ends. Thus the
swallow travels to a country where flies are found ; the
salmon migrates from the sea to the sources of fresh
rivers, where its eggs may receive a supply of aerated
water, and without this migration the race would be
extinct : and in this way all the instincts of animals
may be referred to intelligence, which, though not
belonging to the animal, must be attributed to the
Divine Mind. Is it not then reasonable to refer
instinct to the immediate impulse of the Author of
Nature upon his creatures ? His omnipresence and
omnipoteuce cannot be doubted, and to the Infinite
Mind the past, the present, and the future are alike ;
and creative and conservative power must equally
belong to it.

HAL, — That instincts depend upon impulses imme-

144 SALMOXIA. [fifth day.

diatelj derived from the Deity is an opinion which,
though it perhaps cannot be confuted, yet does not
please me so much as to believe them dependent upon
the formation of organs, and the result of the general
laws winch govern the system of the universe ; and
it is in favour of this opinion that they are susceptible
of modifications. Thus, in domesticated animals
they are always changed ; the turkey and the duck
lose their habits of constructing nests, and the goose
does not migrate. In supposing them the result
of organisation and hereditary, they might be
expected to be changed by circumstances, as
they are actually found to be. Without referring
the instincts of animals to the immediate impulse of
the Deity, they appear to me to offer the most
irresistible and convincing argument that can be
brought forward against atheism. Thev demonstrate
combinations, the result of the most refined intel-
ligence, which can only be considered as infinite.
Take any one of the lowest class of animals, insects for
instance, not only is their organisation fitted to all
their wants, but their association in society is provided
for, and the laws of a perfect social community, as it
were, are adopted by beings that we are sure cannot
reason. In the hive bee, for instance, the instinct of
the workers leads them to adopt and obey a queen ;
and if she is taken away from them, or dies, they have

FIFTH DAY. | INSTINCTS. 145

the power of raising another from offspring in the cells
by an almost miraculous process : they work under
her government for a common object, allow males
only to exist for a specific purpose and limited time ;
and, under the government of females who preserve
the society, they send forth swarms, which readily
place themselves under the protection of man. In
the geometrical construction of their cells, the secretion
of wax from their bodies, the collecting their food, and
the care of the brood, there is a series of results which
it requires a strong reason to follow, and which are
the consequences of invariable instincts. Bees, since
they have been noticed by naturalists, have the same
habits, and as it is probable that there have been
many thousand of generations since the creation, it is
evident that the instincts of the first bees have been
hereditary and invariable in their offspring; and it
cannot be doubted, that they do now, as they did four
thousand years ago, make some cells in combs larger
than others for the purpose of containing the eggs
and future grubs of drones, that are to be produced by
a grub, which they are educating for a queen bee ;
and that these cells are connected with the common
cells by a series, in which the most exact geometrical
laws of transition are observed. An eminent
philosopher has deduced an argument in favour of
the existence of Deity from the analogy of the universe

FIFTH DAY

U6 SALMONIA.

to a piece of mechanism, which could only be the work
of an intelligent mind ; but there is this difference :
in all the productions of nature, the principle, not only
of perfection, but likewise of conservation, is found,
marking a species of intelligence and power which can
be compared to nothing human. The first created
swarm of bees contained beings provided with all the
instincts necessary for the perpetual continuance of
the species ; and some of these instincts can scarcely
be understood by man, requiring the most profound
geometrical knowledge, even to calculate their results ;
and other instincts involve what in human society
would be the most singular state of policy, combining
contrasted, moral causes and contradictory interests.
It is impossible not to be lost in awe at the contempla-
tion of this chain of facts ; the human mind cannot
fail to acknowledge in them the strongest proofs of
their being produced by infinite wisdom and unbounded
power ; and the devout philosopher can scarcely avoid
considering with respect a little insect, endowed with
faculties producing combinations, which, human reason
vainly attempts to imitate, and. can scarcely understand.
PHYS. — I agree with you, that if instinct be supposed
the result of organisation, and that the first animal
types were so created as to transmit their instincts
invariably generation after generation, it does offer a
most triumphant and incontrovertible argument for

FIFTH DAT.] 1XSTIXCTS. 147

the existence of an ail-powerful intelligent Cause.
Even in the instance which led to this conversation, —
the instinct which carries salmon from the sea to the
sources of rivers, — it is only lately philosophers have
discovered, that the impregnated eggs cannot produce
young fishes independent of the iufluence of air ; and
thus an animal goes many hundred miles under the
direction of an instinct, the use of winch human reason .
has at length developed, and man is supplied with an
abundant food by the result of a combination, in
consequence of which a species is preserved.

POIET. — I do not understand, Halieus, your
objections to the view I have adopted, which is
sanctioned by the authority of a good ethic philosopher,
Addison. Allowing the omnipresence and constant
power of Deity, I do not see how you can avoid
admitting Iris actual interference in all the phenomena
of living nature.

HAL. — As I said before, I cannot confute your view ;

but, upon tins principle, gravitation and the motion of

the planets round the sun, and all the other physical

phenomena of the universe, would be owing to the

immediate action of the Divinity. I prefer the view,

which refers them to motion and properties, the results

of general laws impressed on matter by Omnipotence.

This view is, I think, simpler ; but it is difficult to

form any distinct opinion on so high and incomprehen-

L 2

148 SALM0N1A. [fifth day.

sible a subject ; on which, perhaps, after all, it is wiser
to confess our entire ignorance, and to bow down in
humble adoration to the one incomprehensible Cause
of all being.

POIET. — I agree with you in your last sentence ; but
I still adhere to my own view ; and I hope you will not
object to a favourite opinion of mine, that instincts
are to animals what revelation is to man, intended to
supply wants in their physical constitution, which in
man are provided for by reason ; and that revelation
is to him as an instinct, teaching him what reason
cannot — his religious duties, the undying nature of
his intellectual part, and the relations of Iris conduct
to eternal happiness and misery.

HAL — "Davus sum, non (Edipus." I will not
attempt to discuss this view of yours, Poietes : but I
think I may say, that all the instincts of animals seem
to be connected with pleasure or utility ; and in man
the feeling of love and the gratifying the appetites
which approach nearest to instincts, are likewise highly
delightful; and perhaps there is no more pleasurable
state of the human mind than when, with intense
belief, it looks forward to another world and to a
better state of existence, or is absorbed in the
adoration of the supreme and eternal Intelligence.

■I T^f '-—-
The Teme. Grounds of Dowiiton, from a sketch hy Mrs Stackhouse Acton.— See Page \','o.

SIXTH DAY.
HA LIE US— P OIETES— ORXITHER— PH YSICUS.

Morning.

HAL. — "Well met, ray friends ; it is a fine warm
morning, there is a fresh breeze, the river is in
excellent order for fishing ; and I trust our good
behaviour yesterday will ensure us sport to-day.
There must be a great many fresh run fish in the
pool ; and after twenty-four hours' rest, some of those
that were indisposed to take on Saturday evening,
may have acquired appetite. Prepare your tackle,

150 SALMONIA. [sixth day.

and begin; but whilst you are preparing, I will
mention a circumstance which every accomplished
fly-fisher ought to know. You changed your flies on
Saturday with the change of weather, putting the
dark flies on for the bright gleams of the sun, and
the gaudy flies when the dark clouds appeared.
Now, I will tell you of another principle, which it is
as necessary to know as the change of flies for change
of weather — I allude to the different kinds of flv to
be used in particular pools, and even for particular
parts of pools. You have fished in this deep pool ;
and if you were to change it for a shallower one, such
as that above, it would be proper to use smaller flies
of the same colour ; and in a pool still deeper,
larger flies : likewise in the rough rapid at the top, a
larger fly may be used than below at the tail of the
water : and in the Tweed or Tay, I have often changed
my fly thrice in the same pool, and sometimes with
success — using tliree different flies for the top, middle,
and bottom. I remember that when I first saw
Lord Somerville adopt tins fashion, I thought there
was fancy in it ; but experience soon proved to me
how accomplished a salmon fisher was my excellent
and lamented friend; and I adopted the lesson he
taught me, and with good results, in all bright
waters.

POIET. — I will try the correctness of your principle.

SIXTH DAT.] FLIES. 151

Look at the fly now on my line ; where would you
recommend me to cast it ?

HAL. — It is a large gaudy fly, and is fit for no part
of this pool, except the extremely rough head of the
torrent ; there, I dare say, it will take in this state of
the waters.

POIET. — Good, I hooked a large fish, but alas ! he
is off; yet I thought he was fairly caught.

HAL. — The hook, I think, turned round at the
moment you struck, and carried off some scales from
the outside of his mouth.

POIET. — You are right ; see, the scales are on the
hook. I cannot raise another fish; I have tried
almost all over the pool. I thought I saw a fish rise
at the tail of the rapid.

HAL. — You did ; he refused the fly. Now put on
a fly one third of the size and of the same colour, and
I think you will hook that fish.

POIET. — I have done so ; and he is fast — and a
fine fish ; I think a salmon.

HAL. — It is a salmon; and one above 10 lbs.
Play him with care, and do not let him run into the
rough part of the stream, where the large stones
are.

POIET. — It is, I think, the most active fish I have
yet played with. See how high he leaps ! He is
making for the sea.

152 SALMONIA. [sixth day.

HAL. — Hold him tight, or you will lose him.

POIET. — Pear me not. I trust, in spite of his
strength, I shall turn him. You see, I show him the
but of the rod, and his force is counterpoised by a
very long lever.

HAL. — You do well. But he has made a violent
spring, and, I fear, is off.

POIET. — He is ; but not, I think, by any fault of
mine. He has carried off something.

HAL. — You played that fish so well, that I am
angry at his loss. Either the hook, link, or line,
failed you.

POIET. — It is the hook, which you see is broken,
and not merely at the barb, but likewise in the shank.
What a fool I was ever to use one of these London or
Birmingham -made hooks.

HAL. — The tiling has happened to me often. I
now never use any hooks for salmon fishing, except
those which 1 am sure have been made by O^Shaugh-
nessy, of Limerick ; for even those made in Dublin,
though they seldom break, yet they now and then
bend : and the English hooks, made of cast steel in
imitation of Irish ones, are the worst of all. There
is a fly nearly of the same colour as that which is
destroyed ; and I can tell you, that I saw it made at
Limerick by O'Shaughnessy himself, and tied on one
of his own hooks. Should you catch with it a fish

SIXTH DAY.] HOOKS. 153

even of 30 lbs. I will answer for its strength and
temper — it will neither break nor bend.

POIET. — Whilst I am attaching your present, so
kindly made, to my line, pray tell me how these
hooks are made, for I know yon interested yourself
in this subject when at Limerick.

HAL. — Most willingly. I have even made a hook
which, though a little inferior in form, in other
respects, I think, I could boast of as equal to the
Limerick ones. The first requisite in hook-making is
to find good malleable iron of the softest and purest
kind — such as is procured from the nails of old
horse-shoes. This must be converted by cementation
with charcoal into good soft steel, and that into bars
or wires of different thickness for different sized
hooks, and then annealed. Tor the larger hooks,
the bars must be made in such a form as to admit of
cutting the barbs ; and each piece, winch serves for
two hooks, is larger at the ends, so that the bar
appears in the form of a double pointed spear, three,
four, or five inches long : the bars for the finer hooks
are somewhat flattened. The artist works with two
files, one finer than the other for giving the point
and polishing the hook; and he begins by making
the barb, taking care not to cut too deep and filing
on a piece of hard wood, such as box wood, with a
dent to receive the bar, made by the edge of the file.

154 SALMON I A. [sixth day.

The barb being made, the shank is thinned and
flattened, and the polishing file applied to it j and by
a turn of the wrist round a circular pincers, the
necessary degree of curvature is given to it. The
hook is then cut from the bar, heated red hot by
being kept for a moment in a charcoal fire; then
plunged, while hot, into cold water ; then tempered,
by being put on iron, that has been heated in the
same fire till it becomes a bright blue, and, whilst
still hot, it is immersed in candle-grease, where it
gains a black colour ; it is then finished.

PHYS. — Nothing seems simpler than this process.
Surely London might furnish manufacturers for so
easy a manipulation ; and I should think one of our
friends, who is so admirable a cutler, might even
improve upon the Irish process ; at least the tem-
pering might be more scientifically arranged; for
instance, by the thermometer and a bath of fusible
metal, the temperature at which steel becomes blue
being 580° Fall., might be constantly preserved.

HAL. — Habit teaches our Irish artists this point
with sufficient precision. We should have such
hooks in England, but the object of the fishing
tackle makers is to obtain them cheap, and most of
their hooks are made to sell, and good hooks cannot
be sold but at a good price.

POIET. — I have heard formerly a good angler

SIXTH DAY.] HOOKS. 155

complain, that the Limerick hooks were too heavy
and clumsy. He preferred hooks made at Kendal in
Westmoreland.

HAL. — I saw, twenty years ago, hooks far too
heavy made at Limerick; but this O'Shaughnessy is,
I think, a better maker than his father was, and the
curve and the general form of the hook is improved.
It has now, I think, nearly the best form of a curve
for catching and holding, — the point protruding a
little. The Kendal hook holds well, but is not so
readily fixed by the pull in the mouth of the fish.
The early Fellows of the Eoyal Society, who attended
to all the useful and common arts, even improved
fish hooks ; and Prince Eupert, an active member of
that illustrious body, taught the art of tempering
hooks to a person of the name of Kirby ; under
whose name, for more than a century, very good
hooks were sold. I shall take a walk towards the
lake to enjoy a view of its cloud-capped mountains,
and I hope to find, on my return, that you have all
had your satisfaction in a good day's salmon fishing.

PHYS. — We shall crimp and cool a salmon if we
catch a good one, for our dinner.

HAL. — Do so.

ORN. — But before you leave us, I wish you would
be good enough to inform us why the salmon here
are so different from those I have seen elsewhere :

156 SALMOJSTIA. [sixth day.

for instance, some caught in the Alness, in Rosshire,
which we saw in passing round the south coast of
Ross. These appear to me thicker and brighter fish,
and one that I measured was 30 inches long, and 17
in circumference.

HAL. — I think I have seen broader fish than even
those of this river ; but the salmon which you happen
to remember for comparison, belonged to a small
stream, which, I think, in general are thinner and
longer than those in great rivers ; and what I
mentioned on a former occasion with respect to trout
holds good likewise with regard to salmon ; each
river has a distinct kind. It is scarcely possible to
doubt, that the varieties of the salmon, which haunt
the sea, come to the same rivers to breed in which
they were born, or where they have spawned before.*

[ * This is also the conviction of Mr. Young, the most
experienced of the experienced in matters relating to the salmon.
In his " Natural History of the Salmon," he gives a remarkable
instance in proof. " We know (he says) of five rivers which run into
the same estuary, and all and each of these rivers have their own
particular salmon, and the fish differ so much the one from the other,
that they are quite easily distinguished. The first river which falls
into the estuary of which we speak, has a race of well-shaped salmon,
whose average weight is about ten pounds ; the second river has a
strong, coarse scaled, rather long, but very hardy salmon, whose
average weight is about seventeen pounds ; the third river has a
middling shaped salmon, whose average weight is about nine pounds ;
the fourth river has long, ill-shaped salmon, averaging about eight
pounds ; and the fifth river has a very well-shaped salmon, whose

sixth day.] SEXSES OF FISH. 157

And this could hardly happen unless they confined
their migrations to a certain space in the sea, the
boundaries of which may be regarded as the shore
and the deep water, which may be considered as
effectual a limit almost as land; for fish do not
willingly haunt very deep water, that being even in
summer of low temperature, approaching to 40°,
and containing little or no vegetable food or insects,
which the smaller fishes search for, and the larger
fishes follow the smaller. It is however possible, that
in winter, all fish fond of heat will seek water rather
deeper than in summer ; and charr and umbla in lakes
are usually found in the deepest parts, being fond of
cool water, and they come to spawn whenever the
shallow water of the lakes becomes cool, in October
or November. We cannot judge of the senses of
animals that breathe water, — that separate air from
water by their gills ; but it seems probable, that, as
the quality of the water is connected with their life
and health, they must be exquisitely sensible to
changes in water, and must have similar relations to
it that an animal with the most delicate nasal
organs has to air. A vulture or a dog scents not

average weight is fully fourteen pounds." He adds, that it is rare
indeed for a fish returning through the common estuary, to miss its
way to its own river, even when first returning as a grilse, — a fact in
favour of the explanation given by the author of the occurrence. — J.D.]

153 SALMONIA. [sixth day.

only particular food and particular game at great
distances, but even makes of the smell a kiDd of
language; and I doubt not, that when dogs, that
have been blmdfolded and carried away from their
home, return to it, it is by the sense of smelling, — to
them each town, lane, or held, must have a particular
scent. A case has been related to me of a dog carried
in a covered basket from Badula to Kandv, a
distance of 45 miles, over a road he had never
travelled before, and who returned to the spot from
which he was taken in 24 hours, through the wildest
parts of the mountainous district of Ceylon. And I
have seen even a blind horse, an animal in which the
sense of smelling is less acute, evidently find his way
by it to Iris master's house and stable, which was,
indeed, near a tan-yard. The state of parts of water,
in the sea or great lakes, produced by the impregna-
tions carried down by particular streams, is much
more permanent than a like state in air; so that
though the knowledge given by the nasal organs may
be more easily communicated at a distance by winds,
yet that produced by streams on the branchiae of
fishes is more invariable, and a migratory fish is less
likely to be deceived. Yet in great floods, often
connected with storms, or violent motion in the
waters near the shore, salmon sometimes mistake
their river. I remember in this way, owing to a

sixth day.j STRA Y SALMON. 159

tremendous flood, catching with the fly a large
salmon, that had mistaken his river, having come
into the Bush, near the Giant's Causeway, instead of
the Bann. No fish can be more distinct in the same
species than the fish of these two rivers, their length
to their girth being nearly in a ratio of 20 : 9 and
20 : 13.* — I am going; good sport to you.

EVENING.

HAL. — I am sure I may congratulate you on your
sport, for I see on the bank a fine salmon, three
grauls or grilses, and three large sea trout.

ORN. — You have not seen all, for we have crimped
two fish — one a large salmon, and the other a trout
almost a yard long, and both in excellent season.
ATe have had great sport, and sport even of a kind

[ * A striking example of a migratory fish losing its way, came to my
knowledge in Malta. I was assured there by a gentleman, who had
made Icthyology a special study, that he once saw a salmon, brought
for sale into the market of Valetta, which had been caught in the sea
washing tbat island. Now, as there are no rivers flowing into the
Mediterranean resorted to by this fish for breeding in, it may be
inferred, tbat the fish in question was a stray one that had lost its way
in the Atlantic, and had entered the Mediterranean by mistake in the
current from the ocean flowing through the Gut of Gibraltar. By
similar accidents it is easy to comprehend how all rivers communicating
with the ocean, fit by the qualities of their waters, may become the
habitual resort and breeding streams of migratory fish. — J.D.]

160 SALMONIA. [sixth day.

which you will not guess at ; for, when the tide was
fahing, the fish ceased to rise at the fly, and I thought
of trying them with a bait ; so we sent for our swivel
tackle, and put parr or samlet on our hooks, as we
bait for pike — cutting off one ventral fin on one side,
and one pectoral fin on the other; and making the
parr spin in the most rapid streams, we had several
runs from fish, and it was in this way that Poietes
caught this large sea trout, winch gave excellent sport.

SAL. — This kind of fishing is not uncommon. I
have often caught salmon in the Tay, fishing with
parrs ; but though the fish ran at the bait, when they
would not rise at the fly while the tide was ebbing,
they would have taken the parr better still while it was
flowing.

PEYS. — Prom my experience to-da}T, I conclude the
salmon has habits different from the trout; for I
think the fish winch broke my hook rose again at the
artificial fly in the same place.

HAL. — I think vou are mistaken. Salmon are
usually shyer even than trout, and I never knew one
in this season, that had been pricked even slightly,
rise again at the artificial fly in the same pool. I
should say, that their habits are precisely the same,
but with more sagacity on the side of the salmon. It
must have been another fish that rose at your fly in
the same place. After such severe discipline, I do

S!XTH DAT.] SALMON. 161

not think a fish would rise for many hours, even at a
natural bait.

POIET. — Your experience is so great, that I dare say
I was mistaken, yet it seemed a fLh of the same size.

HAL. — Salmon often in this season haunt the
streams in pairs; but so far from rising again after
being pricked, they appear to me to learn, when they
have been some time in the river, that the artificial fly
is not food, even without having been touched by the
hook. In the river at Galway, in Ireland, I have
seen above the bridge some hundreds of salmon lying
in rapid streams, and from five to ten fishermen
tempting them with every variety of fly, but in vain.
After a fish had been thrown over a few times, and
risen once or twice and refused the fly, lie rarely ever
took any notice of it again in that place. It was
generally nearest the tide that fish were taken, and the
place next the sea was the most successful stand, and
the most coveted; and when the water is low and
clear in this river, the Galway fishermen resort to the
practice of fishing with a naked hook, endeavouring to
entangle it in the bodies of the fish ; — a most unartist-
like practice. In spring fishing, I have known a
hungry, half-starved salmon rise at the artificial fly a
second time, after having been very slightly touched
by it; but even this rarely happens, and when I have
seen it, the water has been coloured.

M

162 SALMONIA. [sixth day.

PHYS. — Can you tell us why the fish rise better at
the fly when the tide is flowing, than when it is ebbing ?
There seems no reason why flies should be sought for
by the fish at one of these seasons, rather than at
the other.

HAL. — The turn of the salt water brings up aquatic
insects, and perhaps small fish ; and I suppose salmon
know this, and search for food at a time when it is
likely to be found. I cannot think, that in these
pools they can be on the look-out for flies, for there
are never any on the surface of the water ; and I
imagine they take the gaudy fly, with its blue king-
fisher and golden pheasant's feathers, for a small
fish.

ORN. — I have always supposed, that they took it
for a libellula, or dragon-fly ; for I have often seen
these brilliant flies haunting the water.

HAL. — I never saw a dragon-fly drop on the water,
or taken by a fish; and salmon sometimes rise even in
the salt water, where dragon-flies are never found.
There is no difficulty in explaining why salmon in
inland rivers should take flies, where natural flies are
abundant ; but fish, when they have lain long in pools
in the river and fed on natural flies, will no longer
take these bright flies, and then even a trout-fly is
often most successful. I have sometimes thought
that the rising of salmon and sea trout at these bright

s.xTHDAY.l INDICATIONS OF RAIN. 16 3

Hies, as soon as they come from the sea into rivers,
might depend upon a sort of imperfect memory of
their early food and habits ; for flies form a great
part of the food of the salmon fry, which, before
migrating to the sea, feed like young trouts ; flies are
their principal nourishment ; and in going back to
fresh water, they may perhaps have their habits of
feeding recalled to them, and naturally search for
their food at the surface.

P01ET- — This appears to me very probable. — But
it is late, and we must return and compare the crimped
trout and salmon ; and I hope we shall have another
good day to-morrow, for the clouds are red in the west.

PHYS. — I have no doubt of it, for the red has a
tint of purple.

HAL. — Do you know why this tint portends fine
weather ?

PHYS. — The air, when dry, I believe, refracts
more red, or heat-making, rays ; and as dry air is
not perfectly transparent, they are again reflected in
the horizon. I have generally observed a coppery or
yellow sunset to foretel rain : but, as an indication of
wet weather approaching, nothing is more certain
than a halo round the moon, which is produced by
the precipitated water ; and the larger the circle, the
nearer the clouds, and consequently the more ready
to fall. M 2

164 SALMON I A. [sixth day.

HAL. — I have often observed, that the old proverb
is correct —

A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd's earning:
A rainbow at night is the shepherd's delight.

Can you explain this omen ?

PHYS. — A rainbow can only occur when the clouds
containing, or depositing, the rain are opposite to the
sun, — and in the evening the rainbow is in the east,
and in the morning in the west ; and as our heavy
rains, in this climate, are usually brought by the
westerly wind, a rainbow in the west indicates, that
the bad weather is on the road, by the wind, to us ;
whereas the rainbow in the east proves, that the rain
in these clouds is passing from us.

POIET. — I have often observed, that when the
swallows fly high, fine weather is to be expected or
continued ; but when they fly low, and close to the
ground, rain is almost surely approaching. Can you
account for this ?

HAL. — Swallows follow the flies and gnats, and
flies and gnats usually delight in warm strata of air ;
and as warm air is lighter, and usually moister, than
cold air, when the warm strata of air are high, there
is less chance of moisture being thrown down from
them by the mixture with cold air ; but when the
warm and moist air is close to the surface, it is

SIXTH DAY.] OMENS. 165

almost certain, that, as the cold air flows down into
it, a deposition of water will take place.

