Literature.

Literature .

EEVIEWS . Salmon Fishing in Canada . By a Kesiclent , Edited by Colonel Sir JAMES EDWARD ALEXANDER , Knt . K . C . L . S . Longman ancl Co . It lias long been a subject of apprehension amongst anglers , that the salmon is becoming extinct in our rivers , and it has been as

confidently asserted that the noble fish is doomed t ' o be ranked in the same category , as the bustard ancl the badger , i . e . as only occasionally to be found in Great Britain . To obviate this , various plans for the breeding of the lastspring , or salmon fry , havo been advocated , and practised , but without producing any marked results . All true sportsmen feeling this have , of late , betaken themselves to the

rivers of Norway ivhich , not long since , were open streams available to the rod of any adventurous disciple of " the gentle craft" with sufficient time on his hands to enjoy the keen relish felt by a lover of the fly when exercising his skill on a virgin river . But now these are , in their turn , as strictly preserved as any of the same kind at home , the owners having found our countrymen willing to pay

¦ a sufficently high rental for their sporting tenure , so that there is scarcely a mile of free and unappropriated salmon water to bo 'found in the whole kingdom of Norway , At this juncture the English Anglers have good reason to congratulate themselves on the new-field of occupation ivhich is opened out to them in COLOXEL ALEXANDER ' S "Salmon Fishina- in Canada . "

Westward of Quebec is the " Jacques Cartier" a stream abounding with a species of salmon , and presenting a very lovely appearance , as we are told by our author , in ths following extract : — "The beautiful glen through ivhich this river flows is bounded by high , nay lofty banks , ivliose slope affords soil for a great variety of umbrageous forest trees ; with here and there a tall pine rising above the thick mass of foliage . The mountain ash grows in

abundance . Part of tho rock for twenty or thirty yards from the river is interspersed with dwarf trees and shrubs , and along its surface innumerable little streamlets ofthe purest and coldest spring ' water run sparkling from the bank . On one side of the most rapid part , huge cedars growing out from the fissures of the rocks fling their grotesque arms fin- across the stream . Nor arc floral ornaments wanting in this scone of sylvan wildness and beauty ; wild flowers are found in great variety and profusion .

" The river is a succession of rapids and pools from the St . Lawrence to the fishing ground , which is a distance of nearly nine miles ; the fish have consequently a rough journey , and aro often severely hurt in their toilsome voyage ; but when they reach the lower end of the gorge cut in the rock by the force of the water below the bridge , their troubles are only beginning , for there they meet a torrent of such magnitude and power as no fish can possibly surmount , unless when tho water is low . "

The inducement to visit sucn a spat is great , but although there is mueh sport to be obtained , yet there are many difficulties to he surmounted . The best fishing is to be found in tho streams which flow into the gulf of the St . Lawrence and there are some " twentyfive virgin rivers , " so situated , that they have never had "a fly thrown on their waters ' . "

: ' "Think of this , ye anglers , who have been all your lives pacing the margin of some over-fished river in England !—think of this , ye persevering labourers on the well-beaten waters of the Tweed , tho T-. iy , the Ksk , the Bon , the Spey , the Ness , and the Beuly . —think of this , ye tired thrashers ofthe well-netted streams of Erne , _ W » y , and Shannon ' . —think that within less than a fortnight's steaming from your hall doors , there are as yet twenty-five virgin rivers in one small portion of Canada , and that of the * ten which have been

tried , they have all , with one single exception , been found not only to abound in salmon , but to afford ample facilities for taking that noble iish with the rod and the fly . " 1 do not mean to say that none of them present difficulties to the fisherman ; they would not he pleasant rivers to fish if they did not . They have their sharp rajiids , their heavy falls , their impassible barriers , their sunken rocks : in many of them it will bo impossible , until civilisation smooths the jiaths , to approach neat- enough to the very best casts to fish them ; in others , the rough nature of the vole-anii . rocks which hang over their jiools , and tho impracticable state ofthe forests on their borders , throw obstacles in the way of

