obinson (one
of the best anglers and fly makers between Cornwall and Caithness),
and have had some conversation with him on the subject of Salmon,
&c. He is of opinion that the spawn of the Salmon remains five
months in the gravel before hatching; he examined the spawn in
April, and found the young fry alive in the eggs, and Ingham,
another angler, took some home and kept one of the Smolts two or
three months. I have subsequently seen Ingham, and he has given me
the same account. All the fishermen here are of opinion that the
female Smolts remain one year, and the males two years, before they
go down to the sea. The Bramblings are supposed to be Smolts which
remain a year longer than the usual time; they are few in number,
and are generally taken with the May fly. I have no doubt that the
above opinions are correct, for we have now three distinct sizes of
Smolts in the river exclusive of Bramblings, the largest of which
are nearly four ounces in weight, and are all males, as they
contain milt in October and November. The next are the females of
the present year: I have had one since the receipt of your letter,
which weighed half an ounce and measured five inches in length;
this was a real blue Smolt; the third are the males of the same
age, and are much smaller; these are occasionally taken with the
worm, and will rise at the fly all the next summer."

"We were for several years, but I do not know the dates, entirely
without Salmon, and of course without Smolts; and we invariably
found that the Smolts made their appearance the year after the
Salmon, but were very small till the second year, when we had what
we call blue Smolts, which disappeared in May or June; and what
you called Pinks, which remained till the following year; and
Brambling Smolts, which remained another year. The fishermen here
are also of opinion that neither Salmon nor Trout spawn every
year. Robinson says that one day lately (the letter is dated
December 13th) he caught seven Trouts, six of which were in good
season; and he brought me two the other day, one of which
contained roe, and the other was in excellent condition." My
friend states, in a subsequent communication, that one of the
fishermen had told him that he had caught the male Smolt (Par)
more abundantly on the Salmon spawning beds than elsewhere, and my
friend adds that the opinion there is, that if a female Salmon
gets up to the spawning beds, and if no male accompanies her, yet
her e