POTET. — I have often seen sea-gulls assemble on
the land, and have almost alwaj^s observed, that then
very stormy and rainy weather was approaching. I
conclude, that these birds, sensible of a current of
air flowing from the ocean, retire to the land to
shelter themselves from the storm.

ORN. — No such thing. The storm is their element ;
and the little petrel enjoys the heaviest gale, because,
living on the smaller sea insects, he is sure to find
his food in the spray of a heavy wave — and you may
see him flitting above the edge of the highest surge.
I believe, that the reason of this migration of sea-
gulls, and other sea birds, to the land, is their
security of finding food. They may be observed, at
tins time, feeding greedily on the earth worms and
larvae, driven out of the ground by severe floods ;
and the fish, on which they prey in fine weather in
the sea, leave the surface, when storms prevail and
go deeper. The search after food, as we agreed on a
former occasion, is the principal cause why animals
change their places. The different tribes of the
wading birds always migrate when rain is about to
take place ; and I remember once, in Italy, having
been long waiting, in the end of March, for the
arrival of the double snipe in the Campagna of Rome,

166 SALM0N1A. [six™ day.

— a great flight appeared on the 3rd of April, and
the day after heavy rain set in, which greatly inter-
fered with my sport.* The vulture, upon the same
principle, follows armies ; and I have no doubt, that
the augury of the ancients was a good deal founded
upon the observation of the instincts of birds.
There are many superstitions of the vulgar owing to
the same source. For anglers, in spring, it is always
unlucky to see single magpies, — but two may be
always regarded as a favourable omen ; and the
reason is, that in cold and stormy weather one
magpie alone leaves the nest in search of food, the
other remaining sitting upon the eggs or the young
ones ; but when two go out together, the weather is
warm and mild, and thus favourable for fishing.

POIET. — The singular connexions of causes and
effects, to which you have just referred, make
superstition less to be wondered at, particularly
amongst the vulgar ; and when two facts, naturally
unconnected, have been accidentally coincident, it is
not singular that this coincidence should have been

* [The snipe is common in Ceylon, and throughout the year, passing
from one side of the island to the other, with the change of monsoon,
— that monsoon, which, on one side, is accompanied by the rainy
season, on the other bringing in the dry season ; — thus affording a
striking example of migration in connection with the cause, as inti-
mated in the text, — a cause which seems to influence equally the
human race and the brute, and may be held to be the general motive
one ; any other being the exception, rather than the rule. — J. D.J

SIXTH DAY.] OMENS. 167

observed and registered, and that omens of the most
absurd kind should be trusted in. In the west of
England, half a century ago, a particular hollow
noise on the sea coast was referred to a spirit or
goblin, called Bucca, and was supposed to foretel a
shipwreck : the philosopher knows, that sound travels
much faster than currents in the air — and the sound
always foretold the approach of a very heavy storm,
which seldom takes place on that wild and rocky
coast, surrounded as it is by the Atlantic, without a
shipwreck on some part of its extensive shores.

PHYS. — All the instances of omens you have
mentioned are founded on reason ; but how can
you explain such absurdities as Friday being an
unlucky day, the terror of spilling salt, or meeting
an old woman ? I knew a man, of very high dignity,
who was exceedingly moved by these omens ; and
who never went out shooting without a bittern's claw
fastened to his buttonhole by a riband, which he
thought ensured him good luck.

POIET. — These, as well as the omens of death-
watches, dreams, &c, are, for the most part, founded
upon some accidental coincidences ; but spilling of
salt, on an uncommon occasion, may, as I have known
it, arise from a disposition to apoplexy, shown by an
incipient numbness in the hand, and may be a fatal
symptom; and persons, dispirited by bad omens,

168 SALMOXIA.

LSIXTH DAT.

sometimes prepare the way for evil fortune; for
confidence in success is a great means of ensuring it.
The dream of Brutus, before the field of Philippi,
probably produced a species of irresolution and
despondency, which, was the principal cause of his
losing the battle. And I have heard, that the
illustrious sportsman, to whom you referred just now,
was always observed to shoot ill, because he shot
carelessly, after one of his dispiriting omens.

HAL — I have in life met with a few things, winch
1 found it impossible to explain, either by chance
coincidences or bv natural connexions : and I have
known minds of a very superior class affected by
them j persons in the habit of reasoning deeply and
profoundly.

PHYS. — In my opinion, profound minds are the
most likely to think lightly of the resources of human
reason; it is the pert superficial thinker who is
generally strongest in every kind of unbelief. The
deep philosopher sees chains of causes and effects so
wonderfully and strangely linked together, that he is
usually the last person to decide upon the impossibility
of any two series of events being independent of each
other; and in science, so many natural miracles as it
were, have been brought to light — such as the fall of
stones from meteors in the atmosphere, the disarming
a thunder-cloud by a metallic point, the production

SIXTH DA v.] OMEXS. 169

of fire from ice bv a metal white as silver, and
referring certain laws of motion of the sea to the
moon, — that the physical inquirer is seldom disposed
to assert, confidently, on any abstruse subjects belong-
ing to the order of natural things, and still less so on
those relating to the more mysterious relations of
moral events and intellectual natures.

-*■":

LpintwarJine on the Teme, from a sketch by Mrs. Stackhouse Actoc.

SEVENTH DAY.
HALIEUS—POIETES—ORNITHER—PHYSICUS.

GRAYLING FISHING.

Scene — Leintwardine, near Ludlow.
Time — Beginning of October.

HAL. — You have reached your quarters. Here is
your home — a rural,, peaceable, and unassuming inn,
with as worthy a host and hostess as may be found
in tins part of the country. The river glides at the
bottom of the garden, and there is no stream in

SEVENTH DAY.] GRAYLING. 171

England more productive of grayling. The surround-
ing scenery is not devoid of interest, and the grounds
in the distance are covered with stately woods, and
laid out (or rather their natural beauties developed)
by the hand of a master,* whose liberal and enlight-
ened mind even condescended to regard the amuse-
ments of the angler; and he could hardly have
contributed in a more effectual manner to their
comforts, than by placing the good people, who were
once his servants, in this comfortable inn.

PHYS. — Are we to fish according to any rule, as to
quantity or size of fish ?

HAL. — You are at perfect liberty to fish as you
like ; but as it is possible you may catch grayling
only of this year, and which are not longer than the
hand, I conclude you will return such pigmies to the
river, as a matter of propriety, though not of necessity.

POIET. — This river seems formed of two other
streams, which join above our inn. AYhat are the
names of its sources ?

HAL. — The small river to the left is called the
Teme, or Little Teme, and though the least stream,
it gives name to the river : the other, and more
copious stream, is called the Clun. The Little Teme

* [The late Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., of Downton Castle,
president for many years of the Horticultural Society, to whom an
edition of the author's "Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry " was
dedicated.]

172 SALMONIA. [seventh day

contains principally trout ; the Clun, both trout and
grayling ; but the fish are more abundant in the
meadows, between this place and Downton, than in
other parts of the river; for above, the stream is too
rapid and shallow to be favourable to their increase ;
and below, it is joined by other streams, and becomes
too abundant in coarse fish.

POIET. — I cannot understand why the grayling
should be so scarce a fish in England. It is abundant
in many districts on the Continent ; but in this island
it is found, I believe, only in a few rivers ; and does
not exist, I think, either in Ireland or Scotland. Yet,
being an Alpine fish, and naturally fond of cool water,
it might have been expected among the Highlands.

HAL. — I formerly used to account for this, by
supposing it an imported fish, and not indigenous;
but, in some of my continental excursions, I have
seen it living only under such peculiar circumstances,
that I doubt the correctness of this my early opinion.

POIET. — Which was, I conclude, that it was
introduced by the monks, in the time when England
was under the See of Rome. As a favourite fish of
St. Ambrose it was worth cultivating, as well as for
its own sake ; and I think you have done wrong to
relinquish this idea, for, as far as my recollection
serves me, the rivers that contain it are near the ruins
of great monasteries, — the Avon near Salisbury,

SEVENTH DAY ] GRAYLING. 173

the Ure near Fountain's Abbey, the Wye near the
great Abbey of Tintern ; and, if I am not mistaken,
in the lower part of this valley, there are the remains
of an extensive establishment of friars.

HAL. — But there are rivers near the ruins of some
of the most magnificent establishments of this kind in
Europe, and those nearest the Continent, where the
grayling is not found ; for instance, in the Stour, at
Canterbury. And if the grayling be an imported fish,
it is wonderful, that it should not be found in the
rivers in Kent, and along the south-west coast of
England, as in Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall,
where the monastic establishments were numerous ;
and why it should be found in some rivers in the
mountainous parts of AY ales, as in that near Llan-wrtyd
and the Dee — not near Yal Crucis Abbey, but fifteen
miles higher up, between Corwen and Bala.

POIET. — It may have been a fish imported from the
Continent, and carried to a number of rivers, only a
few of which may have suited its habits, and has
remained there and multiplied.

HAL. — There may be truth in what you are now
imagining, for the grayling requires a number of
circumstances in a river to enable it to increase.

POIET. — What circumstances are these ?

HAL. — A temperature in the water which must be
moderate — neither too high nor too low. Grayling

174 SALMONIA. [seventh day.

are never found in streams that run from glaciers — at
least near their source ; and they are killed by cold or
heat. I once put some grayling from the Teme, in
September, with some trout, into a confined water,
rising from a spring in the yard at Downton; the
grayling all died, but the trout lived. And in the hot
summer of 1825, great numbers of large grayling
died in the Avon, below Kingwood, without doubt
killed by the heat in July.

POIET. — But I have heard of grayling being
common in Lapland— at least so says Linnaeus.

HAL. — I think it must be another species of the
same genus, the same as Back's grayling found by
Captain Franklin and his companions in North
America, and distinguished by a much larger back fin.
Having travelled with the fishing-rod in my hand
through most of the Alpine valleys in the south and
east of Europe, and some of those in Norway and
Sweden, I have always found the charr in the coldest
and highest waters ; the trout, in the brooks rising in
the highest and coldest mountains; and the grayling
always lower, where the temperature was milder ; and
if in hot countries, only at the foot of mountains, not
far from sources which had the mean temperature of
the atmosphere, — as in the Yipacco, near Goritzia,
and in the streams which gush forth from the lime-
stone caverns of the Noric Alps. Besides temperature

BKVBKTH DAT.J GRAYLING. 175

grayling require a peculiar character in the disposition
of the water of rivers. They do not dwell, like trout,
in rapid shallow torrents ; nor, like charr or chub, in
deep pools or lakes. They require a combination of
stream and pool ; they like a deep still pool for rest,
and a rapid stream above, and a gradually declining
shallow below, and a bottom where marl or loam is
mixed with gravel ; and they are not found abundant
except in rivers that have these characters. It is
impossible to have a more perfect specimen of a
grayling river than that now running before us, in this
part of its course. You see a succession of deep still
pools under shady banks of marl, with gentle rapids
above, and a long shelving tail, where the fish sport
and feed. Should there be no such pools in a river,
grayling would remain, provided the water was clear,
and would breed ; but they cannot stem rapid streams,
and they are gradually carried down lower and lower,
and at last disappear. You know the Test, one of
the finest trout streams in Hampshire, and of course
in England ; when I first knew this stream, twenty
years ago, there were no grayling in it. A gentleman
brought some from the Avon, and introduced them
into the river at Longstock, above Stockbridge.
They were for two or three years very abundant in
that part of the river ; but they gradually descended,
and though they multiplied greatly, there are now

176 SALMON I A.

SEVENTH DAY.

scarcely any above Stockbridge. There were, four
years ago, many in the river just below ; but this year
there are very few there, and the great proportion
that remains is found below Houghton. I ought to
mention, that the water is particularly fitted for them,
and they become larger in this river than in their
native place, the Avon, — some of them weighing
between 3 and 4 lbs. The trout, in all its habits of
migration, runs upward, seeking the fresh and cool
waters of mountain-sources to spawn in : the grayling,
I believe, has never the same habit of running up
stream; I never saw one leaping at a fall, where
trout are so often seen. Their large back fin seems
intended to enable them to rise and sink rapidly in
deep pools; and the slender nature of the body,
towards the tail, renders them much more unfit for
leaping cataracts than trout and salmon. The temper-
ature of the water, and its character as to still and
rapid, seem of more importance than clearness ; for
I have seen grayling taken in streams, that are
almost constantly turbid, — as in the Inn and the
Salza in the Tyrol. This fish appears to require food
of a particular kind, feeding much upon flies and
their larvae, and not usually preying upon small fish,
as the trout. It has a very strong stomach, in
texture like that of the gillaroo trout, and is
exceedingly fond of those larvae which inhabit cases,

seventh dat.] GRA YLING. 177

and are usually covered with sand or gravel. I once
caught a grayling in the Wochain Save, that weighed
about a pound and a half, the stomach of winch
equalled in size a very large walnut, and contained
some small shells, and two or three white round
pebbles as large as small beans. In accordance with
their general habits of feeding, grasshoppers are
amongst their usual food in the end of summer and
autumn; and at all seasons, maggots, upon fine tackle
and a small hook, offer a secure mode of taking them,
— the pool having been previously baited for the
purpose of angling, by throwing in a handful or two
a few minutes before.

POIET. — You just now said, that you thought the
Lapland fish, considered by Linnaeus as grayling,
was the same as Back's grayling ; but I find, in the
Appendix to Captain Franklin's narration, two gray-
lings described as belonging to the northern regions,
— one the Coregonus Signifer, and another, which
appears to differ very little from it, except being small
in size. This seems to agree as nearly as possible
with our grayling, with a difference of at most one
spine in the back fin. May not this in fact be the
same fish as the grayling of the Alps, only rendered
in a succession of generations fit for a colder climate ?

HAL. — This is certainly possible ; there is no doubt
that, in many successive generations, animals may

N

178 SALMON! A. [seventh day.

be fitted to bear changes, which would have destroyed
their progenitors. It is said by Block, that graylings
are found in the Caspian sea, and in the Baltic, —
masses of saline water ; though, as I have proved, the
grayling of England will not bear even a brackish
water without dying. And notwithstanding the
severity of the winter in high northern latitudes,
streams under the ice may retain a temperature not
much lower than some of the Alpine rivers. I have
seen grayling in Carniola, in a source at the hottest
season, not quite 50°; and as, in large bodies of
water, the deepest part, in frost, is generally the
warmest, about 40°, the degree at which water is
heaviest, I see no reason why grayling may not be
habituated to such a temperature — coolness being
generally favourable to their existence. But see, the
fog which had filled the valley and hid the mountains
from our sight is clearing away, and I fear it will be
a hot day. Before the sun becomes too bright is
the best time for fishing, in such a day as this. As
soon as the fog is fairly off, the water-flies will begin
to appear, and fish to sport.

PHYS. — I see the fog has already disappeared from
the deep water in the meadow, where, I suppose, the
warmth of the air, from the considerable mass of the
water, is greater ; and which is further removed from
the hills sending down currents of cold air, from the

8EVESTH DAY.] GRA YLIXG. 179

mixture of which with the moist warm air above the
river this phenomenon is produced. I see some yellow
flies beginning to come out ; they have already felt
the influence of the warm air; and look, a fish has
just risen opposite that bank, and he rises again ; let
us prepare our tackle.

POIET. — "What flies shall we employ ?

HAL. — I recommend at least three ; for the grayling
lies deeper and is not so shy a fish as the trout ; and,
provided your link is fine, is not apt to be scared by the
cast of flies on the water. The fineness of the link,
and of the guts to winch your flies are attached, is a
most essential point, and the clearer the stream the
finer should be the tackle. I have known good
fishermen foiled by using a gut of ordinary thickness,
though their fly was of the right size and colour.
Very slender transparent gut of the colour of the
water is one of the most important causes of success
in grayling fishing. Let me see your book : I will
select a fine stretcher. Now, for the lowest fly, use a
yellow-bodied fly, with red hackle for legs, and land-
rail's wing ; for the second, a blue dun, with dun
body ; and for the highest, the claret coloured body,
with blue wings; and let your first dropper fly be
about three feet from the stretcher and from the
other dropper, and let the hanging link which attaches
them be 2>h inches long.

N 2

180

SALMON I A.

[seventh day.

PHYS. — There are several fish rising : I shall throw
at that opposite — he appears large.

HAL. — It is a trout and not a grayling.

PHYS. — How do you know ?

HAL. — By his mode of rising. He is lying at the
top of the water, taking the flies as they sail down by
him, which a grayling scarcely ever does. He rises
rapidly from the bottom or middle of the water, on
the contrary — darting upwards, and, having seized
his fly, returns to his station. There ! a grayling has
risen. I do not mean, however, that tins habit is in-
variable; I have sometimes seen trout feed like
grayling, and grayling like trout, but neither of these
fish emits bubbles of air in rising, as dace and chub do.

Grayling

PHYS. — I have one ! He has taken my blue dun,
and must be a small one, for he plays with no

vigour.

HAL. — He is about fib. — a fish of two years and

BEVESTH DAY.] GRA YLING. 181

a half old — very good for the table. I will land him
if possible.

PHYS.— There ! He is off !

HAL. — This happens often with grayling : their
months are tender, and unless the hook catches in the
upper lip, which is rather thick, it is more than an
equal chance that the fish escapes you.

PHYS. — Here, I have another, that has taken the
stretcher, and as it is a larger hook, I hope he may
be held. He is likewise a larger fish — but how oddly
he spins ! This, I suppose, must be owing to his
lar^e back fin. bv which the stream carries him round.
There he is : he has quite twisted my link ; it would
not be amiss to have swivels for this kind of fishing.

HAL. — It is a fish in good season,— dark above,
fair below, and weighs, I should suppose, about ljlb.

PHYS. — As this is the first grayling I have seen of
my own taking, I must measure, weigh, and examine
him.

HAL. — We can do this hereafter. See, our fish
barrel ; he can be kept alive till a more convenient
time of the day.

PHYS- — I am disposed to gratify my curiosity
immediately ; for to acquire information is at least as
interesting to me as catching fish. I shall kill him
by a blow on the head. He is not, I suppose, worth
crimping afterwards ?

1S2

SALMONIA.

[seventh day.

HAL. — Certainly not, at this time ; and it is not
necessary with a fish of tins size, winch ought to be

Grayling.

fried ; but if we catch a large grayling, approaching
to 2 lbs., he shall be killed, crimped, and boiled, like
our Denliam trout ; you will then find him excellent,
and not inferior, in my opinion, to the best perch —
more like the most exquisitely tasted of all our fish,
the red mullet.

PUTS. — Out of the water, this is a handsome fish,
broader round the middle, and more hog-backed than
the trout, but gracefully tapering towards the tail.
The belly, I see, is silvery with yellow; and the
pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are almost gold-
coloured ; the back gray with small black spots, and
the back fin of a beautiful bright purple, with black
and blue spots. It has likewise an agreeable odour ;
so that both from its colour and smell it does not
seem undeserving the title given it by St. Ambrose, of

SEVENTH DAY.] GEAYLIXG. 183

the flower of fishes. It measures, I find, 14 inches
in length; in girth 7 J. It weighs 17 ounces. It
has 10 spines in the pectoral fin, 23 in the dorsal,
16 in the ventral, 14 in the anal, and 18 in the
caudal.*

HAL. — Now for its anatomy. Its stomach is very
thick, not unlike that of a charr or gillaroo trout, and
contains flies, gravel, and larvse, with their cases.
The liver and bowels do not differ much from those
of a trout ; and the ovaria or roe, with eggs as large
as mustard seed, are on each side the air bladder.
Though a thicker fish, the grayling does not weigh
much more than the trout in proportion to Ins length :
the greater breadth of back is compensated by the
more rapid tapering of tail, and a trout in very high
season will sometimes equal in weight a grayling of
the same length. The ova in tins fish, and in the
species generally, are very small at this time of the
year; but in the beginning of April, the season of
their spawning, they become nearly as large as the
ova of the trout — of the size of peppercorns. But I
see, Poietes, your rod is in order, and there are many
fish rising in this deep pool, some of winch are large
grayling. The blue dun is on in quantity, and we

[ * Its eye is marked by an angular pupil, pointed anteriorly ; its
mouth by its small and few teeth, situated in the lips and vomer ; its
odour, commonly faint and indistinct, by some is thought to resemble
that of thyme. — J. D.J

134 SALMOXIA. [seventh day.

have both cloud and wind, which, half an hour ago we
had no right to expect. Let me advise you to use
three flies of different shades of the dun ; the stretcher,
a pale blue with yellow body; the first dropper, a
winged fly with dun body ; and the third, a similar
fly with dark body. There, you see ; he rose and
refused your stretcher — and again he has a second
time refused it. I think the colour of the dubbing
is too bright : try a winged fly for the stretcher with
a greenish body. Good — he has taken it, and ought
to be a large fish. Now we have him : he is at least
sixteen inches long, and in good season. Ornither,
I advise you to use the same kind of fly, and to put
up your tackle precisely in the same way as Poietes
has done.

POIET. — How well they rise ! At that moment I
had two on my line : one of them is gone, but I hope
I shall land the other.

HAL. — Fish with activity while the cloud lasts. I
fear the sun is coming out, when it will be more
difficult to take fish. I shall try the next pool, and I
advise you to follow me and fish by turns, — passing
each other, and taking different pools below, and so
wend your way downwards, fishing wherever you see
fish sporting. There is no better part of the river
than that pool below you, and you cannot take a wrong
direction. Immediately beyond Burrington Bridge

seventh day.] GRA YLING FISHING. 185

you will find two excellent pools, and I advise you to
go no farther down to-day. If you take a fish
approaching 2 lbs., keep him alive in the fish barrel
for crimping ; the smaller fish you can kill, and carry
with some rushes in your basket \ we shall at least be
able to send a dish of grayling to the patron of our
sport at Downton.

NOON.

HAL. — "Well, gentlemen, I hope you have been
successful.

POIET. — We have had good sport ; but I have been
for some time reposing on this bank, and admiring
the scene below. How fine are these woods ! How
beautiful these banks ! the lulls in the distance
approach to the character of mountains; and the
precipitous cliff, which forms the summit of that
distant elevation, looks like a diluvian monument, and
as if it had been bared and torn by a deluge, which
it had stemmed.

HAL. — It is one of the Clee hills, and its termina-
tion is basaltic, and such rocks usually assume such
forms. But though tins spot is beautiful, to-morrow
I hope to show you a more exquisite landscape, —
cliffs and woods, and gushing waters, of a character still
more romantic. We will return to our inn by a

186 SALMON I A. [seventh day.

shorter road; but tell nie, have you caught a large
fish amongst you, and preserved him for crimping ?

POIET. — We have preserved two fishes in the barrel,
but I fear they are much below your proposed size.

HAL. — They are good fish, and of the average size
of the large grayling in this stream — 16 inches long,
and about 1^ lb. ; they will make a good variety
boiled and placed in the middle of the fried fish.
And how many have you caught altogether ?

POIET. — I have basketed (to coin a word) three
trout and six grayling.

PHYS. — And I have taken seven grayling. I
caught trout likewise, but, not considering them in
proper season, I returned them to the river : but
Ornither has been the most successful ; he has killed
ten grayling.

HAL. — The trout is rarely good in this river — at
least I never saw one that cut red, and vet I have
taken them in July, when their external appearance
was perfect and beautiful ; but they have, to my taste,
always a flabby and soft character of flesh, and at all
seasons here are inferior for the table to grayling ; yet
they often attain a considerable size. There are fewr
small fish in these streams, and I suppose the grayling,
which are most numerous, deprive the trout of their
proper share of the food, depending upon larvae
and flies.

seventh day.] H ABI TS OF GRAYLING. 187

PETS. — As we are walking through these meadows,
pray give us some information as to the habits of the
grayling, and its localities in England : I have been
so much pleased with my sport, that I shall become,
with St. Ambrose, a patron of the fish.