conveying cots or canoes to the best stands , which are all but insurmountable . In many of them a bright gravelly-bottomed pool , with a lively stream rippling through its centre , in which the fish perpetually disport themselves , is terminated by a rocky and a narrow gorge , through which the water rushes roaring , raving , ifncl lashing for miles , into which every salmon you hook will use all his energies to throw himself , and if he succeeds , you may clejiend upon it ho will not stop till he reaches the hank of Newfoundland . In

many of them the pine , the beach , the alder , and the tamarack grow down to the edge of the water on both sides , impeding every throw , —nay , they do worse , they die and fall across the stream , making , it is true , in some pools a very pretty ripple , to disguise tho ily , hut enabling thefish to execute thebeantifulbut embarrassing manoeuvre of jumping , as soon as he is hooked , into the top branches of the nearest tree—an event which has more than once occured to the writer of these pages . Should the accompanying sketch ever meet

the eye of an old and friend in a ' cottage' at Toronto , it will remind him of an hour in one summer ' s evening , in which such , an occurence took place , and during ivhich he and I killed five salmon , the smallest of ivhich weighed fifteen pounds . In many of them ,

walls of rock of an immense heig ht rise perpendicularly from the narrow strip of gravel from whence you have to throwyourline , and afford tbe most convenient means which can he well conceived of knocking the very best tempered hooks into smash . " From Quebec the fisherman must set sail in his yacht to " the fishing ground . " "But it is just possible , " naively remarks our author , "that the gentleman may not have a yacht of his own or a

friend ' s to embark in . What is ho do ? He must hire a schooner . " Then follows a list of the advantages a hired schooner has over a private yacht , the facility you have of despatching " your vessel to Metis , Matan , or the Riviere du Loup , for sheep , butter , eggs , and potatoes , " together with the details of the expense of hire of crew , provisions , servants , & e . All this is exceedingly pleasant and

aristocratic , but we fear the majority of "honest anglers" will sigh in vain for tho realisation of such piscatorial bliss , and have to content themselves with the comparatively insignificant sport afforded by their native rivers , or a casual trip to Norway . But to those who are fortunate enough to be able to avail themselves of the author's invitation , and are bent on a Canadian fishing tour , the volume before us will afford material assistance . It abounds in

information , not only respecting tho fishing localities , the varietio of Canadian flics , and other piscatorial matter , but also contains many useful hints , evidently the results of personal experience , as to tents , bedding , dress , & c , which cannot fail to be of service to the sportsman who contemplates " roughing it" in the backwoods . One ofthe most niischevous pests to be found in these backwoods is an insect called "the black ily , " and we append our author's

description of what this pest can and does perform . We are told that , "There were four of our party in one boat , which were to inany to permit us all to fish in comfort ; one therefore volunteered to go on shore and take his chance in a deep bay where the trout were rising merrily . We placed him on same rocks at the southern extremity of this gloomy inlet ; and then the Commissioner and

myself , accompanied by Mr . W . Price , proceeded higher up the great river , killing many trout of various sizes and weights , until the shades of evening , added to the gloom of the overhanging cliffs , warned us that it was time to turn homewards in search of shelter and of rest . As we moved along round each headland we east our eyes into the darkling indentations of the rocks , in search of our friend whom wo bad left behind us . At length we came rather suddenlwithin few yards of vistiged gentleman who at the

y a a verymoment was playing a ' lish ; whereupon the Commissioner addressed him , congratulating him on his . ipj . nronfcly good sport , and inquiring whetherhe had seen another fisherman during the evening . He was answered by a guffaw from our friend , and not only by a gufliiw , but by a pretty smart jobation for our having left him so long to be oaten alive by flies . The voice ivas the voice of our friend , but the face was the face of a negro in convulsions . To the assault of the

account for which it may be well to state that black fly is generally sudden and unexpected ; that the first indication you have of Id ' s presence is the running of a stream of blood over some part of your face , which soon hardens there ; and that these assaults bei ' ng renewed ad injiiiitinn , under favourable circumstances , soon renders it difficult even for his nearest and dearest female relative to recognise him . The effect during the night following a mastication of this sort is dreadful . Every bite swells to about the size of a filbert—every bite itches like a bum .