r buoyancy enables her to carry a
heavy load, and, though frail, the elasticity of her material admits of
many a blow and pinch which would seriously damage a heavier vessel. The
rifle and axe of the backwoodsman, the canoe and the weapons of the
Indian, are the result of long years of experiment, and perfectly meet
their necessities.

The rest of the party remained and fished five days more, making ten
days in all, and the score was eighty-five salmon and five grilse, the
united weight of which was fourteen hundred and twenty-three pounds. The
salmon averaged sixteen and a half pounds each: the three largest
weighed thirty, thirty, and thirty-three pounds. Nearly two-thirds of
the whole were taken by Kingfisher, and our average for three rods was
three fish per day each.

It is asserted by Norris in the _American Angler's Book_ that the salmon
of the American rivers are smaller than those of Europe, that in the
Scottish rivers many are still taken of twenty and twenty-five pounds
weight, and that on this side of the Atlantic it is as rare to take them
with the rod over fifteen pounds. If this statement was correct when
Norris wrote, ten years ago, then the Canadian rivers have improved
under the system of protection, for, as above stated, our catch in the
Restigouche averaged over sixteen pounds, and nearly one-third of our
fish were of twenty pounds or over.

Yarrel, in his work on British fishes, says that in 1835 he saw 10
salmon in the London market weighing from 38 to 40 pounds each. Sir
Humphry Davy is said to have killed a salmon in the Tweed that weighed
42 pounds: this was about 1825. The largest salmon ever seen in London
was sold there in 1821: it weighed 83 pounds. But with diminished
numbers the size of the salmon in Scottish waters has also diminished.
In the _Field_ newspaper for August and September, 1872, I find the
following report of the fishing in some of those rivers: The
Severn--average size of catch (considered very large) is 16 pounds; fish
of 30, 40 and 50 pounds have been taken. The Tay--one rod, one day in
August, 7 fish; average weight, 18 pounds. The Tweed--two rods, one
day's fishing, 12 fish; average, 20 pounds. The Eaine--fish run from 12
to 20 pounds.

In Lloyd's book on the _Sports of Norway_ we find the following reports
of the salmon-fishing in that country, where the fish are supposed to be
very large: In the river Namsen, Sir Hyde Parker in 1836 killed in one
day 10 salmon wei