From these and other experiments of a similar nature, which Mr Shaw has been conducting for many years, he has come to the conclusion, that the small fry called “Orange-fins,” which are found journeying to the sea with smolts of the true salmon, are the young of sea-trout of the age of two years;—­that the same individuals, after nine or ten weeks’ sojourn in salt water, ascend the rivers as herlings, weighing ten or twelve ounces and on the approach of autumn pass into our smaller tributaries with a view to the continuance of their kind;—­that, having spawned, they re-descend into the sea, where their increase of size (about one and a half pound per annum) is almost totally obtained;—­and that they return annually, with an accession of size, for several seasons, to the rivers in which their parents gave them birth.  In proof of this last point, Mr Shaw informs us, that of the many hundred sea-trout of different ages which he has marked in various modes, he is not aware that even a single individual has ever found its way into any tributary of the Solway, saving that of the river Nith.

* * * * *

CALEB STUKELY.

PART THE LAST.

TRANQUILITY.

The sudden and unlooked-for appearance of James Temple threw light upon a mystery.  Further explanation awaited me in the house from which the unfortunate man had rushed to meet instant death and all its consequences.  It will be remembered that, in the narrative of his victim, mention is made of one Mrs Wybrow, with whom the poor girl, upon the loss of her father and of all means of support, obtained a temporary home.  It appeared that Fredrick Harrington, a few months after his flight, returned secretly to the village, and, at the house of that benevolent woman, made earnest application for his sister.  He was then excited and half insane, speaking extravagantly of his views and his intentions in respect of her he came to take away.  “She should be a duchess,” he said, “and must take precedence of every lady in the land.  He was a king himself and could command it so.  He could perform wonders, if he chose to use the power with which he was invested; but he would wait until his sister might reap the benefit of his acquired wealth.”  In this strain he continued, alarming the placid Mrs Wybrow, who knew not what to do to moderate the wildness and the vehemence of his demeanour.  Hoping, however, to appease him, she told him of the good fortune of his sister—­how she had obtained a happy home, and how grateful he ought to be to Providence for its kind care of her.  Much more she said, only to increase the anger of the man, whose insane pride was roused to fury the moment that he heard his sister was doomed to eat the bread of a dependent.  He disdained the assistance of Mrs Temple—­swore it was an artifice, a cheat, and that he would drag