Is the boast of large rivers, and one of the noblest inhabitants of the sea, if we esteem it by its bulk, colour, and the sweetness of its flesh. Salmon are found of a great weight, and sometimes measure five feet in length. The colour is beautiful, a dark blue dotted with black spots on the back, merging to silvery white on the sides, and white with a little shade of pink below. The fins are comparatively small. These fish, though they live principally in the sea, come up the rivers at the spawning season, to a considerable distance inland, where the female deposits her eggs. Soon after, both she and the male take an excursion to the vast regions of the sea, and do not visit any of the land streams again till the next year, when they return for the same purpose. They are so powerfully impelled by this natural impulse, that, if they are stopped when swimming up a river by a fall of water, they spring up with such a force through the descending torrent, that they stem it till they reach the higher bed of the stream; and on this account small cascades on the Tweed and other rivers are often called Salmon-leaps. The Salmon is in a great measure confined to the northern seas, being unknown in the Mediterranean, and in the waters of other warm climates. The flesh is red when raw, rather paler when salted or boiled; it is an agreeable food, fat, tender, and sweet, and excels in richness all other fresh-water fish; however, it does not agree with every stomach, and is often injurious when eaten by sick persons.
In the river Tweed, about the month of July, the capture of Salmon is astonishing: often a boat-load, and sometimes nearly two, may be taken at a tide; and in one instance more than seven hundred fish were caught at a single haul of the net. From fifty to a hundred at a haul are very common. Some of these are sent to London by the railway; but part are slightly salted and pickled, in which state they are called kipper. The season for fishing commences in the Tweed in February, and ends about old Michaelmas-day. On this river there are about forty considerable fisheries, which extend upwards, about fourteen miles from the mouth; besides many others of less consequence. These, several years ago, were let at an annual rent of more than ten thousand pounds; and to defray this expense, it has been calculated that upwards of two hundred thousand Salmon must be caught there, one year with another. The principal Salmon fisheries in Europe are in the rivers, or on the sea-coasts adjoining the large rivers of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The chief English rivers in which they are now caught are the Tyne, the Trent, the Severn, and the Tweed. They were formerly found in the Thames, but none have been taken there for many years. The Salmon fry go down the river to the sea in April. A young Salmon under two pounds in weight is called a Salmon Peel, and a larger one a Grilse. Salmon cannot be eaten too fresh, and is very unwholesome when stale.
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. Some people prefer this fish to salmon; but they are both apt to cause illness when eaten in too great a quantity.