HAL. — The habits of the grayling, like those of
most other fish, are very simple. He is, I believe, to
a certain extent, gregarious — more so than the trout,
and less so than the perch, and the usual varieties of
the carp species known in England. His form and
appearance you have seen. He is as yet scarcely in
his highest or most perfect season, which is in the
end of November or beginning of December, when his
back is very dark, almost black, and his belly and lower
fins are nearly gold-coloured ; but his brightness, like
that of most other fishes, depends a good deal upon the
nature of the water ; and on the continent I have seen
fishes far more brilliantly coloured than in England —
the lower part almost a bright orange, and the back fin
approaching to the colour of the damask rose, or
rather of an anemone. The grayling spawns in April,
and sometimes as late as the beginning of May : the
female is generally then followed by two or three
males. She deposits her ova in the tails of sharp
streams, and the males, rubbing against her, shed
upon the ova the milt or spermatic fluid. I do not
know how long a time is required for the exclusion

188 SALMONIA. [seventh day,

of the young ones ; but in the end of July, or
beginning of August, they are of the size of sprats,
four or five inches long, and already sport merrily at
a fly. Though I have often taken grayling in bad
season, yet I have rarely observed upon them the
same kind of leech,* or louse, which is so often found
upon the trout ; from which I infer, that they seldom
hide themselves, or become torpid in the mud. The
grayling hatched in May or June, I conclude, become
the same year, in September or October, nine or ten
inches long, and weigh from Jive ounces to half a
pound ; and the year after they are from twelve to
fifteen inches long, and weigh from three-quarters to
a pound ; and these two sizes, as you have seen, are
the fish that most usually rise at the fly. The first
size in this river is called shote, which is a Celtic
word, I believe applied likewise in the west of England

* I may mention one remarkable instance as an exception, which
has recently occurred to me, the 21st of May, 1828. I was fishing in
the Save, between Wochain and Veldes, in some deep, clear, bright,
green pools. I caught five or six grayling between 15 and 17 inches
long, that had all leeches near the tail ; they were beautifully
coloured, and bad probably got these parasitic animals after their
spawning, when they reposed. Of course this was the time when they
were in their worst season, as they were just beginning to recover
from the work of generation. At this time they often rose at and
refused the fly, but there were as yet no large flies on the water. The
leech was a small greenish dark worm, about an inch or an inch and a
half long, like a common leech in form and colour.

seventh day.J GRAYLING RIVERS. 189

to small trout.* Of their growth after the second
year I cannot speak; tins must depend much on
their food and place of residence. Marsigli says,
they do not grow after the third year, and at this age,
in Austria, they are sometimes a cubit long; but
though I have fished much in that country, I never
saw any so long. If they are taken into new and
comparatively still water recently made, and where
food is plenty, they grow very fast; under these
circumstances, I have seen them above 3 lbs. In the
Test, where, as I mentioned before, the grayling has
been only recently introduced, they have sometimes
been caught between 3 and 4 lbs. — in this river I
never took one above 2 lbs., but I have heard of one
being taken of 2^ lbs. The grayling is a rare fish in
England, and has never been found in Scotland and
Ireland (as Poietes observed before) ; and there are
few rivers containing all the conditions necessary for
their increase. I know of no grayling river farther
west than the Avon in Hampshire : they are found in
some of the tributary streams of this river which rise

[* Some of the circumstances stated in the text above admit of
doubt, — as that of the contact of the male and female fish in the act of
spawning; that of the young grayling, the shote, met with in Septem-
ber and October, being only four or five months old : from such
information as I have been able to collect, I am led to infer, that like
the salmon, the breeding fishes merely follow each other closely ; and
that the shote is at least one year old. — J.D.]

190 SALMONIA. [seventh dai-.

in Wiltshire. I know of no river containing them
on the north coast west of the Severn : there are very
few only in the upper part of this river, and in the
streams which form it in North Wales. There are a
few in the Wye and its tributary streams. In the
Lug, which flows through the next valley, in Hereford-
shire, many grayling are found. In the Dee, as I
have said before, they are found, but are not common.
In Derbyshire and Staffordshire, the Dove, the Wye,
the Trent, and the Blithe, afford grayling ; in
Yorkshire, on the north coast, some of the tributary
streams of the Eibble, — and in the south, the Ure, the
Wliarfe, the Humber, the Derwent, and the streams
that form it, particularly the Eye. There may be
some other localities of this fish unknown to me ; but
as I have fished much, and inquired much respecting
the places where it is found, I think my information
tolerably correct and complete.

PEYS. — Is this fish to be fished for in spring?

HAL. — He is to be fished for at all times, for he is
rarely so much out of season as to be a bad fish ; and
when there are flies on the water, he will generally
take them : but as the trout may be considered as a
spring and summer fish, so the grayling may be
considered as a winter and autumnal fish.

PHYS. — Of course the grayling is taken in spring
with the same imitation of flies as the trout ?

seventh day.] BAITS FOR GRAYLING. 191

HAL. — The same. As far as flies are concerned,
these two species feed alike; though I may say,
generally, that the grayling prefers smaller flies, and
the varieties of the ephemerae or phryganese, of the
smallest size, form their favourite food. Yet grayling
do not refuse large flies ; and in the Avon and Test,
May flies, and even moths, are greedily taken in the
summer by large grayling. Hies, likewise, that do
not inhabit the water, but are blown from the land,
are good baits for grayling. There is no method
more killing, for large grayling, than applying a
grasshopper to the point of a leaded hook, the lead
and shank of which are covered with green and yellow
silk, to imitate the body of the animal. Tins mode
of fishing is called sinking and drawing. I have seen
it practised in this river with as much success as
maggot fishing; and the fish taken were all of the
largest size ; the method being most successful in deep
holes, where the bottom was not visible, which are the
natural haunts of such fish. In the winter, grayling
rise for an hour or two, in bright and tolerably warm
weather ; and, at this time, the smallest imitations of
black or pale gnats that can be made, on the smallest
sized hook, succeed best in taking them. In March,
the dark-bodied willow fly may be regarded as the
earliest fly ; the imitation of winch is made by a dark
claret dubbiug and a dun hackle, or four small

192 SALMONIA. [seventh day,

starling's wing feathers. The blue dun conies on in
the middle of the day in this month, and is imitated by
dun hackles for wings and legs, and an olive dubbing
for body. In mild weather, in morning and evening
in this month, and through April, the green tail, or
grannom, comes on in great quantities, and is well
imitated by a hen pheasant's wing feather, a gray or
red hackle for legs, and a dark peacock's harle, or
dark hare's ear fur, for the body. The same kind of
fly, of a larger size, with paler wings, kills well in the
evening, through May or June. The imitation of a
water insect called the spider fly, with a lead coloured
body and woodcock's wings, is said to be a killing
bait, on this and other rivers, in the end of April
and beginning of May ; but I never happened to see
it on the water. The dark alder fly, in May and June,
is taken greedily by the fish : it is imitated by a dark-
shaded pheasant's wing, black hackle for legs, and a
peacock's harle, ribbed with red silk, for the body.
At this season, and in July, imitations of the black
and red palmer worms, which I believe are taken for
black or brown, or red beetles or cockchaffers, kill
well; and, in dark weather, there are usually very
light duns on the water. In August, imitations of
the house fly and blue bottle, and the red and black
ant fly, are taken, and are particularly killing after
floods in autumn, when great quantities of the fly are

seventh day.] BAITS FOR GRAYLING. 193

destroyed and washed down the river. In this
month, in cloudy days, pale-blue duns often appear;
and they are still more common in September.
Throughout the summer and autumn, in fine calm
evenings, a large dun fly, with a pale yellow body, is
greedily taken by grayling after sunset; and the
imitation of it is very killing. In the end of October,
and through November, there is no fly fishing but in
the middle of the day, when imitations of the smaller
duns may be used with great success ; and I have
often seen the fish sport most, and fly fishing pursued
with the greatest success, in bright sunshine, from
twelve till half-past two o' clock, after severe frosts in
the morning; and I once caught, under these
circumstances, a very fine dish of fish on the 7th of
November. It was in the year 1816 ; the summer
and autumn had been peculiarly cold and wet, and,
probably in consequence of this, the flies were in
smaller quantity at their usual season, and there
was a greater proportion later in the year. Grayling,
if you take your station by the side of a river, will
rise nearer to you than trout, for they lie deeper,
and therefore are not so much scared by an object
on the bank; but they are more delicate in the
choice of their flies than trout, and will much oftener
rise and refuse the fly. Trout, from lying nearer the
surface, are generally taken before grayling, where the

194 SA LMONIA . [seventh day.

water is slightly coloured, or after a flood : and in
rain, trout usually rise better than grayling, though it
sometimes happens, when great quantities of flies
come out in rain, grayling, as well as trout, are
taken with more certainty than at any other time ; —
the artificial fly, in such cases, looks like a wet fly,
and allures even the grayling, which generally is more
difficult to deceive than trout in the same river.

PHYS. — As I was looking into a ditch coming
down the river, which is connected with it, I saw a
very large eel at the bottom, that appeared to me to
be feeding on a small grayling : — are there many of
this fish in the Teme, and do they breed here ?

EAL. — There are many of tins fish in the river ; but
to your question, do they breed here ? I must answer in
the negative. The problem of their generation is the
most abstruse, and one of the most curious, in natural
history; and though it occupied the attention of
Aristotle, and has been taken up by most distinguished
naturalists since his time, it is still unsolved.

PHYS. — I thought there was no doubt on the
subject. Lacepede, whose book is the only scientific
one on fishes I have read with attention, asserts, in
the most unqualified way, that they are viviparous.

HAL. — I remember Ins assertion, but I looked in
vain for proofs.

PHYS. — I do not remember any facts brought

seventh day.] GEN ERATION OF EELS. 195

forward on the subject j but tell us what you think
upon it.

HAL. — I will tell you all I know, which is not much.
This is certain, that there are two migrations of eels,
— one up and one down rivers, one from and the
other to the sea ; the first in spring and summer, the
second in autumn or early winter. The first, of very
small eels, which are sometimes not more than two or
two and a half inches long ; the second, of large eels,
which sometimes are three or four feet long, and
weigh from 10 to 15, or even 201bs. There is great
reason to believe, that all eels found in fresh water
are the results of the first migration ; they appear in
millions in April and May, and sometimes continue
to rise as late even as July and the beginning of
August. I remember this was the case in Ireland, in
1823. It had been a cold backward summer, and
when I was at Ballyshannon, about the end of July,
the mouth of the river, which had been in flood all
this month, under the fall, was blackened by millions
of little eels, about as long as the finger, which were
constantly urging their way up the moist rocks by
the side of the fall. Thousands died, but their bodies
remaining moist, served as the ladder for others to
make their way ; and I saw some ascending even per-
pendicular stones, making their road through wet moss,

or adhering to some eels, that had died in the attempt.

o2

196 SALMONIA. [seventh day.

Such is the energy of these little animals, that they
Continue to find their way, in immense numbers, to
Loch Erne. The same thing happens at the Tall of
the Bann, and Loch Neagh is thus peopled by them ;
even the mighty Pall of Schaffhausen does not prevent
them from making their way to the Lake of
Constance, where I have seen many very large eels.

PHYS. — You have shown, that some eels come
from the sea, but I do not think the facts prove,
that all eels are derived from that source.

HAL. — Pardon me — 1 have not concluded. There
are eels in the Lake of Bourget, which communicates
by a stream with the Rhine ; but there are none in
the Leman Lake, because the Rhone makes a
subterraneous fall below Geneva; and though small
eels can pass by moss, or mount rocks, they cannot
penetrate limestone, or move against a rapid
descending current of water, passing, as it were,
through a pipe. Again ; no eels mount the Danube
from the Black Sea; and there are none found in
the great extent of lakes, swamps, and rivers com-
municating with the Danube, — though some of
these lakes and morasses are wonderfully fitted for
them, and though they are found abundantly in the
same countries, in lakes and rivers connected with
the ocean and the Mediterranean. Yet, when
brought into confined water in the Danube, they

seventh day.] MIGRATION OF EELS. 197

fatten and thrive there. As to the instinct, which
leads young eels to seek fresh water, it is difficult to
reason: — probably the}' prefer warmth; and, swimrning
at the surface in the early summer, find the lighter
water warmer, and likewise containing more insects,
and so pursue the courses of fresh water, as the
waters from the land, at this season, become warmer
than those of the sea. Mr. J. Couch (Lin. Trans,
t. xiv. p. 70) says, that the little eels, according to his
observation, are produced within reach of the tide,
and climb round falls to reach fresh water from the
sea. T have sometimes seen them, in spring,
swimming in immense shoals in the Atlantic, in
Mount's Bay, making their way to the mouths of
small brooks and rivers. When the cold water from
the autumnal floods begins* to swell the rivers, this
fish tries to return to the sea; but numbers of the
smaller ones hide themselves during the winter in
the mud, and many of them form, as it were,
masses together. Various authors have recorded the
migration of eels in a singular way, — such as Dr.
Plot, who, in his History of Staffordshire, says, that
they pass in the night, across meadows, from one
pond to another ; and Mr. Arderon (in Trans. Royal
Soc.) gives a distinct account of small eels rising up
the flood-gates and posts of the water-works of the
city of Norwich ; and they made their way to the
water above, though the boards were smooth planed

198 8ALM0NIA. [seventh day.

and five or six feet perpendicular. He says, when
they first rose out of the water upon the dry board,
they rested a little — which seemed to be till their
slime was thrown out, and sufficiently glutinous, —
and then they rose up the perpendicular ascent with
the same facility as if they had been moving on a
plane surface. — (Trans. Abr. vol. ix. p. 311.) There
can, I think, be no doubt, that they are assisted by
their small scales, which, placed like those of serpents,
must facilitate their progressive motion:* these scales
have been microscopically observed by Leuenhoeck.
— (Phil. Trans, vol. iv.) Eels migrate from the salt
water of different sizes, but I believe never when
they are above a foot long — and the great mass of
them are only from two and a half to four inches.
They feed, grow, and fatten in fresh water. In small
rivers they are seldom very large ; but in large deep
lakes they become as thick as a man's arm, or even
leg ; and all those of a considerable size attempt
to return to the sea in October or November,
probably when they experience the cold of the first
autumnal rains. Those that are not of the largest
size, as I said before, pass the winter in the deepest
parts of the mud of rivers and lakes, and do not seem
to eat much, and remain, I believe, almost torpid.

* [Relative to this opinion, and the following one, that the conger
and eel are not distinct species, see additional note at the end of the
volume. — J. D.]

seventh day.] CONGER EEL. 199

Their increase is not certainly known in any given
time ; it must depend upon the quantity of their
food ; but it is probable they do not become of the
largest size, from the smallest, in one or even two
seasons ; but this, as well as many other particulars,
can only be ascertained by new observations and
experiments. Bloch states, that they grow slowly, and
mentions, that some had been kept in the same pond
for fifteen years. As very large eels, after having
migrated, never return to the river again, they must
(for it cannot be supposed that they all die imme-
diately in the sea) remain in salt water ; and there is
great probability, that they are then confounded with
the conger, which is found of different colours and
sizes — from the smallest to the largest — from a few
ounces to one hundred pounds in weight. The colour
of the conger is generally paler than that of the eel ;
but, in the Atlantic, it is said, that pale congers are
found on one side of the Wolf Rock, and dark ones
on the other. The conger has breathing tubes, which
are said not to be found in the other eel : but to
determine this would require a more minute examina-
tion than has yet been made. Both the conger and
common eel have fringes along the air bladder, which
are probably the ovaria ; and. Sir E. Home thinks
them hermaphrodite, and that the reproductive ves-
sels are close to the kidneys."* I hope this great

* [The best and latest researches have proved that this opinion of Sir

200 SALMOXIA. [seventh day.

comparative anatomist will be able to confirm his views
by new dissections, and some chemical researches upon
the nature of the fringes and the supposed milt. If
viviparous, and the fringes contain the ova, one
mother must produce tens of thousands, the ova being
remarkably small ; but it appears more probable, that
they are oviparous, and that they deposit their ova in
parts of tae sea near deep basins, which remain warm
in winter. This might be ascertained by experiment,
particularly on the coasts of the Mediterranean. I
cannot find, that thev haunt the Arctic ocean, which is
probably of too low a temperature to suit their
feelings or habits ; and the Caspian and the Black Sea
are probably without them, from their not being found
in the Volga or Danube ; these, being shallow seas,
are perhaps too cold for them in winter. Prom the
time (April) that small eels begin to migrate, it is
probable that they are generated in winter; and the
pregnant eels ought to be looked for in November,
December, and January. I opened one in December,
in which the fringes were abundant, but I did not
examine them under the microscope, or chemically :
I trust this curious problem will not remain much
longer unsolved.

E. Home is unfounded, and that that which the author considered as most
probably correct is true, — viz. that the sexes are distinct. — Sir E.
Home was led into error by the similarity of the ovaries and testes in
their form and structure as seen by the naked eye. — J. D.]

Downton Castle on the Teme; from a sketch by Mrs. Stackhouse Acton.

EIGHTH DAY.
HALIEUS—POIETES—ORNITHER—PHYSICUS.

Scene — Downton.

POIET. — This is a beautiful day, and, I think, for
fishing, as well as for the enjoyment of the scenery,
finer than yesterday. The wind blows from the
south, and is balmy ; and though a few clouds are
collecting, they are not sufficiently dense to exclude

202 SALMON! A. [eighth day.

the warmth of the sun ; and, as lovers of the angle,
we ought to prefer his warmth to his light.

HAL. — I do not think, as the day advances, there
will be any deficiency of light j and I shall not be
sorry for this, as it will enable you to see the grounds
of Downton, and the distances in the landscape, to
more advantage : nor will light interfere much with
our sport in this valle}7, where, as you see, there is no
want of shade.

POIET.—Tkis spot is really very fine. The fall
of water, the picturesque mill, the abrupt cliff, and
the bank, covered with noble oaks, above the river,
compose a scene such as I have rarely beheld in this
island.

HAL. — AVe will wander a little longer through the
walks. There you will enter a subterraneous passage
in the rock beyond the mossy grotto. Behold,
the castle, or mansion-house, clothed in beautiful
vegetables, of which the red creeper is most distinct,
rises above on the hill ! After we have finished our
walk and our fishing, I will, if you please, take you
to the house, and introduce you to its worthy master,
whom to know is to love, to whom all good anglers
should be grateful, and who has a strong claim to a
more extensive gratitude — that of his country and of
society — by his scientific researches on vegetable
nature, which are not merely curious, but useful, and

eighth day.] FLIES FOR FISHIXG. 203

which have already led to great improvements in
our fruits and plants, and have generally extended the
popularity of horticulture.

PHYS. — We shall be much obliged to you for the
favour — provided always that you know it will not
be an intrusion.

HAL. — Trust this to me. And now, as all
circumstances are favourable, begin your fishing. I
recommend to you that fine pool below the bridge;
there are always grayling to be caught there — and
already I see some rising.

PHYS. — With what imitation of flies shall we
fish ?

HAL. — As yesterday ; a yellow fly for your
stretcher, and two duns for the droppers. There,
you have a good fish. And now another — both
grayling.

PHYS.— I shall try the rapid at the top of this
long large pool ; I see several fish rising there.

HAL. — Do so. You will catch fish there — trout,
but I fear no grayling.

PHYS.— Why not ?

HAL. — In that part of the stream the water is too
rough for grayling, and they like to be nearer the
deep water. Lower down, in the same pool, there
are large grayling to be caught.

PHYS. — You are in the right ; the fish I have is a

204 SALMONIA. [eighth day.

large trout — at least he is not much less than 21bs.
I have landed him ; shall I keep him ?

HAL. — As you please : he is as good as he ever
was, or ever will be in this water.

PHYS. — There are now more yellow flies out than
I have seen before this season. They have appeared
suddenly, as if sprung from that large alder. Though
you gave us in a former conversation some account of
the flies used in fishing, yet I hope you have not
forgot your promise, to favour us with some more
details on this subject, which, both as connected
with angling, and with a curious part of natural
history, is very interesting.

HAL. — I wish it was in my power to give you
information from my own experience, but, I am sorry
to say, this has been very limited; and though the
English are peculiarly the fly fishing nation, yet our
philosophical anglers have not contributed much to
this department of science, and what has been
done is principally by foreigners, amongst whom
Swammerdam, Reaumur, and above all De Geer, are
pre-eminent. To attempt to collect and apply the
knowledge accumulated by these celebrated men,
would carry us far beyond the limits of a day's
conversation ; and as a great proportion of the
insects that fly, walk, or crawl, are the food of fishes,
a dissertation, or discourse on this subject, would be

eighth day.J NATURAL HISTORY. 205

almost a general view of natural history. You know
that frogs, crawfish, snails, earthworms, spiders,
larvae of every kind, millipedes, beetles, squillse,
moths, water flies, and land flies, are all eaten by
trout; and I once heard the late Sir Joseph Banks
say, that he found a large toad stuck in the throat of
a trout ; but as the skin of this animal is furnished
with an exceedingly acrid secretion, it probably had
been disgorged after being swallowed by a fish
exceedingly hungry.* But though I have found
most of the insect tribes, and many small fishes even
of the most ravenous kind, as pike, in the stomachs
of trout, it never happened to me to see a toad there.
I might give you an account of the birth and life of
frogs, which, with respect to their generation,
resemble fish, and which, when first excluded from
the eg<?, may be considered in the tadpole state as
fish ; and you would not find their singular
metamorphosis without interest. Or I could detail
to you the true histories which naturalists have given

* [Or, perhaps, by a fish of a breed that had no experience of the
poisonous qualities of the toad; — not an improbable circumstance,
considering that the toad is rarely found, and never except by accident,
in the clear brisk streams, the favourite haunts of the trout. "When
the toad was first introduced into Barbados, only about twenty years
ago, dogs, to their cost, made them their prey, some dying it is said,
and some becoming mad from the effects of the poison ; now taught
by experience, they as carefully avoid them there, as they do in this
country. — J.D.]

206 SALMONIA. [eighth day.

of the habits of snails and earthworms, and of the
sexual relations of these apparently contemptible
animals ; — but this is too delicate a subject to dwell
on. Even the renewing or change of shell in the
crawfish, when it falls in its soft state an easy prey to
fish, is a curious inquiry not only for the physiologist,
but likewise for the chemist. On these points, I
must request you to refer to writers on Natural
History : yet I shall perform my promise, and say a
few words on winged insects, which, in their origin
and metamorphosis, offer the most extraordinary
known miracles perhaps of terrestrial natures. You
must be acquainted with the origin of our common
house flies ?

PHYS. — We know that they spring from maggots,
and that both the common and blue bottle fly deposit
their ova in putrid animal matter, where the eggs are
hatched and produce maggots; that after feeding
upon the decomposing animal material, they gradually
change, gain a hard or horny coat, seem as if entombed,
and wait in a kind of apparent death or slumber, till
they are mature for a new birth, when they burst
their coatings and appear in the character of novel
beings — fitted to inhabit another element.

HA L. — The history of the birth and metamorphosis
of all other winged insects is very similar, but with
peculiarities dependent upon their organs, wants, and

eighth day.] IX SECT METAMORPHOSES. 207

habits. You know the curious details with which we
have been furnished by natural historians of bees and
ants, which live in a kind of society. The ant flies,
of which, as I mentioned to you, imitations are some-
times used by fishermen, were originally maggots,
and became furnished with wings — not, however,
passing through the aurelia state for this last trans-
formation.

POIET. — I beg your pardon, but, having lately
read an account of these animals in the very interest-
ing book, called "An -Introduction to Entomology,"
I think I can correct you in one particular, which is,
that the mascot of the ant does assume the form of a
chrysalis or pupa, before it becomes a winged animal.

HAL. — It is true, that the immediate transition of
the maggot is into a pupa, then into an ant, which is
furnished with a kind of case, from which the wings
emerge for their perfect transformation into the fly or
imago state. The males die soon after performing
the sexual function; the females, when impregnated,
lose their wings, and either voluntarily or by fprce
enter into society with neuter or working ants, for
the purpose of raising a new generation.

POIET. — You are perfectly right; and, though it
would be irrelevant to our present object, I could
almost wish, for the sake of amusing our friends,
that you would detail to us some other parts of the

203 SALMONIA. [eighth day.

marvellous history of these wonderful animals, winch,
if not so well authenticated, might be supposed a
philosophical romance ; — such as the neuter or work-
ing ants feeding eacn other and the offspring ; — the
manner in winch they make, defend, and repair their
dwellings, provide their food, watch and attend to the
female, and take care of her eggs; — their extraordinary
mode of acquiring and defending the aphides and
cocci, which bear to them the same relation that
cattle do to man, which are fed by them with so
much care, and the milk of which forms so important
a part of their food ; — the predatory excursions of a
particular species to carry off pupae, which they bring
up as slaves.

HAL. — To enter into any of the details of the
history of insects in society, would carry us into an
interminable, though interesting subject, that would
soon lose all relation to fly-fishing : and I fear what
I have to say, even on the winged insects connected
with this amusement, will occupy too much of your
time, for we have not more than an hour to devote to
this object.

POIET. — Tell us what you please : we are attentive.

HAL. — The various individuals of the gryllns, or
grasshopper tribe, spring from larvae, that do not
differ much from the perfect insect, except in possess-
ing no wings. The eggs are deposited in our meadows,

kightr day.] LIBELLULA. 209

and many species of this animal are gregarious, and
their emigrations in swarms are well known. The
butterfly and moths, as you know, lay eggs which pro-
duce caterpillars ; and these caterpillars, after feeding
upon vegetable food, spin themselves or frame houses
or beds, — cocoons; in which they are transformed
into aurelias, and from which thev burst forth as
perfect winged insects. The Ubellula, or dragon fly,
the most voracious of the winged insect tribe,
deposits her eggs in such a manner, that the larvse
fall into the water, and, after destroying and feeding
upon almost all the aquatic insects found in tins
element, and changing their skins at various times,
they emerge in their winged form the tyrants of the
insect generations in the air. The gnats and tipulse
have a similar existence. The gnat, — the female of
winch only is said by De Geer to bite man, or suck
human blood, — in Sweden, lays her egg in a kind of
little boat or cocoon of her own spinning. These eggs
are hatched on the surface of the water, and produce
the larvse, which undergo another change into peculiar
nymphae, that still retain the power of swimming and
moving, from which the perfect insect is produced
during the summer heat. The flies, which I
mentioned to you in a former conversation, under
the name of the grannom, or green tail, [see fig. 2,)
are of the class plirygane<z> which includes all those

PHRYGANE.E,

WITH THEIR IMITATION'S ON HOOKS.

