The Red Cloud chief., 1891-06-26
SALMON AND SEA TROUT.

so0s 1ssepssesg 1se4s Ceseernisg Their
Lives asA nshssA
No authority o. AsAes has 6een sele
70 nv where the SEA trout ssA the
salmon 70 in winter. bot before thr
brooks and rivers b-giu % freeze IN thr
late fall they gather Ia large srsfsra
paaa rapidly dc~s The strcsa md swim
away for deep waters Nothing - sccn
~ them again till toward the lat of
June. when they coagreg.ie about ths
mouths Of tidal rivers and brooks
A salmon born IN the Restigoache viii
not. when IL ba. become a grii~e. re
turn 20 the Mir.michi NJ any other
river. but will swim swiftly and slrrtly
up and down the crass. sometime. for
several days. till IL finds its own river.
Sometimes the salmon. after it, two
and . half years sbsencr since It's baby
hood. and returning - griise 70 The
shore. enters the wrong strcam. bat hN
fore il has ~ am far upward II discovers
its mistake, turns again down stream
leaving its companions and makes great
haste "a the shor-. when IL skirts along
till IL finds its native river. ] have often
watched grils~ for hours after I knew
they had lost their way; they swim fro0
side to side Of the river. examining the
bottom the rocks. and the shallowA and
when they are sur that they have
s~en the place before. they n and
speedily so sraward
What makes this most remarkable n
that the salmon. which is Matched cut
in the gravel or sand beds In the river
in the beginning Of summer. remains in
its native only about Ave month";
when IL makes its way down with the
current. bring then known n the parr,
n beautiful. 1.-the. and graceful little
fish from four tn six inches long. Its
return il made when il il three year,
old. when il is known n a grils-; bu,
its r~ecollections from the time II it,
babyhood are clear and unfailing.
How often have I lain quietly In q
birch bark canoe st the foot Of some
fall on the Miramichi and Restigouche.
and watched the advancing march al
this beautiful FISH, As they reach the
boiling water Ut the bottom of the fall,
they pause for . while. with their he ads
up stream and cry a to the surface;
then they swim across from right to
left. looking upward to determine the
lowest part of the barrier in front Of
them. Then they eco for a short dis
tance, suddenly curve themselves in the
form nearly If the letter {, and spring
upward. making considerable commo-
tion in the water from the push made
by the tail The old salmon are the
best jumpers, and often get IN the top
Of a fall al the first leap: hut ] have fire.
quently seen grilse and large salmon,
which suppose were very old. make a
dozen attempts before getting up. They
would reach nearly 10 the edge of q
splash. After resting n minute or 80.
they curved. and made IN. attempt
again. But I have known and heard Of
no cas where any grilse OF fairly young
salmon did not at last succeed in getting
over the barrier.
The sea trout cuts through the water
like an arrow. and springs six and
little falls. The object Of the visit tn
the streams every year il that these
fishes may deposit their eggs In the
shallow beds Of gravel and sand that lie
everywhere along the upper reaches Of
the streams When the female salmon
in the early autumn is ready tn lay her
eggs she poises herself above some
shallow. with her head up stream, and
burrows into the sand, mp and down
stream. till she has made n cavity large
enough: then she deposits her egg IN
this opening. The constant motion Of
the water in one direction oon covers
the ova with sand, and there they Pc
main buried till the next spring, when
they grow AS large rs pease, and the
little fish come forth IL was believed
up Ia little while ago that the salmon
fed while in fresh water in summer. and
this was held Ia explain why il rose and
took the isherman's fly ~ easily. IL il
now known that the salmon does not
taste food during all the months that IL
spends i'm the river; no food has ever
been found in its stomach in summer,
and the stomach itself. on dissection, il
found 70 BE- closed during that season
Ii in asked. why, then, does the salmon
rise Ia the fiy, IL not Ia eat il? Ny
opinion is, and i, is sustained by Usher
men and ichthyologists. that the sal
mon takes the gaudy bait trailed about
it sometimes in play and often in anger.
This much is sure. the fish never makes
an attempt To swallow the fiy, for it is
invariably found hooked in the lip
Edmund Collins. in Harper's Young
People.