Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-07
THE SALMoN's LEAP.
4 Spring of Eighteen Feet Recorded
by One Observer.
From Forest and Stream.

| From Forest and Stream.
A few years ago in a fsherman's nook in
| London we were discussing the height TO
| which salmon could leap and an English
| man stated that he had known salmon TO
| make clean leap Of twenty feet perpendi-
| cuiariy. This WAS questioned by a Scotch
| man present, who said that he had been on
| many salmon river, and had never vet
/ seen the salmon that could clear ten feet
| perpendicuiarly. Several diff prent views
were expressed upon The subject, and since
| that time have taken occasion 10 measure
| falls in several rivers where salmon were
leaping, for the purpose OF determining how
| far salmon can leap.
I The question allows of some elaboration
and several Important factors must b.
taken into consideration. First. the charac-
| ter oil the 'tak--OI1," or, in other words the
water from which the salmon starts below
| the falls. II he can start from a quiet deem
| pool or EDDY just below the falls he can
make a much higher leap than il ne must
| start from broken water or shallow w.t,r
| In some rivers salmon are much longer ana
sIenderer than in others and the slender
salmon make much higher leaps than the
more robust ones. a fresh run salmon may
| ne so TAT that he IL clumsy, and not abla
| 70 90 MS best at lcaping, but after three or
f f"ur weeks spent IN The river he may per-
form some remarkable acrobatic feats
In the Nashecootal river 4 have s.,.,, sol
mon thrown back time and again from a
! reap OF about SIX feet and do not rernernhar.
ever having seen salmon make r,,ora tn,
an eieht-Ioot leap IN that river on The
olomana river i have seen salmon tbrou,,,
- pAch tel'.dteuiS from leap OF ten feet
put having been ioiled several times in sl1c
Cesslon these nsh jumped apDroxiUat.I,,
| fourteen feet on two occasions ana siv,o.,,,
| leet IN one instance, while | was wstchine
then- On the hegashka river 1 have s..-o
salmon leap about twelve feet bun il, ms
| river the leaping place was MOI v.bara
coolo measure the height OF the chosen
spot. On the Coal river In NewfoundisnS
st tIr. seem 70 have difficulty in clearing
eishl leet OF the fall, and this is due proi,a9
Dry TO the character of the rocks ba,,s,,,t
the ran, nut as the water from which IL.
ledpeo was Whlte water 1 could not see ths
character or the 'take-off." On tb.a norT6
branch of the Humber river SALINE, r "a
leaplns very much higher with ease o.
| Iahs similar In character to those of H.
Coal river "a the
The highest leaping that have over Co..
was on the nrst falls of the White Rear
river, IN Labrador. The salmon in 80
Weigh are d,,,,d NOT ARG; and the adult hsh
pouhds Dut they are very slender and have
tremendously broad tails photorro,,b NS
one Oh those salmon of ten pounds weight
paced py the side of sea trout OF 90.
ana half pounds weight shows ~
nreadth OF tail and the more graceful out-
nhes OF the salmon of this river / meas
ured the height to which the salmon W.,
leaplng, approximately, by standing ahn,,o
me TAILS and letting my line run from ~
TOP OF the falls into the pool below and
this line was marked with knots three faot
apart, so that while the distances were not
measured accurately, 1 was able 10 a.
termine that most of the salmon leaning j.,
the fails at this point We're making q Ia,l
on about twelve feet. Salmon would occa-
slonally leap far past this chosen spot int
ahotner CHOSEN spot which was approNf-
mateiy eighteen feet from the pool below
Reducing the question to one Of me-
chanics We may estimate that a salmon -
zen Pouhoh weight leaping from a still pool
requires an initial velocity at the momant
OF leaving the water of eighteen miles o.
hout IN order TO nave momentum suficseot
10 carry Rim twelve feet perpendicularI,-
"A velocity OF twenty-three miles an how
Is required for carrying this same fisb
eighteen feet perpendicularly.
In ancient times burials were always nut