EIGHTH DA V.] PHR YGA XE.E. 2 1 1

water flies that have long antennae, and wings
something like those of the moths, bnt usually veined
and without powder. The yellow flies, which you
saw a short time since sporting on the banks of the
river, are of tins kind. The phryganese {see figs.
I, 2, 3, and 4,) have four wings, which, when closed,
lie flat on their backs, the two upper ones being
folded over the lower ones : the flies called by anglers
the willow fly, the alder fly, [see fig. 4,) and the dun
cut, are of tins kind. The phryganeae lay their eggs
on the leaves of willows, or other trees, that overhang
the water ; they are fastened by a sort of gluten to
the surface of the leaf : when hatched, they produce
small hexapode larvae, which fall into the water, and
by a curious economy of nature collect round
themselves — some, parts of plants or small sticks;
some, gravel ; and some, even shell fish. They spin
themselves a sort of case of silk from their bodies,
and by a gluten, that exudes from this case, cement
their materials together. They feed upon aquatic
plants, and sometimes upon insects, protruding only
their head and legs from the case. When about to
nndergo transmutation, they quit their cases, rise to
the surface, and wait for this process of nature in the
air; but some species fix themselves on plants or
stones : they burst the skin of the larvae, and appear
perfect animals, male and female, fitted for the office

p2

EPHEMERAE,

WITH THEIR IMITATIONS ON HOOKS.

EIGHTH DAY.] EPHEMERAE. 213

of reproduction. In the early spring, the species
which are called green tails, from the colour of the
bags of eggs in the female, appear in the warm
gleams of sunshine that happen in cloudy days, and
they then cover the face of the water, and are greedily
seized on by the fish. As the season advances they
appear principally in the morning and evening. In
the heat of summer the phryganese are almost
nocturnal flies, and seem to have the habits of moths :
at this season, now, I should say, the few flies that
appear are generally seen in the day-time. The
ephemera, another class of flies peculiarly interesting
to the fisherman, differ from the phryganese in
carrying their wings perpendicularly on their backs,
and in having long filaments or hairs in their tails.
The March brown [see fig. 8,) the various shades of
duns, [see figs. 5, 6, and 7,) winch I described to you
on a former occasion; the green [see figs. 9 and 10,)
and white May fly, the red spinner, (see fig. 11,) are
all of the class ephemeras. These flies are produced
from larvae which inhabit the water, which can both
crawl and swim, and which generally live in holes
they make in the bottom. They change their
coats several times before they become nymphse ;
they quit their skin on the surface of the water ;
but even after they are flies, they have another
transformation to undergo before they are perfect

EPHEMERJE,

WITH THEIR IMITATIONS ON HOOKS.

EIGHTH DAY.] EPHEMERAE. 215

animals fitted for generation ; they make use
of their wings only to fly to some dry bank, or
trunk of a tree, where they gradually disencumber
themselves of the whole of the outward habiliment
they brought from the water, including their wings ;
they become lighter, more beautiful in colour, and
then begin their sports in the snnshine — appear-
ing like what might be imagined of spirits freed
from the weight of their terrestrial covering. This
last transmutation has been observed and fully
described by some celebrated naturalists, in the case
of the May-flies, and one or two other species, and it
probably will be found a general circumstance
attached to the class; I have often observed what
appeared to me to be the cast-off skins of the small
species of ephemerae on the banks of rivers and floating
in the water. The green ephemera, or May-fly, lays
her eggs sitting on the water, which instantly sink to
the bottom ; and most of the duns, or small slender-
winged flies, do the same. The gray, or glossy-winged
May-fly, commonly called the gray drake, performs
regular motions in the air above water, rising and
falling, and sitting, as it were, for a moment on the
surface, and rising again, at which time she is said to
deposit her eggs. To attempt to describe all the
variety of ephemerse, that sport on the surface of the
water at different times of the day, throughout the

216 SALMONI A.

| EIGHTH DAY.

year, would be quite an endless labour. Some of
them appear to live only a few hours, and none of
them, I believe, have their existence protracted to
more than a few days. In spring and autumn a new
variety of these flies sometimes appears every day, or
even in different parts of the same day. Of the
beetle, or coleoptera genus, there are many varieties
fed on by fishes. These insects, which are distin-
guished, as you know, by four wings, two husky-like
shells above, and two slender and finer ones below,
are bred from eggs, which they deposit in the ground,
or in the excrement of animals, and which, producing
larvse in the usual way, are converted into beetles,
and these larvae themselves are good bait for fish.
The brown beetle or cockchafler, the fern-fly, and the
gray beetle, which are abundant in the meadows in
the summer, are often blown into the water, and are
the most common insects of this kind eaten bv fishes.
"Whether the ditisci and hydrophili, the water beetles,
are ever eaten bv trout, I know not, but it is most
probable. These singular animals are most commonly
found in stagnant waters ; fitted for flying, swimming,
diving, and walking ; they are omnivorous, and
usually fly from pool to pool in the evening. They
deposit their eggs in the water, where their larvse
live, but which, to undergo transmutation into the
beetle, migrate to the land. But there is hardly an

EIGHTH DAY.] ICHNEUMONS. 21

-

insect that flies, including the wasp, the hornet, the
bee, and the butterfly, that does not become at some
time the prey of fishes. I have not, however, the
knowledge, or if I had, have not the time, to go
through the lists of these interesting little animals :
but of the family of one of them I must speak — the
ichneumons, that deposit their eggs in caterpillars,
or the larvae of other flies, and which feed on the
unfortunate animal in which they are hatched, and
come out of its interior when dead, as if it had been
their parent. To enter into the philosophy of tins
subject, and to study the organs and faculties of these
various insect tribes, in their function of respiration,
nutrition, and reproduction, would be sufficient for
the labour of a life. To know what has already been
done would demand the close and studious application
of a comprehensive mind; and to complete tins
branch of science in all its parts is probably almost
above human powers ; but much might be done if
enlightened persons would follow the example of
De Geer, Eeaumur, and Huber, and study minutely
the habits of particular tribes; and it is probable,
that physiology might be much advanced by minutely
investigating the simplest forms of living beings, and
that particularly with respect to the functions of
generation; a minute study of the modifications of
which the forms of animals seem susceptible, particu-

218 SALMOXIA. [eighth day.

larly in the hyinenopterous, or bee tribe, might lead
to very important results.

POIET. — Even in a moral point of view, I think
the analogies derived from the transformation of
insects admit of some beautiful applications, that
have not been neglected by pious entomologists.
The three states of the caterpillar, pupa or aurelia,
and butterfly, have, since the time of the Greek poets,
been applied to typify the human being — its terrestrial
form, apparent death, and ultimate celestial destination;
and it seems more extraordinary that a sordid and
crawling worm should become a beautiful and active
fly — that an inhabitant of the dark and fetid dung-
hill should in an instant entirely change its form,
rise into the blue air, and enjoy the sunbeams, — than
that a being, whose pursuits here have been after an
undying name, and whose purest happiness has been
derived from the acquisition of intellectual power
and finite knowledge, should rise hereafter into a
state of being, where immortality is no longer a
name, and ascend to the source of Unbounded Power
and Infinite Wisdom.

PHYS. — I have been listening, Halieus, to your
account of water-flies with attention, and I only
regret, that your details were not more copious. Let
me now call your attention to that Michaelmas daisy ;
a few minutes ago, before the sun sunk behind the

eighth day.] TRANSFORMATION OF INSECTS. 219

hill, its flowers were covered with varieties of bees,
and some wasps, all busy in feeding on its sweets. I
never saw a more animated scene of insect enjoyment.
The bees were most of them humble bees, some new
to me, and the wasps appeared different from any 1
have seen before.

HAL. — I believe tins is one of the last autumnal
flowers that insects of this kind haunt. In sunnv
days it is their constant point of resort, and it would
afford a good opportunity to the entomologist to make
a collection of British bees.

POIET. — I neither hear the hum of the bee, nor
can I see any on its flowers. They are now deserted.

PHYS. — Since the sun has disappeared, the cool of
the evening has, I suppose, driven the little winged
plunderers to their homes. But see, there are two or
three humble bees which seem languid with the cold,
and yet they have their tongues still in the fountain
of honey ; I believe one of them is actually dead, yet
his mouth is still attached to the flower. He has
fallen asleep, and probably died wliilst making his
last meal of ambrosia.

ORN. — What an enviable destiny, quitting life in
the moment of enjoyment, following an instinct, the
gratification of which has been always pleasurable ! so
beneficent are all the laws of Divine Wisdom.

PHYS. — Like Ornither, I consider the destiny of

ULMOXIJ

" "■- ■■ t" - .ole, and I cannot help re^ardin?
tie end of human life as most happy, when termi-
nated under the impulse of some strong energetic
- oiLar in its nature to an instinct. I should
n :o die like Attila in a moment of ffr

usual enjoyment : but the death of Epaminondas or
Hdsni in nns of victory, their whole attention

absorbed in the love of glorv and of their country I
think t- nviab'-

POIET. — I consider the death of the martyr or the
sain* : more enviable; for in this case, what m

be considered a? a divine instinct of our nature, is
called i; _d pain is subdued, or destroved

by - -re faith in the power and mercv of the
Divinity. In such cases man rises above mortality.

«

and shows his true intellectual superiority. Bv in-
bpflpfinal eriority I mean that of his spiritual
nature, for I do not consider the results of reason as
capable of being compared with those of faith.
Eeason is often a dead weight in life, destroying
feeling, and substhiiting, for principle, calculation
and caution: and, in the hour of death, it often
produces fear or despondency, and is rather a bitter
drau_ jt ambrosia in the last meal

of life.

Hal. — I agree with Poiet The higher and more
inter the feeling, under which death takes pla:

z: m mi ; REFLEC TIOXS ON DMA TH.

the happier it may be esteemed ; and I think even
Physicus will be of our opinion, when I recollect the
conclusion of a conversation in Scotland. T_.r
immortal being never can quit life with so much
pleasure as with the feeling of immortality secure,
and the vision of celestial glory filliTicr the mind,
affected by no other passion tiian the pure and
intense love of God.

Tr&un Fall.

NINTH DAY

HA LIEUS—POIETES— ORNITHER—PE YSICUS.

PISHING FOE, HTTCHO.

Scene— The Fall of the Traun, Upper Austria.
Time — July.

POIET. — This is a glorious scene ! And the fall of
this great and clear river, with its accompaniments of
wood, rock, and snow-clad mountain, would alone

mn-th day.] F1SHIXG FOR HUCHO. 223

furnish matter for discussion and conversation for
many days. This place is quite the paradise of a
poetical angler; the only danger is that of satiety
with regard to sport ; for these great grayling and
trout are so little used to the artificial fly, that they
take almost any thing moving on the top of the water.
You see I have put on a salmon fly, and still they rise
at it, though they never can have seen any thing like
it before — and it is, in fact, not like any thing in
nature.

HAL. — You are right, they have never seen any
thing like it before; but, in its motion, it is like a
large fly, and this is the season for large flies. The
stone fly and the May fly, you see, occasionally drop
upon the water, and the colour of your large fly is not
unlike that of the stone fly ; but if, instead of being
here in the beginning of July, you had visited this
spot, as I once did, in the beginning of June, you
would have found more diiflculty in catching grayling
here, though not so much as in our English rivers —
in the Test, the Derwent, or the Dove.

POIET— How could this be ?

HAL. — At this season the lars-e flies had not vet
appeared ; the small blue dun was on the water, and
I was obliged to use a fly the same as that which
suits our spring and late autumnal fishing. The fish
refused all large flies, but took greedily small ones;

224 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

and, as usually happens when small flies are used,
more fish escaped after being hooked than were taken ;
and these I found, the next day, were become as
sagacious as our Dove or Test fish, and refused the
artificial fly, though they greedily took the natural

fly.

PHYS. — These fish, then, have the same habits
as our English salmons and trouts ?

HAL. — The principle to which I have referred in
two former conversations must be general, though it
has seemed to me, that they lost this memory sooner
than the fish of our English rivers, where fly-fishing
is common. Tins, however, may be fancy, yet I have
referred it to a kind of hereditary disposition,
which has been formed and transmitted from then*
progenitors.

PHYS. — However strange it may appear, I can
believe this. When the early voyagers discovered
new islands, the birds upon them were quite tame,
and easily killed by sticks and stones, being fearless
of man • but they soon learned to know their enemy,
and tins newly acquired sagacity was possessed by
their offspring, who had never seen a man. Wild
and domesticated ducks are, in fact, from the same
original type : it is only necessary to compare them,
when hatched together under a hen, to be convinced
of the principle of the hereditary transmission of

Kisru day.] HEREDITARY INSTINCT. 225

habits, — the wild young ones instantly fly from man,
the tame ones are indifferent to his presence.

POIET. — No one can be less disposed than I am
to limit the powers of living nature, or to doubt
the capabilities of organised structures ; but it
does appear to me quite a dream, to suppose that a
fish, pricked by the hook of the artificial fly,
should transmit a dread of it to its offspring, though
he does not even long retain the memory of it
himself.

HAL. — There are instances quite as extraordinary ;
— but I will not dwell upon them, as I am not quite
sure of the fact which we are discussing ; I have made
a guess only, and we must observe more minutely to
establish it ; it may be even as you suppose — a mere
dream.

POIET. — I shall go and look at the fall : I am
really satiated with sport ; this is the twentieth fish I
have taken in an hour, and it is a graybng of at least
seventeen inches long ; and there is a trout of eighteen,
and several salmon trout, which look as if they had
run from the sea.

HAL. — These salmon trout have run from a sea,
but not from a salt sea : thev are fish of the Traun
See, as it is called by the Germans, or Traun Lake,
h Inch is emptied by this river.

PHYS. — Tell us why they are so different from the

226 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

river trout, or why there should be two species or
varieties in the same wTater.

HAL. — Your question is a difficult one, and it has
alreadv been referred to in a former conversation :
but I shall repeat what I stated before, — that qualities
occasioned by food, peculiarities of water, &c. are
transmitted to the offspring, and produce varieties
which retain their characters as long as they are
exposed to the same circumstances, and only slowly
lose them. Plenty of good food gives a silvery colour
and round form to fish, and the offspring retain these
characters. Feeding much on larvse and on shell-
fish thickens the stomach, and gives a brighter yellow
to the belly and fins, which become hereditary
characters. Even these smallest salmon trout have
green backs, black spots only, and silvery bellies ; from
which it is evident, that they are the offspring of the
lake trout, or lacks forette, as it is called by the
Germans ; whilst the river trout, even when 4 or 51bs.,
as we see in one of these fish, though in excellent
season, have red spots. — But why that exclamation?

POIET. — "What an immense fish ! There he is !

HAL. — I see nothing.

POIET. — At the edge of the pool, below the fall, I
saw a fish, at least two or three feet long, rising with
great violence in the water, as if in the pursuit of
small fish; and at the same time I saw two or three

surra day.] SAL MO HUCHO. 227

minnows or bleaks jump out of the water. What
fish is it ? — a trout ? It appeared to me too long and
too slender for a trout, and had more the character of
a pike ; — yet it followed, and did not, like a pike, make
a single dart.

HAL. — I see him : it is neither a pike nor a trout,
but a fish which I have been some time hoping and
expecting to see here, below the fall — a salmo hicho,
or kitchen. I am delighted that you have an
opportunity of seeing this curious fish and of
observing his habits. I hope we shall catch him.

POIET. — Catch him ! we have no tackle strong

o

enough.

HAL. — I am surprised to hear a salmon fisher talk

so : yet he is too large to take a fly, and must be

trolled for. We must spin a bleak for him, or small

fish, as we do for the trout of the Thames or the

salmon of the Tay. Ornither, you understand the

arrangement of this kind of tackle — look out in mv

book the strongest set of spinning hooks you can find,

and supply them with a bleak ; and whilst I am

changing the reel, I will give you all the information

(which, I am sorry to say, is not much) that I have

been able to collect respecting this fish from my own

observation or the experience of others. The hucho

is the most predatory fish of the salmo genus, and is

made like an ill-fed trout, but longer and thicker.

q2

228 SALMON 1 A. [ninth pay.

He has larger teeth, more spines in the pectoral fin, a
thicker skin, a silvery belly, and dark spots only on
the back and sides, — I have never seen any on the
fins. The ratio of his length to his girth is as 8 to 1 S,
or, in well-fed fish, as 9 to 20 ; and a fish, 18 inches
long by 8 in girth, weighed 16,215 grains. Another,
2 feet long, 11 inches in girth, and 3 inches thick,
weighed 41bs. 2|oz. Another, 26 inches long,
weighed 51bs. 5oz. Of the spines in the fins, the
anal has 9, the caudal 20, the ventral 9, the dorsal
12, the pectoral 17 : having numbered the spines
in many, I give this as correct. The fleshy fin
belonging to the genus is, I think, larger in this
species than in any I have seen. Bloch, in his work on
fishes, states that there are black spots on all ihe fins,
with the exception of the anal, as a character of this
fish : and Professor Wagner informs me he has seen
huchos with this peculiarity ; but, as I said before, I
never saw any fish with spotted fins, — yet I have exa-
mined those of the Danube, Save, Drave, Mur, and
Isar : perhaps this is peculiar to some stream in
Bavaria — yet the huchos in the collection at Munich
have it not. The hucho is found in most rivers
tributary to the Danube — in the Save and Laybach
rivers always ; yet the general opinion is that they run
from the Danube twice a year, in spring and autumn.
I can answer for their migration in spring, having

ninth day.] SALMO HUCHO. 229

caught several in April, in streams connected with the
Save and Laybach rivers, which had evidently come
from the still dead water into the clear running streams,
tor they had the winter leech, or louse of the trout,
upon them : and I have seen them of all sizes, in
April, in the market at Laybach, from six inches to
two feet long; but they are found much larger, and
reach 30, or even 40, pounds. It is the opinion of
some naturalists, that it is only a fresh water fish ; yet
this I doubt, because it is never found bevond certain
falls — as in the Traun, the Drave, and the Save ; and,
there can be no doubt, comes into these rivers from
the Danube; and probably, in its largest state, is a
fish of the Black Sea."* Yet it can winter in fresh
water ; and does not seem, like the salmon, obliged to
hauut the sea, but falls back into the warmer waters
of the great rivers, from which it migrates in spring,
to seek a cooler temperature and to breed. The
fishermen at Gratz say they spawn in the Mur, between
March and May. In those I have caught at Laybach,
which, however, were small ones, the ova were not
sufficiently developed to admit of their spawning that

[* During a residence of nine months in Constantinople, often visiting
the fish-market in person, and making inquiry of persons most likely to
give accurate information, I could not learn that the hucho had ever
'^een seen there, — leading to the inference that it is unknown in the
Black Sea, — from whence the Turkish capital is in part supplied with
fish.— J. D.J

230 SALMON1A. [siyra day.

spring. Marsigli says, that they spawn in the Danube
in June. You have seen how violently they pursue
their prey : I have never taken one without fish in his
stomach; yet, when small, they will take a fly. In
the Kleingraben, which is a feeder to the Laybach
river, and where they are found of all sizes — from
201bs. downwards — the little ones take a flv, lout the
large ones are too ravenous to care about so insigni-
ficant a morsel, and prey like the largest trout, often
hunting in company, and chasing the small fish into
the narrow and shallow streams, and then devouring
them. — But I see your tackle is ready. As a more
experienced angler in this kind of fishing, you will
allow me to try my fortune with this fish, I still see
him feeding ; but I must keep out of sight, for he has
all the timidity peculiar to the salmo genus, and, if
he catch sight of me, will certainlv not run at the bait.

ORN. — You spin the bleak for him, I see, as for a
great trout. 0 ! there ! he has run at it — and you
have missed him. What a fish ! You surely were too
quick, for he sprung out of the water at the bleak.

HAL. — I was not too quick ; but he rose just as the
bleak was on the surface, and saw me ; and now he
is frightened, and gone down into the deep water.
We must retire till we see him feeding again, which
will be, I hope, in a few minutes, for his violence
shows he is not yet satisfied.

XINTH DAY.]

TAKING A SALMO HUCIIO.

231

POIET. — I think I saw him moving in another part
of the pool ; it is now ten minutes since we saw him last.

HAL. — You are right ; he is again on the feed,
and in a place where we have a better chance of
hooking him, as the water is deeper and in the shade.
He has run again at the bleak, but only as it shone
on tlie surface — but he is not frightened. Ah ! he
has taken it, and is floundering and struggling. He
is a powerful fish.

ORN. — He fights well, and runs towards the side
where the rock is.

HAL. — Take the net and frighten him from that
place, which is the only one where there is danger
of losing him. He is clear now, and begins to tire,
and in a few minutes more he will be exhausted.
Now land him.

Salmo IIuclio.

POIET. — A noble fish. But how like a trout ! —
exactly like a sea trout in whiteness, and I think in
spots.

232 SALMOXIA. [oththdat.

HAL. — He is much narrower or less broad, as you
would immediately discover, if you had a sea trout
here. But now we must try another pool, or the
tail of this; that fish was not alone, and at the
moment he took the bait — I think I saw the water
move from the stir of another. Take your rod and
fit your own tackle, Omither; half the glory of
catching this fish is yours, as you prepared the hooks.
I see you are in earnest ; the blood mounts in your
face. Oh ! ho ! Omither, you have pulled with too
much violence, and broken your tackle. Alas ! alas !
the fish you hooked was the consort of mine ; he will
not take again.

ORN. — The gut was bad, for I do not think I
struck too violently. What a loss ! How hard, to
let the first fish of the kind I ever angled for escape
me !

HAL. — There are probably more ; try again.

ORN. — Behold, the loss was more owing to the
imperfection of the tackle than to my ardour; for
the two end hooks only are gone, and you may see
the gut worn.

HAL. — The thing is done, and is not worth
comment. If vou can, let the next fish that rises
hook himself. When we are ardent, we are bad
judges of the effort we make ; and an angler who
could be cool with a new species of salmo, I should

ninth day.] SALMO IIUCHO. 233

not envy. Now all is right again ; try that pool.
There is a fish — ay ! and another, that runs at your
bait; but they are small ones, not much more than
twice as large as the bleak ; yet they show their spirit,
and though they cannot swallow it, they have torn it.
Put on another bleak. There, you have another run.

ORN. — Ay, it is a small fish, not much more than
a foot long ; yet he fights well.

HAL. — You have him, and I will land him. I do
not think such a fish a bad initiation into this kind
of sport. He does not agitate so much as a larger
one, and vet gratifies curiositv. There, we have him.
A very beautiful fish ; yet he has the leech, or louse,
though his belly is quite white.

ORN. — This fish is so like a trout, that, had 1
caught him when alone, I should hardly have remarked
his peculiarities ; and I am not convinced, that it is
not a variety of the common trout, altered in many
generations, by the predatory habits of his ancestors.

HAL. — How far the principle of change of
character and transmission of such character to the
offspring will apply, I shall not attempt to determine,
and whether all the varieties of the salmo with teeth
in their mouth may not have been produced from one
original; yet this fish is noiv as distinct from the
trout, as the cliarr or the umbla is ; and in Europe, it
exists only below great falls in streams connected

234 SALMONIA. rNISTH day.

with the Danube, and is never found in rivers of the
same districts connected with the Rhine, or Elbe, or
in any of them which empty themselves into the
Mediterranean ; though trout are common in all these
streams, and salmon and sea trout in those connected
with the ocean. According to the descriptions of
Pallas, it occurs in the rivers of Siberia, and probably
exists in those which run into the Caspian ; and it is
remarkable, that it is not found where the eel is usual —
at least this applies to all the tributary streams of the
Danube, and, it is said, to the rivers of Siberia.
Wherever I have seen it, there have been always
coarse fish — as chub, white fish, bleak, &c, and
rivers containing such fish are its natural haunts, for
it requires abundance of food, and serves to convert
these indifferent poor fish into a better kind of
nourishment for man. We will now examine the
interior of these fish. You see the stomach is larger
than that of a trout, and the stomachs of both are
full of small fish. In the larger one there is a chub,
a grayling, a bleak, and two or three small carp.
The skin you see is thick ; the scales are smaller than
those of a trout ; it has no teeth on the palate, and
the pectoral fin has four spines more, which, I think,
enables it to turn with more rapidity. You will find
at dinner, that, fried or roasted, he is a good fish.
His flesh is white, but not devoid of curd; and

ninth pay.] SAL MO HUCHO. 235

though rather softer than that of a trout, I have
never observed in it that muddiness, or peculiar
flavour, which sometimes occurs in trout, even when
in perfect season.

