The Sun.
London, England, 1824-09-06 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PAPER.

PAPER delivered into the COMMITTEE of the HOUSE of
COMMONS, by Sir 'JUMPER Y DAVY, on the SAL.
MON FISHERIES.
1. There are two species of the genus selmo, caught in the
salmon fisheries of Great Britain and Ireland.
The first, Salrno Salar, is by far the most important, as an
article of food and commerce. It is distinguished from the se-
cond, Sainto Eriox, by its greater size when of the same age.
by possessing a smaller and more pointed head, a more slender
tail, a greater diameter in proportion to its length, fewer and
smaller spots, and other characteristic marks well known to
the water clist, but which it would be useless iu this place to
describe.

The salmo salar is the common Rabizon; the salmo eriox it
known by different names in different districts, such as sal.
mon peal. aewcu, bull trout, but its most correct appellation
is sea trout.

These two species, when of the same size, are sometimes con,,
founded by ignorant persons ; but without minute examination,
they are easily distinguished by an experienced eye. There is
a very remarkable difference in their habits; the stomach of the
sea trout is generally found full at the time of its migra-
tion from the sea, whilst that of the salmon is as generally
empty.
2. Fishes in general multiply their species by eggs, whidh
are impregnated out of the body ; and which require the contact
of water saturated with air to render them productive.
Fishes that spawn either in the sea or lakes, almost always
come to the shallows and deposit their eggs upon vegetables,
• which by their agency keep the water saturated with air, and
their season of breeding is in general that of most animals, in
the spring ; but the salmo genus ( I speak of those individuals
belonging to it, the habits of which are well known, and which
are the subjects of this evidence) multiply their species in win-
ter; and they require running. water for this purpose, water
saturated with air. It has been proved by the experiments of
N. Jacobi, that the egg of &salmon or trout impregnated, will
not produce a fish in still unchanged water ; and that for this
purpose, it must be constantly washed by fresh portions of wa•
ter, in a rapid stream or under a tall. •
3. These circumstances show the -necessity for that wonder-,
ful instinct of the salmon, which, preparatory to the breeding
season, quit the sea and make their way through rapids, over
falls, and through great lakes to the upper parts of rivers,
where their eggs may be deposited in a pure aerated water.
The salmon requiring much food, and depositing a large
quantity of spawn generally occupies large rivers, having
number of tributary streams. The sea trout, on the contrary,
though found in large rivers, is more common in small ones,
and scarcely ever penetrates so far into the interior as salmon.
Sometimes, indeed, in very small streams, it deposits its spawn
almost close to the sea, in gravel, where the stream meets the
waves at high water mark.
The different habits of the. salmon and sea trout are well de-
monstrated in the Aloy, near Ballina, in Ireland. There is a,
large pile in this river close to the town, and below the fall a
considerable stream joins the Aloy. The salmon leap this fall ;
the sea trout almost all spawn in the smaller stream, a few
miles from the sea. _ _ _

4. Salmon begin to run up rivers generally in March; and
continue migrating front die sea till October or November;
but in the early spring, there are few in motion. In June and
July they migrate in great number, and so in August and Sep-
tember, but this depends upon the seasons, and particularly
the quantity of water in 'the river ; the large fish seldom leave
except in floods, unless late in the year, and the one year old
fish are almost always most abundant in large rivers In July.
The sea trout in respect to their breeding season, agree with
salmon ; but the period of their migration is usually later, par..
ticularly in small rivers.
The fish that come soonest into the water breed first : salmon,
have been known to spawn in the end of October, and 1 hays
seen them full of ova, even in March. It is stated, that the
eggs produce young ones in itbout six weeks ; and the young
fish, when they have reached the size of smelts, take the op-
portunity of the first flood to go to the sea or brackish water.—
' Their great migration downward is in March, April, and the
beginning of May.
There is much reason for believing that the young salmon do
not immediately go far front the river into the sea: for in Aue
gust and Sept.:inhere fish exactly resembling them in form, and
front ten to thurteen incites long (called whitlings and whit.
tinohg bese: without visible ova or spermatic secretion, are found in
salmon rivers, a mile or two front the sea, and which return to
the sea, without attempting a further migration. This seems
at sort
are
rtol gfilti tfit,tru e
prirnogpatgtfattilloant instinct which, tlwieinthexatnyierraer:
w
sistible impulse, into fresh water, and to the most remote
sources of it. The salmon of fifteen or eighteen months old is
called. m Scotland, firisle. Grisles differ in size probably front
their different ages; those spawned first, under common eir;
curnstances, being of largest size.
The female fish, in spawning, deposits her eggs slowly 011
gravel ; the male sheds a white seminal liquid upon them, and
both fishh cover the eggs with gravel. The male is most active
in this operation, which hardens the extremity of the mouth,
and bends it into the form of a hook.
As soon as the fish have spawned, they begin to move to-
wards the sea, and take advantage, after they have somewhat
recovered their weakness, to escape by the first floods, in Fe-
bruary or Nuclei The grilse that has spawned, after return.
ing from the sea, is called a salmon. The growth of salmon,
in the sea, is not accurately known, but they seem to double
their weight in a season.
h. There is a general complaint of the diminution of the
salmon in fisheries. In the Thames, it can scarcely be said to
exist; and even in the Avon, the Severn, and the Trent, it is
becoming comparatively a scarce fish. The great northers
fisheries, and the Irish fisheries, are much less productive than
formerly..
The simple remedies for this national evil are
1. To suffer more fish to slum), and fish ofall ages and sizes.
2. To prevent any fish from being killed in rivers after
spawning.
3. To prevent the young salmon, or salmon fry, from being

