378 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



This kind of packing, though suitable for short trips, was not ade- 

 quate to the requirements of the long journey across the continent, and 

 the eggs were all dead when they arrived at Clear Lake. A second 

 lot, sent on afterward, to take the place of those which were lost, arrived 

 in good condition, and from them 25,000 white-fish were hatched under 

 the charge of Mr. J. G. Woodbury. About the time of the absorption 

 of the yolk-sac, the young fish were placed in various portions of Cleai 

 Lake. This was the first introduction of the white-fish (Coregonus altos) 

 into the waters of the Pacific slope. 



While stopping at Clear Lake, I gathered the following items in 

 regard to its waters and the fishes that inhabit them. 



It is a singular fact, illustrating the inaptness with which names are 

 often given to natural objects, that the water of Clear Lake is never 

 clear. It is so cloudy, to use a mild word, that you cannot see three 

 feet below the surface. The color of the water is a yellowish brown, 

 varying indefinitely with the varying light. The water has an earthy 

 taste, like swamp- water, and is suggestive of moss and water-plants. In 

 fact, the bottom of the lake, except in deep places, is covered with a 

 deep, dense moss, which sometimes rises to the surface, and often to 

 such an extent in summer as to seriously obstruct the passage of boats 

 through the water. 



There are large soda-springs boiling up at various points in the bed 

 of the lake, which discharge into it vast quantities of soda-water daily. 

 A reddish-brown, frothy substance is produced in such abundance by 

 the natural evaporation of the soda-water that the lake in places seems 

 to be full of it. 



In winter, the water is cool and not disagreeable, in spite of its earthy 

 taste ; but, in summer, it grows warm, the swampy flavor becomes intensi- 

 fied, the frothy substance from the soda-water increases, the plants and 

 moss from the bottom float in great quantities in the water, and it 

 becomes unfit to drink. 



These conditions would seem to be unfavorable to fish-life in the lake j 

 but, by another of those numerous contradictions for which California is 

 noted, this lake seems to be particularly adapted to fish, and the water 

 teems with them. In the spring, when they run up Kelsey Creek, Cold 

 Creek, and other tributaries, to spawn, they swarm in these streams by 

 millions, forming an almost solid mass, so that it is even difficult to cross 

 the fords with a horse on account of them. 



3. — LIST OF FISHES INHABITING THE LAKE. 



The local names of the fish are as follows : 



1. Perch. 5. Chy. 9. Black-fish. 



2. Shapaulle. 6. Eoach. 10. Trout. 



3. Hitch. 7. Spotted sun-fish. 11. Bull-heads. 



4. Suckers. S. Mud-fish, (mud-suckers.) 12. Viviparous perch. 