I shall say a few words more on the habits of this
fish. The hucho, as you have seen, preys with great
violence, and pursues his object as a foxhound or a
greyhound does. I have seen them in repose : they
lie like pikes, perfectly still, and I have watched one
for manv minutes, that never moved at all. In this
respect their habits resemble those of most carnivorous
and predatory animals. It is probably in consequence
of these habits, that they are so much infested by
lice, or leeches, which I have seen so numerous in
spring as almost to fill their gills, and interfere with
their respiration ; in which case they seek the most
rapid and turbulent streams to free themselves from
these enemies. They are very shy, and after being
hooked avoid the baited line. I once saw a hucho,
for which I was fishing, follow the small fish, and
then the lead of the tackle ; it seemed as if this had
fixed his attention, and he never offered at the bait
afterwards. I think a hucho, that has been pricked
by the hook, becomes particularly cautious, and
possesses, in this respect, the same character as the
salmon. In summer, when they are found in the
roughest and most violent currents, their fins

236 SALMOXIA.

[NINTH DAY.

(particularly the caudal fin) often appear worn and
broken ; at this season they are usually in constant
motion against the stream, and are stopped by no
cataract or dam, unless it be many feet in height, and
quite inaccessible. In the middle of September I
have caught huchos perfectly clean in rapid cool
streams, tributary to the Laybach and the Sava
rivers ; and, from the small development of their
generative system at this time, I have no doubt that
they spawn in spring. On the 13th of September,
1823, I caught, by spinning the dead small fish,
three huchos, that had not a single leech upon their
bodies, and they were the first fish of the kind I ever
saw free from these parasites.

ORN. — I am so much pleased with my good fortune
in catching this fish, that I shall try all day to-morrow
with the bait, for more of the same kind.

HAL. — You may do so ; but many of these fish
cannot be caught ; they migrate generally when the
water is foul, and, except in the spring and autumn,
do not so readilv run at the bait. I was once nearlv
a month seeking for one in rivers in which they are
found, between the end of June and that of Juty,
without being able to succeed in even seeing one alive ;
and as far as my information goes, the two places
where there is most probability of taking them, are at
Laybach and Eatisbon, in the tributary streams to the

ninth day.J ANGLING. 237

Sava, and in the Danube ; and the best time, in the
first of these situations, is in March and April, and
in the second, in May. I am told, likewise, that the
Tsar, which runs by Munich, is a stream where they
may be caught, when the water is clear : but I have
never fished in this stream — it having been foul,
either from rain or the melting of the snows,
whenever I have been at Munich ; but I have seen in
the fish-market at Munich very large huchos. Late
in the autumn, or in early spring, this river must be
an interesting one to fish in, as the schiel, or jperca
lucio perca, and three other species olperca are found
in it — the zingel, Fapron, and the perca schratz —
all fish of prey, and excellent food. I have eaten
them, but never taken them j they are rare in
European rivers, though not, like the hucho, peculiar
to the tributary streams of the Danube. The schiel
is found likewise in the Spree and in the Hungarian
lakes, and, according to Bloch, the zingel in the
Rhone.

POIET. — I should like extremely to fish in the
Isar : it is, I think, a new kind of pleasure to take a
new kind of fish, even though it is not unknown to
Natural Historians. But the most exquisite kind of
angling, in my opinion, would be that of angling in
a river never fished in by Europeans before ; and I
can scarcely imagine sport of a higher kind than that

233 SALMOXIA. [ninth day.

which involves a triple source of pleasure — catching
a fish, procuring good food for the table, and
making a discovery in Natural History, at the
same time. Sir Joseph Banks, who wras always a
great amateur of angling, had often this kind of
gratification. And to Captain Franklin and Dr.
Eichardson, in their expedition to the Arctic Ocean,
when they were almost starving, what a delightful
circumstance it must have been, to have taken with a
fly those large grayling, which they mention, of a new-
species, equally beautiful in their appearance, and
good for the table !

HAL. — When a boy, I have felt an interest in sea
fishing, for this reason — that there was a variety of
fish; but the want of skill in the amusement —
sinking a bait with a lead and pulling up a fish by
main force, soon made me tired of it. Since I have
been a fly-fisher, I have rarely fished in the sea, and
then only with a reel and fine tackle from the rocks,
which is at least as interesting an amusement as that
of the Cockney fishermen, who fish for roach and dace
in the Thames, which I have tried twice in my life,
but shall never try again.

PHYS. — You are severe on Cocknev fishermen, and,
I suppose, would apply to them only, the observation
of Dr. Johnson, which on a former occasion you
would not allow to be just : " Angling is an

xikthd.vt] ANGLING. 239

amusement with a stick and a string ; a worm at one
end, and a fool at the other." And to yourself you
would apply it with this change : " a fly at one end,
and a philosopher at the other." Yet the pleasure of
the Cockney angler appears to me of much the same
kind, and perhaps more continuous than yours; and
he has the happiness of constant occupation and
perpetual pursuit in as high a degree as you have ;
and if we were to look at the real foundations of your
pleasure, we should find them, like most of the
foundations of human happiness — vanity or folly. I
shall never forget the impression made upon me some
years ago, when I was standing on the pier at
Donegal, watching the flowing of the tide : I saw a
lame hoy of fourteen or fifteen years old, very
slightly clad, whom some persons were attempting to
stop in his progress along the pier ; but he resisted
them with his crutches, and, halting along, threw
himself from an elevation of five or six feet, with his
crutches, and a little parcel of wooden boats, that he
carried under his arm, on the sand of the beach. He
had to scramble or halt at least 100 yards, over hard
rocks, before he reached the water, and he several
times fell down and cut his naked limbs on the bare
stones. Being in the water, he seemed in an ecstasy,
and immediately put his boats in sailing order, and
was perfectly inattentive to the counsel and warning

240 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

of the spectators, who shouted to him, that he would
be drowned. His whole attention was absorbed by
his boats. He had formed an idea, that one should
outsail the rest, and when this boat was foremost he
was in delight; but if any one of the others got
beyond it he howled with grief; and once I saw him
throw his crutch at one of the unfavoured boats.
The tide came in rapidly — he lost his crutches, and
would have been drowned, but for the care of some of
the spectators : he was however wholly inattentive to
any thing save his boats. He is said to be quite
insane and perfectly ungovernable, and will not live
in a house, or wear any clothes, and his whole life is
spent in this one business — making and managing a
fleet of wooden boats, of which he is sole admiral.
How near this mad youth is to a genius, a hero, or
to an angler, who injures his health and risks his life
by going into the water as high as his middle, in the
hope of catching a fish which he sees rise, though he
already has a pannier full.

HAL. — Or a statesman, working by all means, fair
and foul, to obtain a blue riband. Or a fox-hunter,
risking his neck to see the hounds destroy an animal,
which he preserves to be destroyed, and which is
good for nothing. Or an aged, licentious voluptuary,
using all the powers of a high and cultivated intellect
to destroy the innocence of a beautiful virgin, for a

ninth day.] AMUSEMENTS. 241

transient gratification to render her miserable, and
by making a flaw in an inestimable and brilliant gem,
utterly to destroy its value.

PUTS. — You might go on and cite almost all the
objects of pursuit of rational beings, as, by distinction,
they are called. But to return to your favourite
amusement. I wonder that, with such a passion for
angling, you have never made an expedition in one
of our whalers — with Captain Scoresby for instance ;
you would then have enjoyed sport of a new kind.

HAL. — I should like much to see a whale taken,
but I do not think the sight worth the dangers and
privations of such a voyage. It would only be an
amusing spectacle and not an enterprise, unless,
indeed, I myself employed the harpoon ; and after all
it must be a tedious operation, that of watching the
sinking and rising of a fish obedient to a natural
instinct, which, in this instance, is the cause of his
death.

POIET. — How ?

HAL. — The whale, having no air bladder, can sink
to the lowest depths of the ocean : and, mistaking
the harpoon for the teeth of a sword fish or a shark,
he instantly descends, this being his manner of
freeing himself from these enemies, who cannot bear
the pressure of a deep ocean, and from ascending and
descending in small space, he puts himself in the

242 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

power of the whaler ; whereas, if he knew his force,
and were to swim on the surface in a straight line, he
would break or destroy the machinery by which he is
arrested, as easily as a salmon breaks the single gut
of a fisher when Ins reel is entangled.

POIET. — My amusement in such a voyage, would
be to look for the kraken and the sea snake.

HAL. — You have a vivid imagination, and might
see them.

POIET. — Then vou do not believe in the existence
of these wonderful animals ?

UAL. — No more than I do in that of the merman }
or mermaid.

POIET. — Yet we have histories which seem authentic,
of the appearance of these monsters, and there are
not wanting persons who assert, that they have seen
the mermaid even in these islands.

HAL. — I disbelieve the authenticity of these stories.
I do not mean to deny the existence of large marine
animals having analogies to the serpent ; the conger
we know is such an animal : I have seen one nearly
ten feet long, and there may be longer ones, but such
animals do not come to the surface. The only sea
snake, that has been examined by naturalists, turned
out to be a putrid species of shark — the squalus
maximus. Yet all the newspapers gave accounts of
this as a real animal, and endowed it with feet, which

smrraDAT.] KRAKEN.— MERMAID. 243

do not belong to serpents. And the sea snakes,
seen by American and Norwegian captains, have,
I think, generally been a company of porpoises, the
rising and sinking of which in lines would give
somewhat the appearance of the coils of a snake.
The kraken, or island-fish, is still more imaginary.
I have myself seen immense numbers of enormous
urticm marines, or blubbers, in the north seas, and
in some of the Norwegian fiords, or inland bays, and
often these beautiful creatures give colour to the
water; but it is exceedingly improbable, that an
animal of this genus should ever be of the size, even
of the whale; its soft materials' are little fitted for
locomotion, and would be easily destroyed by every
kind of fish. Hands and a finny tail, are entirely
contrary to the analogy of nature, and I disbelieve
the mermaid upon philosophical principles. The
dugong and manatee are the only animals combining
the functions of the mammalia with some of the
characters of fishes, that can be imagined, even as a
link, in this part of the order of nature. Many of
these stories have been founded upon the long-haired
seal seen at a distance ; others on the appearance of
the common seal under particular circumstances of
light and shade, and some on still more singular
circumstances. A worthv baronet, remarkable for
his benevolent views and active spirit, has propagated

R 2

244 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

a story of this kind, and he seems to claim for Iris
native country the honour of possessing this extraor-
dinary animal; but the mermaid of Caithness was
certainly a gentleman, who, happened to be travelling
on that wild shore, and who was seen bathing by
some young ladies at so great a distance, that not
only genus but gender was mistaken. I am acquainted
with him, and have had the story from his own
mouth. He is a young man fond of geological
pursuits, and one day in the middle of August,
having fatigued and heated himself by climbing a
rock, to examine a particular appearance of granite,
he gave his clothes to his Highland guide, who was
taking care of Iris pony, and descended to the sea.
The sun was just setting, and he amused himself for
some time by swimming from rock to rock, and
having unclipt hair and no cap, he sometimes threw
aside his locks, and wrung the water from them on
the rocks. He happened the year after to be at
Harrowgate, and was sitting at table with two young
ladies from Caithness, who were relating to a wonder-
ing audience the story of the mermaid they had seen,
which had already been published in the newspapers.
They described her as she usually is described by
poets, as a beautiful animal, with a remarkably fair
skin and long green hair. The young gentleman
took the liberty, as most of the rest of the company

ninth day.] MERMAID. 245

did, to put a few questions to the elder of the two
ladies — such as, on what day, and precisely where
this singular phenomenon had appeared. She had
noted down, not merely the day, but the hour and
minute, and produced a map of the place. Our
bather referred to his journal, and showed that a
human animal was swimming in the very spot at that
very time, who had some of the characters ascribed
to the mermaid, but who laid no claim to others,
particularly the green hair and fish's tail ; but being
rather sallow in the face, was glad to have such
testimony to the colour of his body beneath his
garments.

POIET. — But I do not understand upon what
philosophical principles you deny the existence of the
mermaid. We are not necessarily acquainted with
all the animals that inhabit the bottom of the sea;
and I cannot help thinking there must have been
some foundation for the fable of the Tritons and
Nereids.

HAL. — Ay; and of the ocean divinities, Neptune
and Amphitrite !

POIET. — Now I think you are prejudiced.

HAL. — I remember the worthy baronet, whom I
just now mentioned, on some one praising the late
Sir Joseph Banks very highly, said, u Sir Joseph was
an excellent man — but he had his prejudices.-"

246 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

What were they? said my friend. "Why, he did
not believe in the niermaid." Pray still consider me
as the baronet did Sir Joseph — prejudiced on this
subject.

ORN. — But give us some reasons for the impos-
sibility of the existence of tins animal.

HAL. — Nay, I did not say impossibility ; I am too
much of the school of Izaac Walton to talk of
impossibility. It doubtless might please God to
make a mermaid ; but I do not believe God ever did
make one.

ORN. — And why ?

HAL. — Because wisdom and order are found in all
his works, and the parts of animals are always in
harmony with each other, and always adapted to
certain ends consistent with the analogy of nature ;
and a human head, human hands, and human
mammae, are wholly inconsistent with a fish's tail.
The human head is adapted for an erect posture, and
in such a posture an animal with a fish's tail could
not swim ; and a creature with lungs must be on the
surface several times in a day — and the sea is an
inconvenient breathing place ; and hands are instru-
ments of manufacture — and the depths of the ocean
are little fitted for fabricating that mirror which our
old prints gave to the mermaid. Such an animal, if
created, could not long exist ; and, with scarcely

ninth day.] MERMAID. 247

any locomotive powers, would be the prey of other
fishes, formed in a manner more suited to their
element. I have seen a most absurd fabrication of a
mermaid, exposed as a show in London, said to have
been found in the Chinese seas, and bought for a
large sum of money. The head and bust of two
different apes were fastened to the lower part of a
kipper salmon, which had the fleshy fin, and all the
distinct characters, of the salmo salar.

ORN. — And yet there were people who believed
tins to be a real animal.

HAL. — It was insisted on, to prove the truth of
the Caithness story. But what is there which people
will not believe ?

POIET. — In listening to your conversation we have
forgotten our angling, and have lost some moments of
fine cloudy weather.

HAL. — I thought you were tired of catching trouts
and graylings, and I therefore did not urge you to
continue your fly-fishing ; and this part of the river
does not contain so many grayling as the pools above
— but there are good trout, and it is possible there
may be huchos. Let me recommend to you to put on
minnow tackle — that tackle with the five small hooks ;
and, as we have minnows and bleaks, you may
perhaps hook trout, or even huchos ; and in half an
hour our fish dinner at the inn will be ready. I

248 SALMON I A. [ninth day.

shall return there, to see that all is right, and shall
expect you when you have finished your fishing.

[They all meet in the dining-room, of the inn.]

EAL. — Well, what sort of sport have you had since
I left you ?

POIET. — We have each caught a trout and two large
chubs, and have had two or three runs besides — but
we saw no huchos ; and though several large grayling
rose in one of the streams, and we tried to catch them
by spinning the minnow in every possible way, yet
they took no notice of our bait.

HAL. — Tins is usually the case. I have heard of
anglers who have taken grayling with minnows, but
it is a rare occurrence, and never happened to me.
Your dinner, I dare say, is now ready ; and you
know it is a dinner entirely of the genus salmo, with
vegetables and fruit. You have hucho from the
Traun, and charr from Aussee, and trout from the
Traun See, that were brought alive to the inn, and
have only just been killed and crimped, and are now
boiling in salt and water ; and you have likewise
grayling and laverets from the Traun See, winch are
equally fresh, and will be fried.

PETS. — I think, in this part of the continent,
the art of carrying and keeping fish is better understood
than in England. Every inn has a box containing

kinth day.] METHOD OF CONVEYING FISH. 249

grayling, trout, carp, or charr, into which water from
a spring runs ; and no one thinks of carrying or
sendino; dead fish for a dinner. A fish barrel full of
cool water, which is replenished at every fresh source
amonsyst these mountains, is carried on the shoulders
of the fisherman. And the fish, when confined in
wells, are fed with bullock's liver, cut into fine pieces,
so that thev are often in better season in the tank or
stew than when they were taken. I have seen trout,
grayling, and charr even, feed voraciously, and take
their food almost from the hand. These methods of
carrying and preserving fish have, I believe, been
adopted from the monastic establishments. At
Admondt, in Styria, attached to the magnificent
monastery of that name, are abundant ponds and
reservoirs for every species of fresh- wrater fish; and
the charr, grayling, and trout are preserved in dif-
ferent waters — covered, enclosed, and under lock and
key.

POIET. — I admire in this country not only the
mode of preserving, carrying, and dressing fish, but
I am delighted, generally, with the habits of life
of the peasants, and with their manners. It is a
country in which I should like to live ; — the scenery is
so beautiful, the people so amiable and good-natured,
and their attentions to strangers so marked by courtesy
and disinterestedness.

250 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

PHYS. — They appear to me very amiable and good ;
but all classes seem to be little instructed.

POIET. — There are few philosophers amongst them,
certainly ; but they appear very happy, and

Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.

We have neither seen nor heard of any instances of
crime since we have been here. They fear their God,
love their sovereign, are obedient to the laws, and
seem perfectly contented. I know you would contrast
them with the active and educated peasantry of the
manufacturing districts of England ; but I believe
they are much happier, and I am sure they are
generally better.

PHYS. — I doubt this ; the sphere of enjoyment, as
well as of benevolence, is enlarged by education.

POIET. — I am sorry to say I think the system
carried too far in England. God forbid, that any
useful light should be extinguished ! Let persons
who wish for education receive it ; but it appears to
me, that, in the great cities in England, it is, as it
were, forced upon the population ; and that sciences,
which the lower classes can only very superficially
acquire, are presented to them, in consequence of
which thev often become idle and conceited and above
their usual laborious occupations. The unripe fruit
of the tree of knowledge is, I believe, always bitter or

ninth day.] EDUCATION. 251

sour; and scepticism and discontent — sicknesses of
the mind — are often the results of devouring it.

HAL. — Surely you cannot have a more religious,
more moral, or more improved population than that
of Scotland ?

POIET. — Precisely so. In Scotland education is
not forced upon the people ; it is sought for, and it
is connected with their forms of faith, acquired in
the bosoms of their families, and generally pursued
with a distinct object of prudence or interest ; nor is
that kind of education wanting in this country.

PHYS. — Where a book is rarely seen, a newspaper
never.

POIET. — Pardon me — there is not a cottage with-
out a prayer-book ; and I am not sorry that these
innocent and happy men are not made active and
tumultuous subjects of King Press, whom I consider
as the most capricious, depraved, and unprincipled
tyrant, that ever existed in England. Depraved —
for it is to be bought by great wealth ; capricious —
because it sometimes follows, and sometimes forms,
the voice of the lowest mob ; and unprincipled —
because, when its interests are concerned, it sets at
defiance private feeling and private character, and
neither regards virtue, dignity, nor purity.

HAL. — My friends, you are growing warm ; I
know you differ essentially on this subject; but

252 • SALMONIA. [ninth day.

surely you will allow that the full liberty of the press,
even though it sometimes degenerates into licentious-
ness, and though it may sometimes be improperly
used by the influence of wealth, power, or private
favour, is yet highly advantageous, and even essential
to the existence of a free country : and, useful as it
may be to the population, it is still more useful to
the government ; to wrhom, as expressing the voice of
the people, though not always vox Dei, it may be
regarded as oracular or prophetic. But let us
change our conversation, which is neither in time
nor place.

POIET. — This river must be inexhaustible for
sport ; I have nowhere seen so many fish.

HAL. — However full a river may be of trout and
grayling, there is a certain limit to the sport of the
angler, if continuous fishing be adopted in the same
pools. Every fish is in its turn made acquainted by
diurnal habit with the artificial fly, and either taken
or rendered cautious ; so that in a river fished much
by one or two good anglers, many fish cannot be
caught, except under peculiar circumstances of very
windy, rainy, or cloudy weather, when many flies
come on; or at night, or at the time the water is
slightly coloured by a flood, or when fish change
their haunts in consequence of a great inundation.
In the Usk, in Monmouthshire, when it was very

ninth day.] EFFECT OF CONTINUOUS FISHING. 253

full of fish, in the best fishing time, when the spring
brown and dun flies were on the water, it was not
usual for some excellent anglers, who composed a
party of nine, and who fished in this river for ten
continuous days, to catch more than two or three fish
each person. But one day, when the water was
coloured by a flood, in which case the artificial fly
could not be distinguished by the fish from the
natural fly, I caught twelve or fourteen of the same
fish, that had been in the habit of refusing my flies
for many days successively. This was in the end of
March, 1809, when the flies always came on the
water with great regularity ; the blues in dark days,
the browns in bris-ht davs, between twelve and
two o' clock in the middle of the day. In rivers
where the artificial fly has never been used, I believe
all the fish will mistake good imitations for natural
flies, and in their turn, to use an angler's phrase,
" taste the steel ; " but even very imperfect imitations
and coarse tackle, winch are only successful at night,
or in turbid water, are sufficient to render fish
cautious. Tins I am convinced of, by observing the
difference of the habits of fish in strictly preserved
streams, and in streams where even peasants have
fished with the coarsest tackle. I might quote the
Traun at Ischl, where the native fishermen used three
or four of the coarsest flies on the coarsest hair links

254 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

made of four or five or six hairs, and the Traun, at
Gmiinden, where they are not allowed to fish ; the
fish that rose took with much more certainty at
Gmiinden than at Ischl. At a time when many
flies are on, particularly large ones, a few days of
continuous fishing, even with a single rod, will soon
make the sport indifferent in the best rivers; but
the larger and the deeper the river, the longer it
continues, because fish change their stations occa-
sionally, and pricked fish sometimes leave their
haunts, which are occupied by others ; and graylings
are more disposed to change their places than trouts.
As instances of the difference in this respect
between large and small rivers, I may quote the
Yockla and the Agger in Upper Austria. The
first of these rivers, when I fished in it in 1818,
Mas full of trout and grayling, and I believe I was
the first person, for at least many years, that had
ever thrown an artificial fly upon it. It is a small
stream, from eight to fifteen yards wide, and can
every where be commanded by the double-handed
rod, and is generally shallow. The first day that
I fished in this stream, which was in the beginning
of August, at every throw I hooked a fish, and I
took out and restored again to their element in
the course of a few hours more than one hundred
and fifty trout and grayling. The next day I

ninth dat.J DIFFERENCE OF RIVERS. 255

fished in the same places, but with a very different
result; I caught only half a dozen large fish: the
third morning, going over the same ground, I had
great difficulty even to get a brace of fish for mv
dinner, and those, as well as I recollect, I caught by
throwing in places which had not been fished before.
I ought to mention, that the space of water where
this experiment was made did not exceed half a mile
in length. I shall now speak of the Agger, which is
a much larger and deeper river than the Yockla, and
cannot be commanded in any part by a double-handed
rod, being at least from forty to sixty yards across.
The first time I fished tins river, I had the same kind
of sport as in the Yockla ; the second day, under the
same favourable circumstances, there were fewer rises
than on the first day, but still sufficient to give good
sport; and it was the fourth day before it became
difficult to catch a good dish of fish, and necessary to
seek new water. The greater depth of the water, and
the change of place of the fish, particularly the gray-
ling, explain this, to say nothing of the greater num-
ber of fish which the larger river contained. I am,
of course, speaking of one of the best periods of fly-
fishing, when many large flies, of which imitations are
easily found, have been on the water. In spring (a
bad season for fly-fishing in high iVlpine countries) I
have thrown great varieties of flies on these two

256 SALM0N1A. [ninth day.

highly stocked streams, and have found it difficult to
get a brace of fish for the table, as the trout and
grayling were all lying at the bottom, not expecting
any winged food at this season.

A river that runs into a large lake affords, at it
junction with the lake, by far the best place for con-
tinuous angling, particularly for trout in autumn.
The fish are constantly running up the river for the
purpose of spawning, and every day offers a succession
of new shoals, of which many will take the fly ; I say
many, because at this season some of the fish, parti-
cularly the females, are capricious, and refuse a bait,
of which, under other circumstances, they are greedy.
I may say the same with respect to the exit of a river
from a lake, to which successions of fishes resort, and
though trout are found abundantly in such places,
yet they are often still better places for grayling when
these fish exist in the lake, the tendency of grayling
being rather, as I said on another occasion, to descend
than to ascend waters, whilst that of the trout is
the contrary. The same principles apply to salmon
and sea-trout fishing, which run up rivers from basins
of the sea : the best situations for continuous angling
are those parts of the river where there is a succession
of fishes from the tide.