As salmon, and salmon trout, belong, in fact, to the river in
which they were spawned, and as each variety of salmon, or
salmon trout, affects a particular river, and always returns to
it ; and as the old law of the country was framed upon this
principle, salmon fisheries never having been considered as be--
longing to the coast, all stake fishing: should be abolished, as
they enable persons having no Interest in the river to cut off
almost entirely the supply of fish ; for salmon do 'not go far out
into the sea, •and always return along the coast, scenting
out as it were, their own river: and
an estuary might destroy, in one year, the whole fishery of
river.
No cruives or wears preventing the running up of fish should
h iti be
.strong net put across
be allowed ; that is to say, no rinse ones, but
. t Ism oo
hsh may go up as
No burning shrinkd be allowed in a river by which all spawn.
ing fish may be awlewiloal a
latefree
tisphir,sage tbr fish, so that early
Nets should be limited to a certain size, so as to render it in:
possible to sweep a river.
not after. October.
The period of close time should be extended
No-angling Amid be allowed in salmon rivers till May, and
May 14 )1124.

U. DAVY'.

BlltilltaatpCpheita:;
F or a CorivicT.—At the Pontefract
iscArr last, A ruddy complexioned lad five feet
Sessions, in April .
mall of a stout figure, long visag ~ gray era,
Thomas Woodcock, was
sandix
born
lighti na
1 l°
Ihb er-o transported-w-n
Rotherham,'lirby
airedtroarfdoseuac nbvadoennu itr,o'
guiltynni
years.-r:ne ot
nineteen
lefflnidefeeyrw:anar years,
l'
i accordingly
do lwename
na
tehoefs etni time;
et ootfl-lteh Dolphin
el aw
that the air and exercise of the Dolphin hulk did not agree either
with the taste or pursuits of Thomas Woodcock ; ant the desire
of ' sweet liberty,' so natural to the human mind, had lost none
of its influence upon that of out-Yorkshire convict. (In the
21st ult. he was employed, along with about thirty other mini a.
nions in punishment, in white-washing the rope-house in Chat-
ham-yard." Now or never," thought our Yorkshire Me
and stealing from his keeper with the assistance of the other
n cable,nd , garments
whi
rehcontrivedotfhilerope
bas to
s-maker,,trmui
in.dwglititoihuwel
himself
f;
intobusily
theengagedfiide.rnrn ee of inr closing
min tehn at:
sfuerntiwnhelieshuillteritht easatioi9nuedg ,
eglignv tnes hinitnsraelilr oncaAce:dm,orL e, that. freedom
the hue and cry has been raised, the WOodeock T
stillll el tvi I:dt 'le
sn 41' 4 It4ri '-
suit, although the smut is flattered by that premise of a hand_
some reward and . all reasenablcesPocm--areds - late{.
Power.)

JOll-N--BUla AND MR. BROUGHAM.

FOR THE SUN.
Ma. EDITOR—I flattered myself, that the oc-
visional hints, which you have given my relative,
the Editor of that scandalous weekly publica-
tion " Tai-E JOHN BULL," would have induced
'him to act with more forbearance and pru-
dence, before he ventured to " strip preten-
ders" to, notoriety, as he styles them, and be-
.Jore-te began again " to rake up old stories," or
" unnecessarily to wound personal feelings ;" but
'it appears, that he is entirely devoid of all the
'higher feelings of our common natured, and so long
as he can gratify the vindictiveness of his temper,
and secure to himself the means of personal gra-
,tification by the SALE of ins paper, he will dole
out, by wholesale, weekly, the grossest per-
monalities without regard to sex, station, or
character.

