Page:VCH Bedfordshire 1.djvu/138

FISHES The river Ouse, which runs through this county, and the Ivel, which joins it at Tempsford, together with the Lea, which rises in Bedfordshire, are tenanted by many species of freshwater fish which may be considered indigenous ; other species have been introduced, some of which have multiplied to a certain extent, but have not yet become common. It is probable that salmon in very early times were found in the Ouse, although the rivers of England west of a dividing line running from Portland to the Humber may be considered as salmon rivers rather than those east of that line. The alteration of the course of the Ouse in the fen districts by the cutting of the ' Hundred Foot ' and the erec- tion of the tidal Denver Sluice, together with the obstruction of the numerous water-mills and weirs, have probably tended to prevent the free passage of salmon up the river from its mouth at King's Lynn in Norfolk. The Ouse from Bedford to its mouth is roughly a hundred miles long, and the water at Bedford Bridge is nearly ioo feet higher than at Lynn ; the fall therefore being about i foot per mile makes the river better adapted for coarse fish than for the Salmonidce. There are however three authentic records of salmon having been captured in this county within the past sixty years. One was taken in the eel trap at Cardington Mill about the year 1840 or 1841, weighing about 6 lb., and was exhibited by a fishmonger at Bedford. Mr. George Street of Maulden, who rented Cardington Mill from 1852 to 1862, informs me that a salmon, weighing about 10 lb., in fine condition, was taken in his eel trap at the time of a very high flood in July (probably 1853), and was sent by him to a fishmonger at Bedford for inspection, and afterwards presented to the late Mr. S. C. Whitbread, the lord of the manor. Owing to the excessive rainfall in 1852-3 the river Ouse was more or less in flood throughout the winter and spring, which would therefore facilitate the passage of salmon in spite of the obstructions of the sluices and weirs previously referred to. A male salmon weighing 9^ lb. was caught in the eel trap at Kempston Mill, December 22, 1880. The introduction of trout into the Ivel took place several years ago, with the result that many good specimens have been taken and are still found in that river, which appears to be well adapted to their growth and development. A cast of one (Sa/mo fario) taken by the late Frank Buckland, weighing upwards of 9 lb., was in the possession of Mr. 98