POIJst. — You spoke just now of peasants fishing
with the fly in Austria : I thought this art was

ninth day.] ANGLING FOR FROGS. 257

entirely English j and though I have travelled much,
I do not recollect ever to have seen fly-fishing
practised by native anglers abroad.

HAL. — I assure you there are fishers with the
artificial fly in different parts of Switzerland, Ger-
many, and Illyria, though always with rude tackle,
and usually upon rapid streams. Besides the Traun, I
can mention the Rhine, the Ehone, and the Drave, as
rivers where I have seen fish caught with rude
imitations of flies used by native anglers. In Italy,
where trout and grayling are very rare, and only
found amongst the highest mountain chains, I have
never seen any fly-fishers ; but near Ravenna I have
sometimes seen anglers for frogs, who threw their
bait exactly as we throw a fly, and caught great
numbers of these animals : and the nature of their
apparatus surprised me more than their method of
using it; instead of a hook and bait, they employed
a small dry frog, tied to a long piece of twine, the
forelegs of which projected like two hooks, and this
they threw at a distance, by means of a long rod.
The frogs rose like fish and gorged the small dry
frog, by the legs of which they were pulled out of
the water. I was informed by one of these fishermen
that he sometimes took two hundred frogs in this
way in a morning, and that the frogs never swallowed
any bait when still or apparently dead, but caught at

253 SALMON! A. [ninth day.

whatever was moving or appeared alive on the surface
of the water ; so that tins reptile feeds like a nobler
animal, the eagle, only on living prey.*

POIET. — You say trout are rare in Italy, yet on
Ash Wednesday, a great day for the consumption of
fish in Rome, I remember to have seen some large
trout, which, I was told, were from the Yelino,
above the Falls of Terni.

HAL. — I once went almost to the source of tins
river, above Rieti, in the hopes of catching trout, but
I was unsuccessful. I saw some taken by nets, but
the fish were too few, and the river too foul, from the
deposition of calcareous matter, to render it a good
stream for the angler. In tins journey I saw some
trout in brooks in the Sabine country, that I dare
say might have been taken by the fly ; but they were
small, and like the brook trout of England. In these
streams, as well as in the Yelino and other torrents, I
found the water-ouzel, which, as far as my knowledge
extends, is always a companion of the trout, and I
believe feeds much upon the same larvae of water-flies.

[* In my work on the Ionian Islands, another kind of angling is
noticed as practised there, and that with the fly — an aerial kind — for
swallows. In spring, when these hirds first arrive, and then crowd
about the lofty cliffs of the little island of Paxo, the natives, standing
or sitting on the dizzy margin, take them, when on the wing, with
the bait mentioned, attached to a fine hook and line, throwing it
into the air, very much in the same manner as in ordinary fly-
fishing.— J. D.]

sixth day.] CHAER. 259

OR.v. — These singular little birds, as I have
witnessed, walk under water. I have often watched
them running beneath the surface of the sides of
streams, and passing from stone to stone; not,
however, by means of air-pump feet, as I had once
conjectured, but by laying hold with their claws of
stones and the projecting parts of rocks. I conclude
they were then in the act of searching for, or feeding
upon, larvae.

HAL. — I suppose so, and I hope Ornither will
shoot one to give us an opportunity of examining the
contents of their stomachs, and of knowing with
certainty the nature of their food.

PHYS. — The charr * is a most beautiful and
excellent fish, and is, of course, a fish of prey. Is he
not an object of sport to the angler ?

HAL. — They generally haunt deep cool lakes, and
are seldom found at the surface till late in the
autumn. When they are at the surface, however,
they will take either fly or minnow. I have known
some caught in both these ways; and have myself
taken a charr, even in summer, in one of those
beautiful, small, deep lakes in the Upper Tyrol, near
Nassereit; but it was where a cool stream entered
from the mountain ; and the fish did not rise, but
swallowed the artificial fly under water. The charr is

* Salmling of the Germans.

s2

260

SALMONI A.

[ninth day.

Charr of Windermere.

Gwyniad, or Schelly of Han es Water.

Charr of Hawes Water,

NINTH DAY.] UMBLA. 261

always in its colour a very brilliant fish, but in
different countries there are many varieties in the
tint. I do not remember ever to have seen more
beautiful fish than those of Aussee, which, when in
perfect season, have the lower fins and the belly of
the brightest vermilion, with a white line on the
outside of the pectoral, ventral, anal, and lower part
of the caudal fin, and with vermilion spots, surrounded
by the bright olive shade of the sides and back ; the
dorsal fin in the cliarr has ] 1 spines, the pectoral 14,
the ventral 9, the anal 10, and the caudal 20. I
have fished for them in many lakes, without success,
both in England and Scotland, and also amongst the
Alps ; and I am told the only sure way of taking
them is by sinking a line with a bullet, and a hook
having a live minnow attached to it, in the deep
water which they usually haunt; and in this way,
likewise, I have no doubt the umbla, or ombre chevalier,
might be taken. *

POIET. — I have never happened to see this fish.

HAL. — It is verv like a charr in form, but is
without spots, and has a white and silvery belly.
On the table, its flesh cuts white or cream-colour,

[ * In the lakes of Westmoreland and Cumberland, in which the
cliarr is found, the manner of taking it varies ; in Windermere trolling
with a minnow is successfully used ; in Hawes Water the artificial fly ;
in Crummock Water it refuses all baits, and is never caught except iu
the net.— J. D.]

262

SALMONI A.

[ninth day.

and it is exceedingly like charr in flavour. Feb. ] 1,
1827, one was brought me from the lake of Bourget,
in Savoy; it was said to be small for this fish — it

Umbla.

was 15 inches long, and 7 J in circumference. In
the dorsal fin there were 1 2 spines, in the pectoral 9,
in the ventral 8, in the anal 11, and in the caudal 24.

POIET. — Is it found in this country ?

HAL. — From some descriptions I have heard of
certain species of the salmo found in the Maun See,
Traun See, and Leopoldstadt See, I think it is.
Bloch says, that it is peculiar to the lakes of Geneva
and Neufchatel; but what I have just said must
convince you of the inaccuracy of this statement, as
I dare say the fish exists in other deep waters of a
like character amongst the Alps. It is a fish closely

kixth day.] LA VERET. 253

allied to the charr, and congenerous both in form
and habits.*

PHTS. — You mentioned, among the fish for dinner,
the laveret : I never heard of this fish before.

HAL. — It is a fish known in England by the name
of shelley, or fresh-water herring ; in Wales, by that
of gwyniacl ; in Ireland, by that of pollan ; and in
Scotland, by that of vendis. In colour it is most like
a grayling, but with broader and larger scales : it is
common in the large lakes of most Alpine countries,
and is known at Geneva by the name of ferra ; and I
believe that the salmo caruleus, or salmo Wartmannl
of Bloch, or the gang-fisch of the lake of Constance,
from a comparison that I made of it with the ferra,
is a variety of the same fish. It sometimes is as
large as 2lbs. ; and when quite fresh, and well fried
or broiled, is an exceedingly good fish, and calvers
like a grayling. The laveret of different lakes has
appeared to me to vary in the number of the spines
in the fins. One, brought me from the lake of
Zurich, 13 inches long, and 8 inches in girth, had
12 spines in the dorsal fin, 15 in the pectoral fins,
11 in the ventral, 13 in the anal, and 18 in the
caudal. The gang-fisch, from the lake of Constance,

[* According to M. Agassiz, the ombre chevalier and the charr of
the lakes of the north of England, are merely varieties of the same
species, putting aside colour as of no importance in relation to specifio
character.]

2b4 SALMOXIA. [ninth day.

which was of a bluer colour, but, I think decidedly,
only a variety of the same fish, was 7| inches long,
and 4 in girth, had 12 spines in the dorsal fin, 15 in
the pectoral, 11 in the ventral, 12 in the anal, and
18 in the caudal. A laveret, from the Traun See,
had 12 spines in the dorsal fin, 17 in the pectoral,
13 in the ventral fin, 12 in the anal fin, and 24 in
the caudal fin. One from the Halstadt See* was a
larger and broader fish, but did not differ from the
laveret of the Traun See, except in having two spines
less in the tail.

POIET. — Is this fish ever taken with the line ?

HAL. — I believe only with nets. It feeds on
vegetables; and in the stomachs of those I have
opened, I have never found either flies or small fishes.f

AT TABLE.

ORN. — Now the hucho is dressed, and on the same
table with other species of the salmo, I perceive his
peculiarities more distinctly; and, in addition to
those you have mentioned, he appears to me to have
a stronger upper jaw, and a larger projection of bone
below the orbit of the eye.

* See Vignette, page 115.
[ + This, its supposed manner of feeding, is doubtful. — See note at
the end of the volume. — J. D.]

xinth day.] 0RGAX1SAT10X OF THE HUCIIO. 265

HAL. — He has ; and you will find a similar
character in the pike and perch, and, I believe, in
most fishes of prey ; and the use of it seems to be, to
strengthen the fulcrum of the lever on which the
lower jaw moves, so as to afford the means of greater
strength to the whole muscular apparatus, by means
of which the fish seizes his prey.

POIET. — These fishes, then, are analogous to the
predatory animals of the feline genus, which have this
part of the head exceedingly strong ; and it is here
that the craniologists or phrenologists fix the organ of
courage : does not this extensive chain of analogies
offer an argument in favour of this long-agitated and
generally unpopular doctrine ?

PHYS. — In my opinion, it offers, like most of the
facts which have been brought forward to prove the
truths of the view of Gall and Spurzheim, an
argument rather unfavourable, when thoroughly and
minutely examined.

POIET. — How ?

PHYS. — In these rapacious and predatory animals,
the organisation of the head must be connected with
the functions of the jaws, as the construction of the
shoulder-blade must be related to the use of the fore
leg, %which, being intended to strike and seize by
talons, must have a powerful support and a strong
bony apparatus in the shoulder, which might as well

206 SALMOXIA. [ninth day.

be called the organ of courage as the projection below
the frontal bone : but these animals have no more
what is called courage in man, than they have what
is called reason : they face danger when they are
hungry, but almost always fly when their appetite is
satisfied : a hen, in defending her chickens against a
powerful dog, or the game cock, in fighting for the
female, or the timid stag in the rutting season, shows
quite as much of this quality as the most ferocious
royal tiger. Courage is the result of strong passions
or strong motives ; and in man it usually results from
the love of glory or the fear of shame ; and it appears
to me a perfectly absurd idea, that of connecting it
with an organ which is merely intended to assist the
predatory habits and the mastication of a carnivorous
animal.

HAL. — I agree with Physicus in this view of the
subject. I once heard a physiologist of some reputa-
tion deducing an argument in favour of craniology,
from the form of the skull of the beaver, which he
called a constructive animal, and contended, that
there was something of the same character in the
skulls of distinguished architects : now, the skull of the
beaver is so formed, that he is able to use his jaws
for cutting down the trees with which he makes his
dam ; and if this analogy were correct, the architect
ought unquestionably to employ Ins teeth for the

ninth day.] CRANIOLOGY. 267

same purpose; and though I have known distin-
guished men, who have been in the habit of using
knives for cutting furniture with a sort of nervous
restlessness of hand, I do not recollect to have heard
of the teeth being employed in the same way ; and I
think it would be quite as correct to find the
architectural or constructive organ in the opposite
part of the body — the tail, as the beaver makes a more
ingenious use of this part than even of Ins mouth.*
Pray, have you ever observed, Poietes, any particular
protuberance in the nether parts of any of our
distinguished architects ?

POIET. — I am not a craniologist ; but I would
have the doctrine overturned by facts, and not by
ridicule ; and I have certainly seen some remarkable
instances, which were favourable to the system.

HAL — My experience is entirely on the opposite

[* According to the popular idea, which hy Hearne has heen
shown to be erroneous. In his work, "A Journey to the Northern
Ocean," published in 1795, a full, and, I believe the first, accurate
account is given of the habits of this intelligent and interesting
animal. At the same time that he sweeps away the fictions of its
romantic history, he describes particulars not less marvellous, as to the
manner of its constructing its dwelling-places, with their entrances
under water, and their dams on the equalising principle of mill-dams,
to secure that these should be always under water. It is not the
tail — structurally unfit — that the beaver employs in its works,
"displaying a degree of sagacity and foresight of approaching evils
little inferior to that of the human species," but its teeth and
paws. — J. D.]

2G8 SALMONI A.

[ninth day.

side ; and I once saw a distinguished craniolo<*ist in
error on a point which he considered as the most
decided. He was shown two children, one of whom
was possessed of great mathematical acquirements,
the other of extraordinary musical taste. With the
utmost confidence he pronounced judgment, and was
mistaken. It appeared to me, that, whilst he was
examining the two heads, he hummed an air, which,
being out of tune, was not responded to by the
musical child, but somehow struck the fancy of the
mathematical one.

ORN. — This hucho is a very good fish, and, indeed,
I can praise all the varieties of the salmo on the
table that I have yet tasted.

PHYS. — Amongst them, I prefer the charr, which,
I think, is even better than the best fresh salmon I
ever tasted.

POIET. — This charr is surprisingly red and full
of curd ; I wonder at its fat : it comes from the
Griindtl See, which is a high Alpine lake, covered
with ice more than half the year : what food can the
fish find in so pure and cold a water ?

HAL. — Minnows and small chubs are found in this
lake ; and the flies which haunt it in summer have
been aquatic larvae in the autumn, winter, and
spring; and there are usually great quantities of
small shell fish, which live in the deeper parts of

ninth day.1 FAT AND FLESH OF HUCHO. 269

this water; so that charr may find food even in
winter; and cold, or the repose to which it leads,
seems favourable to the development or conservation
of fat. Most of the polar animals (the whale, morse,
seal, and white bear, for instance) are loaded with
this substance; and the salmon of the Arctic Ocean
are remarkable for their quantity of curd : those that
run up the rivers in Russia from the White Sea are
said to be fatter and better than those caught in the
streams which run into the Baltic.

ORN. — I agree with Physicus in his praise of the
charr : we are indebted to you for an excellent
entertainment.

HAL. — At Lintz, on the Danube, I could have
given you a fish dinner of a different description,
which you might have liked as a variety. The four
kinds of perch, the spiegelkarpfen, and the silurus
glanis) all good fish, and which I am sorry we have
not in England, where I doubt not they might be
easily naturalised, and they would form an admirable
addition to the table in inland counties. Since
England has become Protestant, the cultivation of
fresh-water fish has been much neglected. The
burbot, or lotte, which already exists in some of the
streams tributary to the Trent, and which is a most
admirable fish, might be diffused without much
difficulty ; and nothing could be more easy than to

270 SALM02SIA. [ninth day.

naturalise the spiegelkarpfen and silurus ; and I see
no reason why the perca lucio perca and zingel should
not succeed in some of our clear lakes and ponds,
which abound in coarse fish. The new Zoological
Society, I hope, will attempt something of this kind ;
and it will be a better object than introducing birds
and beasts of prey — though I have no objection to
any sources of rational amusement or philosophical
curiosity.

POIET. — A fish dinner such as you have just
described, combined with one such as we have en-
joyed to-day, might, I think, be made an interesting
experimental lecture on natural history. The analogies
of the different species and genera of fishes, so distinct
in the form of their organs, are likewise marked in
the appearance and taste of their flesh. The salmon
and the charr may be regarded as the generic types
of the salmo. By trout, which have sometimes red
and sometimes white flesh, they are connected with
the grayling and hucho. By the grayling the trout
is connected with the laveret, and by the laveret the
genus salmo is connected with the carp genus. The
charr is immediately connected with the grayling and
laveret by the umbla. By the sea trout the salmon
is connected with the trout ; and by the hucho, with
the pike and perch families.

HAL. — AVe will arrange a dinner of this kind in

ninth ..av.] THE TRA UX. 271

England, and by means of it follow the analogies of
salt and fresh water fishes. But the time for our
parting is almost arrived. — Let us drink a glass each
of this old wine of the Danube to our next happy
meeting, and go and take a last look of the Fall of
Traun, whilst our carriages are preparing.

[They walk to the rock above the Fall of the Traun.']

HAL. — See, the cataract is now in great beauty ;
the river above is coloured by the setting sun, and
the glow of the rosy light on the upper stream is
beautifully and wonderfully contrasted with the tints
of the cataract below. Have you ever seen anything
so fine?

POIET. — The lights are beautiful; but I have
certainlv seen a finer combination of features in the
Tall of the Velino, at Terni, though that water is not
clear ; but, even with this defect, it is certainly the
most perfect of European falls. This cascade of the
Traun, though not so elevated as that of Terni, and
not so large as that of Schaffhausen, yet, from its
perfect clearness, and the harmony of the surrounding
objects, ranks high, as to picturesque effect, amongst
the waterfalls of Europe; and the wonderful trans-
parency of its pale-green water gives it a peculiar
charm in my eyes, enhanced as it is now by the light
of the glowing western sky; and the tints of the

272 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

quadrant iris on its spray are not brighter than those
of its stream and foam.

ORN. — We have now followed this water at least
thirty miles, and wherever we have seen it, it has
always displayed the same characters of clearness and
rapidity — of green stream and white foam; and we
have traced it from the snowy mountains of Styria
to the plains of Upper Austria, where it serves to
purify the darker Danube. How is it, that it has
preserved its transparency, though so many of its
tributary streams have been foul, either from the
thunder storm, or from the sudden melting of snows ?

HAL. — The three small lakes and the two larger
ones, which are in fact its reservoirs, are the cause of
this. The Grundtl See furnishes its principal stream,
and this lake is fed by two others — Toplitz See and
Lammer See ; and the tributary streams, which unite
at Aussee, from Alten Aussee and Oden See, though
one is blue and the other yellow, yet combine to give
a tint, which is nearly the same as that from the
stream of the Grundtl See, and which the river retains
throughout its course. Yet I have seen even this
river very foul, but only in a part of its course, below
Ischel. I was once at that place, when the thunder
storm of a night having washed the dust of the roads
into the river, it was extremely turbid from Ischel
to the Traun See. It rendered the upper part

sixth d.vt.] COLOUR OF WATER. 273

of this large lake coloured; but, notwithstanding
this, the river came from the lower part of it per-
fectly clear, and I caught fish in it there with a
fly, which at its entrance into the lake was quite
impossible.

POIET. — You, Halieus, must certainly have con-
sidered the causes which produce the colours of waters.
The streams of our own island are of a very different
colour from these mountain rivers, and why should
the same element or substance assume such a variety
of tints ?

HAL — I certainly have often thought upon the
subject, and I have made some observations and one
experiment in relation to it. I will give you my
opinions with pleasure, and, as far as I know, they
have not been brought forward in any of the works
on the properties of water, or on its consideration as
a chemical element. The purest water with which we
are acquainted is undoubtedly that which falls from
the atmosphere. Having touched air alone, it can
contain nothing but what it gains from the atmo-
sphere, and it is distilled without the chance of those
mpurities, which may exist in the vessels used in an
artificial operation. We cannot well examine the
water precipitated from the atmosphere, as rain, with-
out collecting it in vessels, and all artificial contact
gives more or less of contamination ; but in snow,

T

1

274 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

melted by the sunbeams, that has fallen on glaciers,
themselves formed from frozen snow, water may be
regarded as in its state of greatest purity. Congela-
tion expels both salts and air from water, whether
existing below, or formed in, the atmosphere ; and in
the high and uninhabited regions of glaciers, there
can scarcely be anv substances to contaminate.
Removed from animal and vegetable life, they are
even above the mineral kingdom ; and though there
are instances in which the rudest kind of vegetation
(of the fungus or mucor kind) is even found upon
snows, yet this is a rare occurrence; and red snow,
which is occasioned by it, is an extraordinary and not
a common phenomenon towards the pole, and on the
highest mountains of the globe. Having examined
the water formed from melted snows on glaciers in
different parts of the Alps, and having always found
it of the same quality, I shall consider it as pure
water, and describe its characters. Its colour,
when it has any depth, or when a mass of it is
seen tlrrough, is bright blue ; and, according to
its greater or less depth of substance, it has more
or less of this colour : as its insipidity, and its
other physical qualities, are not at this moment
objects of your inquiry, I shall not dwell upon
them. In general, in examining lakes and masses
of water in high mountains, their colour is of

six!.; dav.] COLOUR OF WATER. 275

the same bright azure. And Captain Parry states,
that the water on the Polar ice has the like beautiful
tint. When vegetables grow in lakes, the colour
becomes nearer sea green, and as the quantity of
impregnation from their decay increases — greener,
yellowish green, and at length, when the vegetable
extract is large in quantity — as in countries where
peat is found — yellow, and even brown. To mention
instances, the Lake of Geneva, fed from sources
(particularly the higher Rhone) formed from melting
snow, is blue ; and the Rhone pours from it, dyed of
the deepest azure, and retains partially this colour
till it is joined by the Saone, which gives to it a
greener hue. The Lake of Morat, on the contrary,
which is fed from a lower country, and from less pure
sources, is grass green. And there is an illustrative
instance in some small lakes fed from the same source,
in the road from Inspruck to Stutgard, which I
observed in 1815 (as well as I recollect) between
Xazareit and Reiti. The highest lake fed by melted
snows in March, when I saw it, was bright blue. It
discharged itself by a small stream into another, into
which a number of large pines had been blown by a
winter storm, or fallen from some other cause : in
this lake its colour was blue green. In a third
lake, in which there were not only pines and their
branches, but likewise other decaying vegetable

T 2

276 SALMOXIA. [histh day,

matter, it had a tint of faded grass green ; and these
changes had occurred in a space not much more than
a mile in length. These observations I made in
1815 : on returning to the same spot twelve years
after, in August and September, I found the
character of the lakes entirely changed. The pine
wood washed into the second lake had disappeared ;
a large quantity of stones and gravel, washed down
by torrents, or detached by an avalanche, supplied
their place : there was no perceptible difference of
tint in the two upper lakes; but the lower one,
where there was still some vegetable matter, seemed
to possess a greener hue. The same principle will
apply to the Scotch and Irish rivers, which, when they
rise or issue from pure rocky sources, are blue, or
bluish green; and when fed from peat bogs, or
alluvial countries, yellow, or amber-coloured, or brown
— even after they have deposited a part of their
impurities in great lakes.. Sometimes, though rarely,
mineral impregnations give colour to water : small
streams are sometimes green or yellow from ferruginous
depositions. Calcareous matters seldom affect their
colour, but often their transparency, when deposited,
as is the case with the Yelino at Terni, and the Anio
at Tivoli ; but I doubt if pure saline matters, which
are in themselves white, ever change the tint of
water.

hi»th day/] COLOUR OF THE OCEAN. 277

ORN. — On what then does the tint of the ocean
depend, which has itself given name to a colour ?*

HAL. — I tliink probably on vegetable matter, and,
perhaps, partially on two elementary principles, iodine
and brome, which it certainly contains, though these
are possibly the results of decayed marine vegetables.
These give a yellow tint, when dissolved in minute
portions in water, and this, mixed with the blue of
pure water, would occasion sea green. I made, many
years ago, being on the Mer de Glace, an experiment
on this subject. I threw a small quantity of iodine,
a substance then recentlv discovered, into one of those
deep blue basins of water, which are so frequent on

[* The colour of the ocean out of soundings is hlue, indeed blue
water in the sailor's vocabulary is equivalent to being out of soundings.
In shallow seas, in which light is reflected from the bottom, the
various tints of the surface may be considered as depending chiefly on
the modifying influence of the rays so reflected, being greenish, when
the bottom is yellow, &c. At one time the blue colour of the ocean
was supposed to be owing to the reflected hue of the atmosphere.
That it is a property of the water itself, I have had proof, and often,
in ocean voyages. The following is from a sea journal kept in 1820,
when returning from Ceylon, and may be adduced in proof: referring
to a gale, when no blue sky was to be seen, it is observed, u during
this gale the sky was overcast, so as to be of the dark grey or light
sooty hue, but the sea retained its usual colour. Its blue colour
appeared very distinct, when one looked immediately down from the
ship into the sea ; and it was equally evident in the waves as they
rose, their heads being between the light and eye of the observer.
Even in the colour of the surface of the sea in general, a tint of blue
might be distinguished, but it was not bright on account of the dark-
ness of the surface." — J. D.l

278 SAL MONIA . [ninth day.

that glacier, and/ diffusing it as it dissolved with a
stick, I saw the water change first to sea green in
colour, then to grass green, and lastly to yellowish
green : I do not, however, give this as a proof, but
only as a fact favourable to my conjecture.

POIET. — It appears to me to confirm your view of
the subject, that snow and ice, which are merely pure
crystallised water, are always blue, when seen by
transmitted light. I have often admired the deep
azure in crevices in masses of snow in severe winters,
and the same colour in the glaciers of Switzerland,
particularly at the arch where the Arve issues, in
the Yalley of Chamouni. We thank you for your
illustration.