It may not, therefore, be without its use to
Teminti this periodical libeller, that the Press has
dealt most tenderly with him : not from any
personal regard. to himself, but to other branches
of his family, and especially from respect to the
memory of that most excellent man, his late
father, who was neglected and 'abandoned for
-many years before his death ; and who, dying in
,extreme poverty, has left a widow entirely desti-
tute, and.in the utmost distress !
In addition to -this total want regard
and affection in the Editor of John 'll all, other
improper conduct, in the course of his public and
private career, can, when requisite, be pointed
out ; but, as I wish on this occasion to give.him
only " a gentle set down," 1 shall confine -my-,
self to one solitary instance of his misconduct
whilst abroad ! lint then, If it is true, it is a
most profligate instance of the absence of all moral
rectitude and -feeling. It is very currently re-
ported, that whilst he held an official situation in
'an Eastern Dependency, he became (not only
from that circumstance, but also from family con-
nexion) ax INMATE of the establishment of one of
His Superiors ; and, whilst he was participating
in the liberal and generous hospitality of his
friend and relation, it is said, that he offered, on
a' particular occasion, whilst ut one of the country
residences of Ills Superior, and during his ab-
sence, a most gross and daring insult to his wife,
which, with becoming spirit, she instantly re-
pelled with-indignation and disgust.
" In all the train or"Vlee there's not a Monster
" More foul, more ugly than 124:GRATITUDE.
" It is a fiend of blackest hue, begot
".By the demon Envy,, on the sorceress Pride,
"And littered in a base, a thankless heart.
In-want 'its humble.; licks, yet, if it, thirst,
" Would bite the hand that ministers relief.
" In power 'tis proud ; repays past benefits
" With scorn, neglect, or insult. Its sharp tooth
" itrikes deeper titan the serpent's poisonous sting;
" And he that entertains this sooty guest,
" Harbours as rank a devil in his heart
" As hell bath e'er engendered."
I have been induced to. send you these obser-
Nations from the mean, wanton, and illiberal
attack of JOU:4, But.c, in his yesterday's paper,
on Mr.II EMIT BROUGHAM, and his family ! SUP-
,,rosttio Mr. Brougham's GILAND•FATILEIt did re.
-side in a small farm house, called 44 the Bird's
Nest"—that lie had an attic apartment hi Wind-
ior Castle.--and that he had also a house in Castle.
lard, Holborn—AND SUPPOSING Mr. Brougham's
FATtirn was appointed by the late Duke of Port-
:land to the Siocc'urc place of Serjeant at Arms to
the Lord High Treasurer, and that this gottleknall
..was likewise a gambler, and won of the lute
.Duke of Norfolk a large sum of money ! Wha

have the acts of these individuals to do with tl

character mill Conduct of Mr. if r.sr Ley lluouGnmv

The allusion to Mrs. RaonotiAm, and in another
part of the SAM paper to Mr. M'KEIMEL, I. can
understand but what would Jonx Rut:Land some
of his own, immediate relations say, if 1 were to
detail alt :t knew of them and of their family history;
. though none of them need be ashamed of the
integrity, respectability, and profession of it
excellent, though unfortunate, father I Is it any
eproach to JOHN MILL and the other branches
of his family, that their father was a Trufessqr
of Music of considerable talent—that for up;
arils of 20 years he composed all the songs for
Vauxhall—that he educated his sons at West-
. minster and expended Isis substance in fatina

them for public life? Yet he died, poor a
neglected ! If JOHN BULL will not confine hi

self to the defenCe of the Establishment

Church and State, and to the protection of our
.Colonists Irvin fanaticism and hypocrisy, and to
other great national questions, but will indulge
himself in weekly libellous attacks on private
characters in all conditions of life, he must ex-
pert to be retorted upon, and to have a few
truths thrown out which will not be very palat-
able or convenient to himself and his relations.
With respect to the origin and antiquity of
Mr.llr,Nity BIIQUGHAM'S Ninny, I have only that
knowledge which the public possess, and which
may be found,in various topographical works re-
lating to the Northern Counties : but it is a mat-
ter of perfect indifference to mankind whore .a
•man of intellect, integrity, and talents is born,
Whether in a garret in Edinburgh, or at Brougham-
Hall, or. in Charlotte-street, Bloomsbury.
dl
however, find in Mr. 111:NNANT'S Tour, that the
Manor of 13itoUGITAM. has been held, with slight
interruption, by the family of that name, since•
the 22d of Henry the ~>d ;—and it also appears
by Mr.J.irsoN's Magna Britannia, volume Cum-
berland, that 66 the ancient family of BIIOUGHAM
". of Brougham,-in Westmoreland, were lung
cc possessed of property in this county, and for
" some generationS Oil Brougham, winch had
4' been sold to the litunS, was re.pUrAOSed
family), Scales Hall, in the parish or
was their lima residences 111:Ntly
" Baouoiissi, Esq.M.P., Ilasister at Law, is the
6 present,representative of this family." p.lx-x.
Sup that by these authorities, it is evident that
Mr. HENRY Baounumit's family have possessed
m 66 fitent domains" for many centuries, in the
counties of Westmoreland andCuaLberland, and
that Mr. IlitounnAm; although he is not de-
scended from a long line of NOIILE gncestors, has
.succeeded to the patrimony of his forefathers,
who were distinguished fur their intellectual
...worth and independence ; and it is no small com-
pliment to observe on the authority of Bow..
sitstrgra,,that Mr. Baotinatmei Grandfather and
ather enjoyed the confidence and possessed .the.