DECREASE OF THE SALMON 339 



or eight inches deep can wriggle over shoals where the 

 water is not an inch deep nearly as fast as a man can run. 

 On such a stream one may catch in his hands great salmon 

 weighing ten or twelve pounds, or may kick them out on 

 the bank with his feet. And while the appearance of a 

 man in the shoal water will at once alarm the fish and 

 send them darting in all directions, up or down the stream, 

 or even out on the bank, yet they soon return, and begin 

 again to work their way slowly up through the shallow 

 water. 



If one inquires of an individual connected with the 

 salmon industry in Alaska something about their numbers, 

 he is at once told of the millions found there, and informed 

 that the supply is inexhaustible. The same language will 

 be used that was heard in past years with regard to the 

 abundance of the wild pigeons, or of the buffalo, or of the 

 fur-seals of Bering Sea. But if the investigator will con- 

 tinue his inquiry, and ask for the details of today, he will 

 learn that it now takes far longer to secure a given number 

 of fish than it used to, and that the fishermen are obliged 

 to travel much farther from the cannery than formerly to 

 secure their catch. As the reserve of the new acquaint- 

 ance wears off and he becomes interested in his subject, 

 what he says will show very clearly that the supply of 

 Alaska salmon is diminishing, and diminishing at a rapid 

 rate. 



The salmon in the early summer come up from the 

 deeper waters toward the mouths of the fresh water 

 streams, and for some weeks may be seen in the bays, 

 inlets, and fiords collecting in great numbers, preparatory 

 to running up the stream. At this time they may be taken 

 in considerable numbers in such places by trolling with 

 the hook and line, and afford good sport. At morning 

 and evening they are seen in numbers leaping out of the 

 water, sometimes fifteen or twenty following one another, 