HAL. — In return, I ask you for some further
remarks on this grand waterfall. You said just now,
you preferred the fall of the Yelino for picturesque
effect to any other waterfall you have seen ; yet it is
a small river compared even with the Traun, and
nothing compared with the Gotha, the Rhine, or,
above all, the Glommen.

POLET. — Size is merely comparative : I prefer the
fall of the Yelino, because its parts are in harmony.
It displays all the force and power of the element, in
its rapid and precipitous descent ; and you feel that
even man would be nothing in its waves, and would
be dashed to pieces by its force. The whole scene is

ninth day.] REFLECTIONS. 279

embraced at once by the eye,, and the effect is almost
as sublime as that of the Glommen, where the river
is at least one hundred times as large ; for the
Glommen falls, as it were, from a whole valley upon
a mountain of granite, and unless where you see the
giant pines of Norway, fifty or sixty feet in height,
carried down by it and swimming in its whirlpools
like straws, you have no idea of its magnitude and
power. Yet still, I think, considering it in all its
relations, tins is the most awful fall of water I have
ever seen, as that of Yelino is the most perfect and
beautiful. I am not sure that I ought not to place
the fall of the Gotha above that of the Ehine, both
for variety of effect and beauty ; and the river, in my
opinion, is quite as large, and the colour of the water
quite as beautiful.

HAL. — But our horses are ready, and the time of
separation arrives. I trust we shall all have a happy
meeting in England in the winter. I have made
you idlers at home and abroad, but I hope to some
purpose; and I trust you will confess the time
bestowed upon angling has not been thrown away.
The most important principle, perhaps, in life is to
have a pursuit — a useful one if possible, and at all
events an innocent one. And the scenes you have
enjoyed — the contemplations to which they have led,
and the exercise in which we have indulged, have,

280 SALMONIA. [ninth day.

I am sure, been very salutary to the body, and, I
hope, to the mind. I have always found a peculiar
effect from this kind of life ; it has appeared to bring
me back to early times and feelings, and to create
again the hopes and happiness of youthful days.

PHYS. — I felt something like what you described,
and were I convinced that in the cultivation of
the amusement, these feelings would increase, I
would devote myself to it with passion ; but I fear,
in my case this is impossible. Ah ! could I recover
any thing like that freshness of mind, which I
possessed at twenty-five, and which, like the dew of
the dawning morning, covered all objects and nourished
all things that grew, and in which they were more
beautiful even than in mid -day sunshine, — what
would I not give? All that I have gained in an
active and not unprofitable life. Howt well I remember
that delightful season, when, full of power, I sought
for power in others ; and power was sympathy, and
sympathy power. TVhen the dead and the unknown,
the great of other ages and of distant places, were
made, by the force of the imagination, my companions
and friends ; when every voice seemed one of praise
and love; when every flower had the bloom and
odour of the rose ; and every spray or plant seemed
either the poet's laurel, or the civic oak — which
appeared to offer themselves as wreaths to adorn my

ninth day.] REFLECTIONS. 281

throbbing brow. But, alas ! this cannot be ; and
even you cannot have two springs in life — though
I have no doubt you have fishing days, in which the
feelings of youth return, and that your autumn has a
more vernal character than mine.

POIET. — I do not think Halieus had ever any
season, except a perpetual and gentle spring : for the
tones of his mind have been always so quiet, it has
been so little scorched by sunshine, and so little
shaken by winds, that, I think, it may be compared
to that sempivernal climate fabled of the Hesperides,
where the same trees produced at once buds, leaves,
blossoms, and fruits.

HAL. — Nay, my friends, spare me a little, spare
my gray hairs. I have not perhaps abused my youth
so much as some of my friends, but all things
that you have known, I have known ; and if I have
not been so much scorched by the passions from
which so many of my acquaintances have suffered,
I owe it rather to the constant employment of a
laborious profession, and to the exertions called for
by the hopes, wants, and wishes of a rising family,
than to any merits of my own, either moral or
constitutional. For my health, I may thank my
ancestors after my God, and I have not squandered
what was so bountifully given ; and though I do not
expect like our arch-patriarch, Walton, to number

282

SAL MO XI A.

[ninth day.

ninety years and upwards, yet, I hope, as long as
I can enjoy in a vernal day the warmth and light
of the sunbeams, still to haunt the streams — following
the example of our late venerable friend, the president
of the Royal Academy,* in company with whom,
when he was an octogenarian, I have thrown the fly,
caught trout, and enjoyed a delightful day of angling
and social amusement, in the shady green meadows
bv the bright clear streams of the "Wandle.

* Benjamin West,

Griindtl Lake Upper Austria.

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

— ♦ —

(On the Parr, page 69 J

The author, in supposing that the parr may be produced from
a cross between the river trout and the sea trout, does not
mean to attach any importance to this idea. The fish differs so
little from the common trout, that it may be questioned,
whether it is not more entitled to the character of a variety
than of a species. In many rivers on the continent, the author
has seen small trout with olive or brown marks, like those of
the British parr ; and a friend informs him, that he has caught
fish of the same kind in the streams connected with the Lake of
Geneva.* In rivers, flowing into the Danube, these small fish
are very common ; but, as well as he remembers, their marks
are pale or yellowish-brown, or olive, and not dark or blue like
those of our parr. The salmon does not belong to any of these
localities, but the hucho haunts the tributary streams of the
Danube. The smelts, or young of the salmo hucho, and sea
trout, and lake trout, are all distinguished by the uniform dark
colour of the back, and the silvery whiteness of the belly. He
does not remember to have seen any of the streaked, or parr
varieties of trout in rivers, in which there was only one species,
or variety of large salmo. The mottled colour of the skin is, he

[* The young of the common trout has transverse marks similar to those
of the parr, though less distinct, yet sufficiently so to require an experienced
eye to avoid mistaking the one for the other. These markings indeed seem
to helong to fish of the salmon kind generally, and hence the facility of
adopting the view proposed — hardly advocated- -by the author, that the parr
may he a hybrid : and that there may be such a hybrid appears from the
results of the experiments of Mr. Shaw; he states that he has succeeded in
hatching the ova of the salmon impregnated with the milt of the common
river trout. — See "Days and Nights of Salmon Fishing," by Wm. Scrope, Esq.
—J. D.]

284 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

thinks, the strongest argument in favour of this little fish being
from a cross of two varieties, or races, which may be the case,
and yet the fish be capable of breeding, and gaining this cha-
racter of a peculiar variety ; and he supposes different kinds of
parrs may be produced by crosses of the sea trout, the hucho,
the lake trout, with the river trouts, or perhaps of the salmon,
and this would account for their great numbers, and the various
tints of the marks on their sides. If the hucho, as he believes,
generally spawns late in the winter, it may sometimes meet with
trout spawning at the same time. He has seen salmon and
trout in the Tweed in a similar state of maturity at the same
period ; and, in 1816, he remembers, that he took a large female
salmon, that had the period of parturition protracted as late as
March.

( On the Scolopax, page 106.)

I shall say a few words on the congeners of this bird (the
solitary snipe), and on the three varieties so much better known
in Europe. The woodcock feeds indiscriminately upon earth-
worms, small beetles, and various kinds of larva?, and its
stomach contains seeds, which I suspect have been taken up in
boring among the excrements of cattle ; yet the stomach of this
bird has something of the gizzard character, though not so
much as that of the land-rail, which I have found half filled with
seeds of grasses, and even containing corn, mixed with may-
bugs, earth-worms, grass-hoppers, and caterpillars. The wood-
cock, I believe, breeds habitually only in high northern latitudes,
yet there are woods in England, particularly one in Sussex,
near the borders of Hampshire, in which one or two couple of
these birds, it is said, may always be found in summer. I
suspect these woodcocks are from the offspring of birds which
had paired for their passage, but being detained by an accident
happening to one of them, staid and raised a young brood in
England, and the young ones probably had their instincts
altered by the accidents of their being born in England, and
being in a place well supplied with food. It is not improbable,
that they likewise raised young ones, and that the habit of
staying has become hereditary. There can be no doubt, that
woodcocks are very constant to their local attachments ; wood-
cocks that have been preserved in a pai'ticular wood for a

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 2S5

winter, always return to it, if possible, the next season. Many
woodcocks breed in Norway and Sweden in the great, extensive,
and moist pine woods, filled with bogs and morasses, which
cover these wild countries, but probably a still greater number
breed further north, in Lapland, Finland, Eussia, and Siberia.
It is I believe a fable, that they ever raise their young habitually
in the high Alpine or mountainous countries of the central or
southern parts of Europe. These countries indeed in summer
are very little fitted for their feeding ; they cannot bore where
it is either dry or frosty, and the glacier, as well as the arid
sand or rock, are equally unfitted for their haunts. They leave
the north with the first frost, and travel slowly south till they
come to their accustomed winter quarters ; they do not usually
make a quick voyage, but fly from wood to wood, reposing and
feeding on their journey ; they prefer for their haunts, woods
near marshes or morasses ; they hide themselves under thick
bushes in the day, and fly abroad to feed in the dusk of the
evening. A laurel, or holly-bush, is a favourite place for their
repose : the thick and varnished leaves of these trees prevents
the radiation of heat from the soil, and they are less affected by
the refrigerating influence of a clear sky, so that they afford a
warm seat for the woodcock. Woodcocks usually begin to fly
north on the first approach of spring, and their flights are
generally longer, and their rests fewer, at this season than in
the autumn. In the autumn they are driven from the north to
the south by the want of food, and they stop wherever they can
find food. In the spring, there is the influence of another
powerful instinct added to this, the sexual feeling. They
migrate in pairs, and pass as speedily as possible to the place
where they are likely to find food, and to raise their young, and
of which the old birds have already had the experience of
former years. Scarcely any woodcocks winter in any part of
Germany. In France there are a few found, particularly in the
southern provinces, and in Normandy and Brittany. The woods
of England, especially of the west and south, contain always a
certain quantity of woodcocks, but there are far more in the
moist soil and warmer climate of Ireland ; but in the woods of
southern Italy and Greece, near marshes, they are far more
abundant ; and they extend in quantities over the Greek Islands,
Asia Minor, and northern Africa.

286 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

The snipe is one of the most generally distributed birds
belonging to Europe. It feeds upon almost every kind of worm,
or larva, and, as I have said before, its stomach sometimes con-
tains seeds and rice ; it prefers a country cold in the summer to
breed in ; but wherever there is much fluid water, and great
morasses, this bird is almost certain to be found. Its nest is
very inartificial, its eggs large, and the young ones soon become
of an enormous size, being, often before they can fly, larger than
their parents. Two young ones are usually the number in a nest,
but I have seen three. The old birds are exceedingly attached
to their offspring, and if any one approach near the nest, they
make a loud and drumming noise above the head, as if to divert
the attention of the intruder. A few snipes always breed in the
marshes of England and Scotland, but a far greater number
retire for this purpose to the Hebrides and the Orkneys. In the
heather surrounding a small lake in the island of Hoy, in the
Orkneys, I found in the month of August, in 1817, the nests of
ten or twelve couple of snipes. I was grouse-shooting, and my
dog continually pointed them, and, as there were sometimes
three young ones and two old ones in the nest, the scent was
very powerful. From accident of the season these snipes were
very late in being hatched, for they usually fly before the middle
of July ; but this year, even as late as the 15th of August, there
were many young snipes that had not yet their wing feathers.
Snipes are usually fattest in frosty weather, which, I believe, is
owing to this, that in such weather they haunt only warm
springs, where worms are abundant, and they do not willingly
quit these places, so that they have plenty of nourishment and
rest, both circumstances favourable to fat. In wet, open
weather, they are often obliged to make long flights, and their
food is more distributed. The jack-snipe feeds upon smaller
insects than the snipe : small white larva?, such as are found in
black bogs, are its favourite food, but I have generally found
seeds in its stomach, once hemp-seeds, and always gravel. I
know not where the jack-snipe breeds, but I suspect far north.
I never saw their nest or young ones in Germany, France,
Hungary, Hlyria, or the British Islands. The common snipe
breeds in great quantities in the extensive marshes of Hungary
and Hlyria ; but I do not think the jack-snipe breeds there, for,
even in July and August, with the first very dry weather, mauv-

ADDITIONAL XOTES. 2S7

Bnipes, with ducks and teal, come into the marshes in the south
of Illyria, but the jack-snipe is always later in its passage, later
even than the double-snipe, or the woodcock. In 1828, in the
drains about Laybach, in Illyria, common snipes were seen in
the middle of July. The first double snipes appeared the first
week in September, when likewise woodcocks were seen ; the
first jack-snipe did not appear till three weeks later than the 29th
of September. I was informed at Copenhagen, that the jack-snipe
certainly breeds in Zeeland, and I saw a nest with its eggs, said
to be from the island Ox Sandholm, opposite Copenhagen, and I
have no doubt that this bird and the double-snipe sometimes
make their nests in the marshes of Holstein and Hanover. An
excellent sportsman and good observer informs me, that, in the
great royal decoy, or marsh-preserve, near Hanover, he has had
ocular proofs of double-snipes being raised from the nest there ;
but these birds require solitude and perfect quiet, and, as their
food is peculiar, they demand a great extent of marshy meadow.
Their stomach is the thinnest amongst birds of the scolopax
tribe, and, as I have said before, their food seems to be entirely
the larvae of the tipulse, or congenerous flies.

(On the Vitality of Fish, page 10.)

The propriety of avoiding the too common practice of
allowing the fish caught to die slowly, is pointed out. The
experienced angler knows well, that by dislocating the spine of
small fish, or by a blow on the head of the larger, death or loss
of sensation is immediately produced. If not so treated, a trout
may live an hour or two after having been taken from the water,
— a retention of life chiefly indicated by the action of its gill-
covers, — an action connected with the aeration of the blood,
equivalent to respiration. The power of sustaining life out of
water, and in water of different qualities, varies remarkably in
different species of fish. The carp, we are assured, may be fed
and fattened out of water, provided it be kept moist. The eel
has almost the same power of supporting life in a moist atmo-
sphere. The trout, like the salmon, can pass from fresh to salt
water, and from the latter to the former, with impunity.* The

[* I have found a small trout, immersed as soon as caught in a solution of
common salt of sp. gr. 1022, which is weaker than sea water, live as long as

2S8 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

torpedo, on the contrary, is instantly killed by removal from salt
to fresh, water, even more rapidly than if left exposed to the
atmosphere. Such differences, so strongly marked, are deserving
of the attention of the physiologist. — J. D.

{On the Senses of Fishes, page 26.)

That fishes have the sense of smell, may be inferred from
the structure of their nostrils, as well as front the fact
mentioned in note, page 26. Munro, in his work on "The
Structure and Physiology of Fishes," published in 1785, rea-
soning from the ample and peculiar manner in which these
parts are supplied with olfactory nerves, came to the conclu-
sion "that they (fishes) are much more sensible of odorous
bodies dissolved in water, and applied by its medium, than
we should be, if the application of the object was to be
made to an organ of smell through the same medium." The
statement of the author, in page 26, founded, probably, on
analogy, " that the principal use of the nostrils in fishes is to
assist the propulsion of water through the gills, for performing
the office of respiration," is not borne out by the structure of
the parts. Each nostril has commonly two external apertures.
They are well marked in the Salmonidae — one free, the anterior,
for the admission of water to the plicated membrane on which
the nerve of smell is distributed ; the other, the posterior,
often valvular, by which the water passes out. The absence,
indeed, of such an opening of communication between the nos-
trils and pharynx, is one of the characteristics by which fishes
and reptiles in their greatest generality are distinguished.

Whether fishes have the sense of taste, has been held to be
doubtful, as papillae, it is said, have not yet been detected in
their tongues. But in considering the question, it should be
kept in mind that this sense has been enjoyed without papillae,
without a tongue (see the well-authenticated case recorded in
the Phil. Trans. 1742 and 1747), and that it is probable it is
more or less perceived whenever there are branches of the gus-

if put into an equal quantity of fresh water ; whilst another immersed in a
solution of higher sp. gr., viz. 1048, which is much salter than sea water, died
in a few minutes, as did also a young parr similarly treated.— J. D.]

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 289

tatory nerves. Now, as fishes are not destitute of these nerves,
it may be inferred they are not without the power belonging to
them. Reflecting, however, on the general structure of their
mouth, it seems likely that the sense is no wise refined, and is
rather for discrimination than enjoyment, and that commonly
it has little attention paid to it. Their manner of feeding, too,
coarse as it is (swallowing commonly entire articles of food, —
regardless, seemingly, whether dead or alive, — as live insects are
often met with in the stomach of the trout), favours the inference.
A friend of mine, an acute observer, in conversation on this sub-
ject, remarked to me, " If you watch a trout from a bridge, you
will see that he takes into his mouth, as it were for trial, all
small floating objects within his reach, whether fit or unfit to
administer to his nourishment, rejecting the latter, retaining and
swallowing only the former." And, I may add, the experienced
angler acts as if aware of this, knowing how little is his chance
of success, unless he be on the alert, with eye intent and hand
ready to strike the instant the fish seizes his fly.

As regards another sense — that of hearing, not alluded to
by the author — there can be no doubt that it is possessed by
fishes, as they have an auditory apparatus and nerves, and as
the medium they inhabit is capable of conveying the vibrations
required to act on these nerves. Angling being truly " the con-
templative man's recreation," the avoidance of noise by the
river-side need not be exhorted ; nor need gentle sounds — all
such as are not unsuitable to the time and occasion — be appre-
hended ; as, from the structure of the ear of fishes, it may be
inferred that their organ of hearing is a dull one, fitted, as we
find everything in nature is, to the circumstances and wants of
the creature. Walton, in his " Complete Angler," adduces in-
stances from Bacon, Pliny, and others, in proof of fishes having
the power of hearing, adding, " It shall be a rule for me to make
as little noise as I can when I am fishing, until Sir Francis Bacon
be confuted, which I shall give any man leave to do ; " con-
cluding with the exhortation that anglers " should be patient,
and forbear swearing, lest they be heard, and catch no fish."

Of all the senses, that of sight seems to be possessed in the
highest degree of acuteness and power by fishes, especially the
Salinonidae, judging from the structure of their eyes and the
manner in which they are alarmed by passing objects such as

290 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

they are not familiar with, or know only as enemies. By means of
three powerful muscles, their movable eyes can be either with-
drawn into their deep sockets or made more prominent, and can
be turned in any direction ; and the lens, from its yielding
nature, may have its form — that of a perfect sphere — more or
less changed, more or less compressed and flattened ; and, in
addition to a fine mechanism of the ball in its several parts, the
eye has a very large optic nerve of a magnitude, indeed, extra-
ordinary compared with the small mass of brain.

For success in angling, too much attention cannot be paid to
the power of sight of the fishes of this family. As a general rule,
it may be laid down, that he who fishes with the longest line —
who can keep most out of sight, will take the largest number,
and fish of the largest size. Even when the light is obscure, as
at the time of advanced summer twilight, the visual faculty of
the trout seems to be little less powerful than in broad daylight,
as if it had the power — which it probably possesses — of adapt-
ing its eye to the degree of light ; a power, it may be remarked,
very suitable to its habits of feeding at night as well as by
day. — J. D.

( On the Colouring of the Salmonidae, page 36.)

It has been observed that the colouring of the trout as
well as its form depends a good deal on its condition; that
when well fed, it has a smaller head and more rounded body,
and a more silvery lustre. The smaller head and more rounded
and larger body — considered merely proportional, — [the latter
liable to augmentation from deposition of fat, from which the
other is exempt,] requires no comment. The more silvery hue
of the well-fed fish seems to depend on many circumstances
connected with its organisation, especially its scales and other
integumentary parts, and the adipose matter beneath them. The
scales have some resemblance to pearls in their composition,
consisting of membrane not soluble in muriatic acid, and
destructible by fire, and of phosphate of lime, soluble in the acid
and resisting the fire. After the separation of the phosphate of
lime by an acid, or of the animal matter by fire, the form of the
scale remains with its peculiar linear markings, denoting a con-
centric growth, but the pearly lustre in each instance is lost.
The scale, undoubtedly, is one cause of the silvery hue, and,

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 291

most of all, I believe its outer lamina; for if the scales be
triturated so as to nib off this portion, their lustre is diminished ;
and if incinerated — some that have been triturated before
exposure to fire, others that have not been so treated — a dif-
ference will be perceived in them on microscopical examination ;
those not triturated seem to be composed of a milky white part
attached to another of a light brownish hue, whilst those that
have been triturated consist, with few exceptions, of the latter.
The brownish hue seems, from the trials I have made on it, to
be owing to the presence of a minute portion of iron. The
scales, it must be kept in mind, are more or less transparent,
allowing the colouring matter, on which the hues and spottings
of the fish depend, to be seen through them. Accordingly, as
this subjacent colouring matter varies in its hues, so will the
general colour of the fish vary. In well-fed fish, the abdomen
of which is so silvery, there is both on the outer and inner
surface of the cutis a layer of white matter reflecting a pearly
lustre ; and the cutis itself being transparent, it is to this matter
as much as to the scales, or perhaps even more, that the silvery
hue of the part is owing. It is instructive to examine the skin
in part deprived of its scales, and in part with them remaining
on, especially if dried on glass. So prepared, it is manifest how
little the scales have to do with its colouring, and the degree in
which they are concerned with its lustre. These remarks are
derived from the examination of the scales of the smolt and of
the young trout, and are applicable I believe to those of the full-
grown fish of each kind. In the instance of the full-grown
salmon, that portion of the fish which is most silvery, owes its
lustre in great measure to the abundance of scales and the
manner in which they overlap ; where thickest, two or three,
one over the other, may be detached from the same spot. When
their animal matter is consumed by fire, and they are viewed
under the microscope, their upper surface is seen to be more
brilliant than their under, and to exhibit a linear or ridgy
structure which is hardly, if at all, to be seen in the under.
When the phosphate of lime is removed by an acid, the appear-
ance under the microscope is such as to give the idea in accord-
ance with the preceding, that there is forming on the upper
surface a furrowed layer or lamina which the under is destitute
of, and less lustrous and pearly in consequence. — J. D.

u2

292 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

[On the Structure of Stomach 0/ the Gillaroo Trout, page 54.)

The author, in noticing the stomach of the gillaroo or
gizzard trout, remarks that it has been improperly compared
to a fowl's. According to Henry Watson and John Hunter,
who first described it, it differs from the stomach of the
common trout principally in the circumstance of its being
thicker. Hunter found the one he examined two-thirds thicker,
with an inner, fine, villous coat. Watson describes it as com-
posed of three coats, an internal, a middle, and an external one.
"The external," he states, "is a kind of peritoneal covering
common to the stomach, intestines, and other viscera. The
middle coat appears to be of a fibrous muscular texture, pretty
thick in flesh, stronger than in the salmon, and of a yellowish
colour. The internal coat has a rough but not rugous surface.
It is spongy and perhaps glandular, with a kind of honeycomb
texture and strong villi, a little similar to the internal appearance
of the gall bladder in the human subject." He adds that it will
not bear any comparison with the gizzard of birds of the galli-
naceous kind, which has powerful muscles with tendons, and a
thick horny inner lining — in brief, a grinding apparatus. Hunter
and Watson's papers are in the Phil. Trans, for 1774 ; and in the
same volume and preceding them is one by Daines Barrington,
in which the peculiarity of the gillaroo trout is first noticed.
He says, " The first time I ever happened to hear of this singular
fish, was from an Irish judge, who being on the Connaught
circuit at Ballinrobe, in the county of Mayo, expressed his
ineredvdity with regard to their existence, but was obliged to
pay the common Irish wager of a rump of beef and a dozen of
claret, on three or four being produced the next day from a
neighbouring lake." From what he afterwards mentions, it
would appear that the stomach of this trout in Ireland was at
that time considered a delicacy, "white, and excellent eating."
He says, " I have been informed by Lord Louth, that he had
seen a small dish, consisting merely of such gizzards, at an Irish
table in Galway ; and I could corroborate this fact, was it neces-
sary, by the testimony of an Irish archbishop." In notes
appended to Barrington's paper, mention is made of a white

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 293

and red gillaroo, in Lough Berg, the former with black spots ou
it, the latter with red. The white is described as the smallest
and the better eating, the size varying from two to twelve pounds.
The author, page 55, speaks of the gillaroo as " a sort of link
between the trout and charr," from a certain resemblance of
stomacli. The stomach of the charr, it is worthy of remark,
varies, it may be inferred, with the quality of its food ; in many
instances I have found it even thinner in its coats than that of
the common trout. — J. D.

(On the Salmon and Parr, page 59.)

