THE SALMON TROUT, (Salmo Trutta,)

ALSO called the Bull Trout, or Sea Trout, is thicker in the body than the common trout, and weighs about three pounds; it has a large smooth head, which, as well as the back, is of a bluish tint, with a green gloss; the sides are marked with numerous black spots; and the tail is broadest at the end. It is said that in the beginning of summer the flesh of this fish reddens, and remains this colour till the month of August; which is very probably owing to their being on the point of spawning. Like the salmon, this fish inhabits the sea; but in the months of November and December it enters the rivers, in order to deposit its roe; and consequently, in the spawning season, it is occasionally found in lakes and streams, at a great distance from the sea. It is very delicate, and much esteemed on our tables; but, as it contains a great deal of fat, it ought to be dressed as soon as possible, for it would soon become putrid. Some people prefer this fish to salmon; but they are both apt to cause illness when eaten in too great a quantity.

T

THIS fish, in figure, resembles the salmon; it has a short roundish head, and a blunt snout. Trouts are fresh-water fish, and they breed and live constantly in rivers and small pellucid streams which sparkle over clean pebbles and beds of sand.

They feed on river flies and other water insects, and are so fond of them, and so blindly voracious, that anglers deceive them with artificial flies made of feathers, wool, and other materials, which resemble very closely the natural ones. In Lough Neagh, in Ireland, Trouts have been caught weighing thirty pounds; and we are told, that in the lake of Geneva, and in the northern lakes of England, they are found of a still larger size. It holds the first place among the river fish, and its flesh is very delicious, but difficult of digestion when old, or kept too long. They spawn in the month of December, and deposit their eggs in the gravel at the bottom of rivers, dykes, and ponds. Unlike most other fish, the Trouts are least esteemed when near spawning. They are properly in season in the months of July and August, being then fat and well-tasted.

The beautiful silvery Trout is the most voracious of fresh-water fish, and will devour every living thing which the water produces; even its own spawn in all its stages, and will lie upon the bed or hill, watching to seize its young fry, as they become vivified and rise from under their gravelly birth-place. Neither does he confine himself to any given sort of fish, but luxuriates his rapacious stomach upon all the varieties, from instinct, occasionally changing his food to larvæ, caddis, ephemera, worms, and even the young of the water-snail, all of which act as alteratives. Owing to his large fins and broad tail, his movements are extremely rapid, and from his muscular power and pliability he seldom misses his prey. His habits are solitary, being only accompanied by one, and that at some distance from him, in the summer season; and as the autumn approaches, when larvæ &c., are diminishing, he keeps entirely alone, until the pairing season returns. The period of spawning differs in various rivers from natural causes, such as snow, cold rains, or inclement weather; for, as Trout, like salmon, spawn on gravel beds in shallow water, the cold readily affects them. When they cannot reach the spot prepared for the deposit of their eggs, they frequently abstain from spawning for weeks. The younger Trout generally hill, as it is termed, earlier than those of larger growth. They begin to throw up their bed early in December, when the female and male may be seen working together, the former mostly in advance. By constant labour they dig a hollow in the gravel, throwing it up on each side, and at last forming a heap, which is called a hill, or bed. At this period they are very shy and stupid, and even the shadow of a cloud will frighten them from their hill, when they retreat into deeper water; but upon finding all quiet they return. This preparation generally occupies two or three weeks; and frequently the hill is shared both in labour and occupation by several pairs of Trout; it often measures many feet in diameter, and is two or three feet higher than the bed of the stream. From the middle of December to the end of January the Trout is in full spawning operation; when the fish deposit their eggs in the hollow, and afterwards work the gravel over them to the depth of about three inches. If the temperature of the water is not altered

during the period of incubation, the young make their appearance on the fiftieth day; never earlier, frequently later. Nature has endowed the young fry with so much instinct of self-preservation, that for many days they keep under the gravel, and it is curious to see the shoal hiding together under large stones to protect themselves from danger this they continue to do until the egg-shell, in which they remain partially enveloped, falls off from their delicate frames. This shell, which adheres to them for fourteen days, contains a proportion of fluid necessary for their support during this period of helplessness. After this they resort to the shallows and scours to avoid the larger fish, where they remain solitary for a year, during which time, in good keep, they attain the weight of three to four ounces; the second year, eight to ten ounces, after which they begin to breed. Fish, like every animal, becomes fat when it has abundance of food with little or no exertion; so that the growth is entirely regulated by the relative proportion of food and labour. I have observed this difference in the same brood of Trout, artificially bred upon my system: the one brood being placed in water well supplied with food, the other in a spring-stream where little food existed; the former, at ten months old, were four inches long, and three and a half ounces in weight, while the latter were only an inch and a half long, and less than an ounce in weight. Although Trout are not migratory, yet, when they become large, they run up stream to purer water. The small Trout are carried down the stream, against their habit, by the flushes of water or floods during the autumn months, being unable to stem the thickened torrent which fills their gills with alluvial deposit, and hinders their respiration, whence they become weak and sickly. In this state of water all fish sicken more or less, and it destroys vast numbers in the I have known thousands destroyed by very young state. the overflowing of a river, as well old as young. The cause of all our rivers falling off in the quantity of fish, is from the increasing impurity of the water, as fish especially require pure water.

The above interesting notice of the Trout has been communicated to the publisher by MR. BOCCIUS, who devotes himself professionally to the increase of fish in rivers and ponds, and has performed marvels.

THE CHARR, OR ALPINE TROUT,
(Salmo salvelinus,)

Is not unlike the trout; the scales are very small; the colour of the body marked with numerous spots and points of black, red, and silver, mixed with yellow, and without a circle; the back tinged with olive-green; the belly white, the snout bluish. All the fins, except those of the back, are reddish, and the adipose one is red on its edge. This fish is about twelve inches in length, and is esteemed very delicate as an article of food, especially by the Italians. It is abundant in the Lago di Garda, near Venice; and is also found, not only in our northern lakes in Westmoreland and Scotland, but also in the large sheets of water at the foot of the mountains in Lapland. The potted Char enjoys a high and deserved reputation in several parts of the continent, as well as in England. The Char is a fresh-water fish, and is generally found in the deepest parts of lakes; it is never taken by the angler, only by the net.