# 8 The Long Way Home

The "homing instinct" drives the salmon great distances. The fish may be a thousand miles from home. It is probably off the coast of Chile or Peru. Suddenly, it heads northward. It is looking for the freshwater stream where it was spawned. Hundreds of streams flow into the sea. All of them contain fresh water. All are very much like the stream where the salmon was born. But it passes all these. It swims day and night, mile after mile. But then it takes a right turn. There is no hesitation. "This is my home stream," it seems to think. "I can smell it." This is the mystery. The fish was five inches long when it left. It weighed about a pound. It was gone about three years. How does it know exactly where to go? Now a new vigor enters its body. Rapids and waterfalls cannot stop it. It leaps and swims against the current. It can leap ten feet. It can leap into a waterfall and with its powerful tail leap again. If it fails the first time, it tries over and over.

There are men on the banks with rods. The salmon ignores all bait and food. It has only one mission in mind. It swims to find the clear water of its birth. It will find it. Not by sight. But by taste and smell.

The salmon is now upstream. Here the water does not run so swiftly. The salmon is almost home. "Here is my side streamlet," it seems to think. The water is just a few feet deep. Finally the trip is over. But the salmon does not rest. Instead, it starts its nest. The nest is called a redd. The salmon's tail and body swish hard. Mud, plants, and stones are scattered by the movement. The salmon clears a spot five to six feet across. Now a "clean and dustless" nest can be built.

# 8 漫長的歸家路

「歸巢本能」驅使鮭魚長途跋涉。魚可能離家一千英里遠。牠可能就在智利或秘魯的海岸附近。突然間，牠轉向北行。牠正在尋找當初孵化牠的淡水溪流。數百條溪流匯入大海。所有這些溪流都含有淡水。所有溪流都與鮭魚出生的那條非常相似。但牠經過所有這些溪流。牠日夜不停地游，一英里又一英里。但隨後牠向右轉彎。毫不猶豫。「這是我的家鄉溪流，」牠似乎在想。「我能聞到它的氣味。」這就是神秘之處。這條魚離開時只有五英寸長。重量約一磅。離開了約三年。牠如何確切知道該去哪裡？現在一股新的活力進入牠的身體。急流和瀑布無法阻止牠。牠逆流跳躍和游動。牠能跳十英尺高。牠能跳進瀑布，並用牠強有力的尾巴再次跳躍。如果第一次失敗，牠會一次又一次地嘗試。

岸邊有人拿著釣竿。鮭魚無視所有誘餌和食物。牠心中只有一個使命。牠游動以尋找出生地的清澈水域。牠會找到的。不是靠視覺。而是靠味覺和嗅覺。

鮭魚現在在上游。這裡的水流不那麼湍急。鮭魚幾乎到家了。「這是我旁邊的小支流，」牠似乎在想。水深只有幾英尺。旅程終於結束了。但鮭魚並不休息。相反地，牠開始築巢。這個巢被稱為產卵床。鮭魚的尾巴和身體用力擺動。泥土、植物和石頭被這個動作掃開。鮭魚清理出一塊五到六英尺寬的地方。現在可以建造一個「乾淨無塵」的巢了。