Since " Salmonia " was first published, so much additional
information has been obtained, respecting the salmon, in its
early stage, its growth, and changes, that the question, so much
agitated, whether the Parr is a young salmon or a distinct
species, may be considered now as satisfactorily solved.

The inquirers to whom we are most indebted for facts on the
subject, are Mr. Shaw and Mr. Young. The conclusions at
which they have arrived, the result of their observations, may
be briefly noticed.

According to Mr. Shaw, who took the lead in the inquiry, the
parr is a young salmon, or a young sea-trout (distinguishable, he
thinks, by certain peculiarities *), which becomes a smolt, or
acquires the silvery hue of the adult fish, though remaining of
small size, towards the end of the second year of river life,
preparatory to migrating seaward.

According to Mr. Young, the salmon is a fresh-water fish, and
is an inhabitant of fresh water, on an average, ten months out of
the twelve, descending only to the sea (judging from the effect)
for the purpose of that high feeding essential to its growth, and
often returning to the river before its ova are developed ; the

* The smolts of the salmon, and of the sea-trout of the Sol way, he states,
do not differ in size, but in some respects in colour, most marked in the fins,
the extremities of the pectoral fins of the sea-trout smolt being orange, with
a tendency to the same colour in the ends of the dorsal and caudal rays,
whence this smolt is there called the orange fin.

It would appear from his observations that the female sea-trout can have
mature ova, and breed without descending to the sea, and that a certain
number actually do so, without assuming their silvery migratory dress, thus
approximating to the common trout.

294 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

time required for which, may be from four to six months. Its
spawning season, he states, extends over six months, commencing
about the middle of September, and ending about the middle of
March ; the height of the process being from the middle of
November to the middle of December, — the earlier the safer,
each fish spawning where it had been bred, male and female
associated, side by side, but not in contact, — the spawn being
shed on the ova, immediately on exclusion, both fishes co-
operating in making the spawn-bed in the gravel, and in
covering it as soon as laid. This operation on the part of the
male and female occupies from five to ten days. The time of
hatching the ova he estimates at from one hundred to one hun-
dred and forty days, varying with the temperature of the water.
During the greater part of the first month, the young fish, then
hardly an inch long (three quarters of an inch when first pro-
duced), mainly depends for its support on the yolk contained in
the vitelline sac, which, about the end of that time, ceases to be
seen externally. After two months, it loses its early peculiarities,
the most marked of which is a posterior surrounding marginal
fin, very like that of the tadpole ; now, its transverse markings
(bars) begin to appear. At four months it is about two inches in
length ; at six, about three ; at eight and nine, it is very little
larger, but thicker ; at ten, it is from three to three and a half,
when its transverse bars begin to disappear, — the silvery scales,
those of the smolt covering and obscuring them; finally, at
twelve months, it is from four to six inches, on an average about
five, and is now a smolt, with its silvery migratory coat, and
commonly migrates to the sea, descending in small shoals, from
the middle of April to the middle of May. After remaining
about eight weeks in salt water, it returns a grilse, vastly in-
creased in size, varying in weight, according to the time it has
remained in the sea, from three to eight pounds.

Mr. Shaw's observations on the salmon are to be found in the
14th vol. of the " Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,"
and his observations on the sea-trout, in the 15th vol. of the
same publication ; Mr. Young's, on the salmon, in the last-men-
tioned volume, and more in detail in his " Natural History of the
Salmon." Happily they agree in their general statements, espe-
cially in relation to the time required for the maturation of the
ova — the production of the young fish. The circumstance of

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 295

most importance about which they differ, is as to the time that
the young salmon remains in fresh water, before migrating to
the sea ; Mr. Shaw, as already mentioned, fixing the period at
two years — Mr. Young at one year. This is a point that needs
further inquiry. Comparing Mr. Shaw's results with those of
Mr. Young, — relying, as I think we may, on the accuracy of each.
— we have the assurance of the latter regarding the accuracy of
the former, — the conclusion seems probable, that in some rivers
the young salmon becomes fit to migrate, and does migrate after
twelve months — reckoning from the time of its birth — and in
others, not till double that period ; a difference, supposing it to
exist, depending, it may be, on season of spawning, whether
early or late, temperature of water, supply of food, and, perhaps,
peculiarity of fish, as to rate of growth. Mr. Shaw mentions a
few instances in which the parr assumed its migratory dress at
the age of twelve months, and this was in water of somewhat
higher temperature than ordinary. Mr. Young attributes the
earlier migration of the fish, he observed, to an influence, hasten-
ing the smolt-change, derived from proximity to the sea, but of
what kind he does not explain. From such information as I
have been able to collect, the shorter period is that observed by
the salmon-fry, in the rivers of Westmoreland and Cumberland,
generally in accordance with Mr. Yoxing's statements. Here, as
commonly elsewhere, the parr, or brandling season, is in summer
and autumn ; the smolt or smelt season in spring. In St. John's
Beck, a stream which flows out of Thirl mere, and is, comparatively,
but little variable as to temperature and height, I have never yet
met with a single brandling in April, and with a few only in the
latter part of May, nor with a single smolt during the summer,
autumn, and winter months. In the Duddon and Irt rivers,
subject to great variation of temperature and volume of water,
the seasons of the parr and smolt are the same as in the last-
mentioned river ; but in spring, amongst the smolts, a parr may
occasionally be taken, probably the offspring of a late, a spring-
breeder of the year preceding.

It is right, however, to mention, that most of the experienced
fishermen on these rivers are in favour of the two years' abiding
of the young of the salmon in fresh water ; and the same opinion,
I am informed, prevails on the subject amongst the fishermen of
the Welsh salmon rivers ; and in proof of its correctness, it is

296 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

stated, as I have been informed by Mr. YarrelL that in rivers in
which the smolts (supposed to be of two years) descend to the
sea in April and May, there are to be met with in July and
August two apparently distinct broods, judging from difference
in size, — a larger and a smaller, — the larger taking the artificial
fly, and, in consequence, wrell known to anglers, varying from
four to seven inches in length ; the smaller, little known, from
not taking the artificial fly, not exceeding in length from two to
two and a half inches. It may be said that these smaller fish are
from ova laid early in the spring, the larger from ova deposited
late in the autumn. The difficulty of deciding which inference
is the time one, in great part arises from not knowing the rate of
growth of the voung fish in different rivers and under different
circumstances, that seeming in great measure to depend on its
supply of food. Judging from the analogy of the trout, and the
rapid growth of the young salmon after entering the sea, it is
easy to imagine that a parr, well fed, may attain its full average
river-size in a few months ; or, on the contrary, if ill fed, may
be checked in its growth, and be stationary in its size for many
months. The mountain-brook trout is an instance of the slow
growth and diminutive size, inhabiting waters where there is
little and precarious food ; the river or lake trout, feeding plen-
tifully and growing rapidly, is an instance of the other kind. I
have heard it asserted by an experienced keeper, that he could,
by a peculiar mode of feeding, augment a trout in weight two
pounds in as many months, viz. by suspending a dead rabbit
from a branch of a tree over the haunts of the trout. The
rabbit, he said, became fly-blown, the maggots resulting fell
into the river, and the trout feeding on them, grew and fattened
thus rapidly.

But whether the young fish be one or two years, or an inter-
mediate period or a longer period, in assuming the smolt form,
it now seems tolerably well proved that the testes of the young
salmon are fuVJy developed, so as to be capable of exercising a
fertilising influence, before descending to the sea ; but that the
ovaries are later in their growth, and the ova are not mature till
the fish has returned from the sea as a grilse. And does not this
warrant the conclusion, that the ova of the latter are fertilised
by the sperm of the former ? Such observations as I have made
in examining the testes and ovaries of the salmon-fry at different

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 297

seasons are in favour of it. Thus, in the autumn and beginuing
of winter, I have found in the parr the milt voluminous, and
ready, or nearly ready, to be shed ;* whilst in the spring, in the
smolts, I have hardly found a vestige of it, as if it had been shed.
On the contrary, in the female, at the former period, I have
found the ovaries very small, — the ovaries rarely sufficiently
advanced to appear granular, but gradually, though very slowly,
increasing in volume towards spring, — so slowly, indeed, that
when prepared to migrate, in the majority of females they are
hardly granular. That in the grilse the ova are matured, — that
it, after its first return from the sea, is a breeding fish, appears
to be proved beyond doubt.

All the Salmonidao, it would appear, breed early in life, size
of body being little concerned with the faculty of breeding. Xor
is this surprising, when we reflect that the ova and the spermato-
zoa are of the same magnitude, whether the product of fish in
early life or in advanced, the great difference being as to number.
This precocity is a happy circumstance, and designed, no doubt,
to secure the continuance of the species, in so many ways endan-
gered. These remarks may help to make accord Mr. Shaw's and
Mr. Young's observations : one, that the male parr mates or
follows the old female salmon, when breeding, to secure the
impregnation of her ova ; the other, that the female prefers a
male of about her own age, and takes no note of the parrs, even
selecting a trout for her mate, in case of need, not being able to
find a salmon ; and that the ova of the salmon can be fertilised
by the sperm of the trout, we are assured by Mr. Shaw, after
trial of its influence. The subject is a curious and important
one. Analogies may be found amongst other animals, and even
amongst some considered of higher organisation. The goat and
the sheep may be mentioned as instances. Like the salmon and
trout, they breed together ; like them, the male is more preco-

* Of three parrs taken in St. John's Beck, in the first week of September,
1850, the milt of one— the entire fish — weighing 525 grs. and measuring
5.7 inches in length, was 114 grs.; of another, weighing 327 grs. and mea-
suring 4.6 inches, was 52 grs.; of a third, weighing 445 grs. and measuring
5.5 inches, was 84 grs. In these instances, though the milt was propor-
tionally so voluminous, it was. not even in the first quite mature, not yielding
on pressure the milky fluid characteristic of its maturity. Five weeks later,
I have taken the parr in the same stream, with its testes arrived at this
stage of maturity ; others, taken at the same time, were found in various
degrees less so.

298 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

cious than the female, and is capable of exercising the generative
function long before the attainment of full growth, even as early
as its fourth month, and of exercising it with effect, like the
parr, on the ova of its parent, when next needed. (See a paper
communicated by me on the early generative power of the kid, in
the " Proceedings of the Zoological Society," for May, 1847.)

That the parr, before the facts referred to were brought to
light, should have been considered a distinct species, is nut to
be wondered at, especially taking into account that there are
other differences (comparing the parr and the smolt) besides
those already mentioned, as the situation of the fins, and the
form of body and its proportions. In the smolt, the dorsal fin
is nearer the head than in the parr, and is comparatively larger
than that of the parr, whilst its general form is more delicate
and elongated ; but how small are these differences by the side
of the greater which we witness in the young of so many other
animals during their period of growth, and which, no doubt, had
they been examined under circumstances like those under which
the parr was first noticed, might have given them claim, however
false, to be ranked as species — distinct adult species. — J. D.

{Queries relative to the Natural History of the Trout, page 64.)

The early history of the common trout in minute and exact
detail is yet a desideratum. Precise observations on its breeding-
period, on the development of its ova, and the rate of growth of
the young fish, like those made by Mr. Shaw and Mr. Your-g on
the salmon, are needed, and would be especially useful in rela-
tion to the stocking and preserving of trout-streams, and the fair
sport of the angler. Were such observations made on fish, under
different circumstances, as to temperature of water, quality and
quantity of food, their value would be greatly increased. The
widest limit of the spawning season of the trout, in the same
river, and whether it varies materially in different rivers, remain
yet to be determined ; and also whether it breeds, as Bloch asserts,
every year, or, more commonly, every second year, and also at
what age it has the power of propagating. That its spawning
season extends over several months, is certain; and also, that in
most of our rivers it begins in September, is at its height in the
latter end of October and beginning of November, and does not

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 299

end till December, or later. It is certain, too, judging from an
examination of the testes and ovaries during the breeding-time,
that, as in the instance of the salmon, several days are required
for the laying of the ova. Further, it is well ascertained, that
during the whole of this period, that is, from September till
December, many trouts are found either with the ovaries and
testes only just visible, or so little developed as not to admit
of the conclusion of their spawning till the following season.
These fish are commonly not out of condition, like those that
are breeding ; and are to be taken, not where the latter most
resort to — the small streams, the feeders of the lakes and rivers
— but in the lakes and rivers themselves ; — in brief, in their old
haunts. This separation of breeders and non-breeders may be
viewed as a happy provision of nature for the preservation of
the species, inasmuch as the latter feed greedily on the ova of
the former, and, were they together, would prove very destruc-
tive of roe — enemies of their own kind, not less than of the
nobler salmon in its spawning-bed, as is well insisted on by
Mr. Young. Probably, the trout is capable of propagating when
two years old, and of attaining, if well fed, a goodly size at that
age. — J. D.

(On the Spawning Localities of the Charr, page 70.)

The author states that " the charr spawns in still, and the
trout in running water." By a gentleman, an able naturalist,
who has paid great attention to the history of the Salmonidse,
but without opportunities of making special observations
on the breeding of the charr, I have heard it asserted that
this statement is erroneous, he maintaining that the charr, like
the trout, spawns only in streams. This is a question which
must be determined not by analogy but by experience. The
information I have been able to collect in the Lake district,
where the charr is so common, accords not with his view but
with the author's. I have been assured by experienced fisher-
men, whose accuracy I cannot doubt, that the ova of this fish
have been found on the shallow banks in the lake of "Winder-
mere,— spots where the charr resorts in great numbers during
the spawning season. Moreover, that part of the Brathay — a
river that flows into Windermere — another great spawning-place
of the charr, well described by Mr. Yarrell, in his " History of

300 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

British Fishes" — is a pool, a miniature lake, where the water can
be little more in motion — more impregnated with air — than in
the lake itself, rarely an hour unruffled by the wind. In Hawes
Water, in which the charr, the trout, and the shelley are all
abundant — it being one of the few Westmoreland lakes in which
poaching is prevented — the charr, I have been informed, breeds
only in the lake : the keeper, in the course of six years' observa-
tion, never knew or heard of an instance of a single charr having
been taken in any of the tributary streams — the breeding-streams
of the trouts. A figure of the charr of this lake is given in page
260. It is, probably, merely a variety of the northern charr,
owing its peculiarities to local circumstances. It is proportion-
ally a much larger fish than the northern charr, or that of Win-
dermere, Buttermere, and Coniston Water. It differs, too, in
rising freely at the fly. In one day, I was told, two anglers in
Hawes Water took nine dozen, without taking a single trout.
A.nd, when in season, it is less fat, and has, I think, a more deli-
cate flavour. The charr of Buttermere, and of its neighbouring
lake, Crummock Water, I have also been assured, never enters
the tributary rivers, and breeds only in the lakes ; and it,
whether of Buttermere or Crummock Water, closely resembles
the charr of Windennere. Yet it has its peculiarities. Though
similar in general form and colouring, it has a thicker stomach
than the charr of Windennere ; has (a specimen that I examined)
a rose-coloured air-bladder, and, when of full size, is said never
to be taken with a fly or any bait, and even when only half-
grown, and less, is but rarely taken with the fly. I have ob-
tained similar information relative to the breeding-places of the
charr in other two lakes of the same district, viz., Coniston
Water and Ulles Water ; * and hence leading to the conclusion
that still water rather than running is most appropriate to it, and
that its ever resorting to a river, as in the instance of the sluggish
part of the Brathay, is to be held as an exception. — J. D.

{On the Young Trout on quitting the Egg, page 71.)

It is stated by the author, that the young trout, after burst-
ing the egg, when it subsists on the supply of food by nature

* Since mines have been opened in the vicinity of these lakes, the charr
in the former has become scarce ; and it is no longer found in the latter.

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 301

provided in its yolk-bag, may for some days, as requiring
no food ab externo, be easily conveyed from place to place
in confined portions of fresh water. Judging from the analogy
of the young salmon, and from what I have learned respect-
ing the young trout, its time of easy and safe conveyance
may be extended to a few weeks, at least five and probably six
or seven. We are informed by Mr. Young, in his " History of
the Salmon," that the internal yolk-bag protruding from the
abdomen of the young fish, does not disappear till the end of
the fifth week, reckoning from the time of hatching ; nor, I
believe, does it disappear earlier in the instance of the trout.
Moreover, as in the young of those cartilaginous fishes which
have been examined, the internal yolk-bag has been found to
increase as the external has diminished, reasoning from analogy,
it may be inferred that the same probably occurs in the instance of
the Salnionidse, and consequently that they have included within
themselves a store of food in the inner yolk-bag, sufficient to
support them altogether or in part, considerably beyond the fifth
week. In a young torpedo which I examined when six months
old, a vestige of the inner yolk was even then discoverable. There
are other circumstances which may be mentioned as favourable
to the transport of fishes shortly after hatching, viz. their greater
irritability and tenacity of life, denoted by the length of time
their heart continues to act when removed from the body, and
the season of the year, — the winter season, when the colder
water has a larger proportion of atmospheric air, and retains
it longer than the warmer water of a milder season. — J. D.

(On the Digestive Powers of the Salmonidce, page 112.)

The author alludes to the digestion of the salmon as being
very quick. It appears to be so in all the Salmonidse, and is
probably connected with power of rapid growth, which is
so remarkable in the majority of them, when abundantly
supplied with food. Proof of such quickness of digestion
is often afforded in the dead fish ; often and often I have
found in the trout and salmon-fry that portion of its abdominal
parietes, corresponding to the lower part of the stomach, and
the upper part of the intestine, reduced to a soft, pulpy state,
approaching to chyme and not unfrequently a portion, also, of

302 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

the stomach itself so changed, — effects, it may be inferred, of the
gastric fluid, as explained by John Hunter, in his well-known
paper, " On the digestion of the stomach after death." In ac-
cordance with the quickness of digestion and facility of assimi-
lation is, I believe, the manner in which the kidneys perform
their function. They appear to be comparatively inactive,
thereby allowing the greater portion of the azotised matter of
the food to be assimilated, and applied to the growth of the
animal. What a contrast is offered in the excreta of the swallow
and trout, when, as in summer, both subsist on flies ! Amongst
those of the fish it is difficult to detect the urinary secretion ;
whilst in those of the bhxL it is conspicuous and abundant, con-
sisting principally of lithate of ammonia; and this is the more
remarkable in the instance of the fish, as it is provided with a
urinary bladder.

In connexion with the solvent power of the contents of the
stomach, and the tendency of the bile in the gall-bladder and the
contents of the intestines, readily putrescent, to penetrate and
taint, and so injure the flavour of fish, it may be well to caution
anglers, who wish to keep the fish they take for the table, to have
them eviscerated as soon as possible, and also to have them kept in
the coolest place that may be available. A good plan is to have
them packed, not in green grass, as is usually done, but rather
in dry straw, — dryness rather than moisture being most favour-
able to the keeping of them fresh, and on the same principle,
their inside should be wiped with a clean cloth before they are
packed. — J. D.

(Fivers suitable to the Grayling, page 178.)

In confirmation of the greater delicacy of the grayling, as to
temperature, compared to the trout, and of its intolerance of
great vicissitudes of river-temperature, I may mention, that
though this fish is plentiful, even more so than the trout, in the
preserved parts of the Derbyshire Wye and Derwent, it is almost
unknown in the Lathkil and the Bradford, tributaries of the
Wye, abounding in trout, and as carefully preserved. All
attempts to introduce it into these streams have failed. Their
inaptitude has been attributed to a difference in the quality of
their water : it has been said to be harder, more petrifying ; but
this I have not been able to confirm by chemical examination —

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 303

indeed, the water of the Wye proved to be equally hard, if not
harder, and to contain a little sulphate of lime, which could not
be detected in the water of the Lathkil. The mean difference
appeared to me to be in the character of the several rivers, in
relation to volume, mode of flowing, and temperature ; the Wye
and Dei-went being fuller and more constant streams, less liable
to be frozen in winter, and unduly heated in summer, — streams,
in all respects, like these described by the author, as peculiarly
suitable to the grayling ; and further, from the nature of their
bottom, insuring a larger and more constant supply of that kind
of food, water-snails, larvae, squilla?, &c, which the grayling — a
fish needing good and plentiful food in winter — seems to require.
That the mere chemical nature of the water is not the main
cause of the unfitness of the Lathkil for grayling seems to be
shown by the circumstance that it enters the lower part of that
stream, and even breeds there a little above the junction with
the Wye, but does not ascend beyond the first fall, — a fall that
the trout readily passes, and which is not, I believe, higher than
some in the Wye and Derwent, that the grayling is known to
surmount. — J. D.

{Use of the Scales of the Eel, page 198.)

Mention is made of the scales of the eel as likely to facili-
tate the progressive motion of this fish when out of water.
Considering the nature of these scales, doubt may be enter-
tained on this point. From an examination I have made of
them, I find they are commonly oval, about the 555th of an
inch in their long diameter, symmetrically arranged in com-
partments, approaching in form the oval. These may be seen
with a common magnifying-glass ; but to distinguish the scales
individually, a high magnifying power is required. Their form,
I may add, is best seen after a portion of the integuments has
been exposed to a charring or incinerating heat. In the latter
instance, when the charcoal is consumed their skeleton remains,
consisting of phosphate of lime, just perceptibly coloured by
peroxide of iron. Now, as these minute scales seem to be
adhering closely by their entire surface, and as the skin of the
animal is lubricated with viscid mucus, it is not obvious, nor
does it seem probable, that they can be of any service for loco-
motion in the manner supposed by the author.

304 ADDITIONAL NOTES.

The idea seemingly entertained by the author in the page
next to that last referred to, that the eel, by continued residence
in the sea, may acquire the size and be confounded with the
conger, does not accord with the best observations of naturalists
— most of them made since the publication of Salmonia. That
they are distinct species can hardly now be doubted, — even
generically they are now held to be distinct. The circumstance
that the number of vertebrae in the two differ — in the common
fresh- water eel being 116, and in the common conger 156, as
stated by Mr. Yarrell, — is a strong proof of their distinctness ; and
not less so is the fact (first noticed, I believe, by Sir John
Richardson,*) that the conger is destitute of scales. I have
examined its skin, in the same manner as the skin of the eel, for
scales, and neither before incineration nor after, have I detected
any, using a high magnifying power.

The use of the minute scales of the eel, in all the species of
the genus Anguilla, may be considered a problem, comparing
them with the allied genera, as they are now constituted, which
are without scales, viz., conger, mura?na, and ophisurus, and
these again with the electrical fishes, the torpedo, gymnotiis and
silurus, in the skin of which no rudiments even of scales, in the
instances I have examined, can be detected. The common and
natural idea, that the scales of fishes are destined for defensive
armour, is not well accordant with these examples, excepting on
the supposition that the want of them in the electrical fishes is
compensated by the electrical organs of these fishes, and in the
others by the thickness and strength of their integuments : in
the cutis of the conger I have found on incineration a large pro-
portion of phosphate of lime. — J. D.

(On the Food of the Shelley, page 264.)

The author states that the lavaret, or shelley, is taken only
with nets ; that it feeds on vegetables ; and that he had never
found in the stomachs of those he had opened either flies or
small fishes. The first fish of this kind that I saw taken was
with a small fly : this was in Hawes Water. During nearly half
a century only two or three instances of its being so caught

* " The Zoology of the Voyage of H. M. S. Erebus and Terror, Part vii.
— Fishes. By Sir John Richardson."

ADDITIONAL NOTES. 305

were known there. In the stomach of this fish — a fish abundant
in Hawes Water — I found the remains of two or three different
kinds of small flies. That it is not oftener taken with a fly is
not surprising, when we consider that comparatively large arti-
ficial flies are commonly used in lake-fishing, and, moreover,
keeping in mind the conformation of its mouth and tongue,
without teeth, or, if any (in the one I examined there were a few
towards the apex of the tongue and in the upper-lip), so small as
to be microscopic. According to Dr. Knox, the vendace of Loch-
mabon, which seems to differ very little, if at all, from the
shelley, feeds principally on minute entomostracous animals.
This has been confirmed by Mr. Yarrell, who found also in the
stomachs of some he examined portions of flies. Now, as the
structure of its mouth and that of the shelley seem nowise
adapted for feeding on vegetables, and I cannot learn that these
have been detected in its stomach, it is more than probable that
its food is chiefly animal.

The shelley of Hawes Water, I may add, breeds in the still
water of the lake, depositing the ova on aquatic plants. It is
never known to run up the tributary streams. The breeding-
time of this fish is the autumn. The intelligent keeper at Hawes
Water told me that once, in September, he took some of its roe
from the " moss " (conferva, &c.) of the lake, which he transferred
to a basin, and, by changing the water daily, succeeded in hatch-
ing the ova. The young fish, when they first appeared, he
described as being hardly half an inch in length, provided with
a yolk-bag and a marginal posterior fin, i. e. one connecting the
dorsal, caudal, and anal ; after about five weeks they acquired
the size of ordinary minnows, with the colouring and decided,
unmistakeable character of the shelley. — J. D.

THE END.

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