46 6 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



four bunks ; a kitchen. 12 feet by 6 feet ; Mr. Woodbury's room, 6 feet 

 by 12 feet, with two bunks; and my own room, of the same size, with 

 one bunk. 



These quarters would be considered rather small in New England 

 for our large force, but in this climate people really live out of doors, 

 and most of our Indians slept outside, either in the small tents or under 

 the open sky. 



Through the dry season we dined, and, indeed, had all our meals on 

 the large piazza in front of the house, which was protected from the 

 sun's rays by means of an awning. During the fishing season, the fish- 

 ermen slept at the camp at the lower fishing-ground. 



Of the natural surroundings of our camp, an idea can be obtained 

 from the following paragraph taken from an article by Mr. William M. 

 Turner in the Overland Monthly of January, 1875 : 



" This stream has been selected with good judgment. Fed by the 

 eternal streams of Shasta, some seventy miles from its mouth, its waters 

 are icy cold, and, as yet, undisturbed by the miner's pick, as clear as 

 the sunlight that pierces its azure pools and whirling eddies. No dams 

 or other artificial obstacles obstruct its course, and it is now the most 

 prolific and favorite spawning ground of the Pacific. A point on the 

 river about twenty miles from Eeading, the present terminus of the 

 Oregon and California Eailroad, and about three miles from its junction 

 with the Pit River, one of the largest tributaries of the Sacramento, has 

 been selected for the hatching works, and, among all the beautiful spots 

 in California, none more lovely nor more grandly picturesque than this 

 could have been chosen. 



" The grade of the California stage-road curves over the hill a few hun- 

 dred feet above the fishery, and from this point the view is magnificent. 

 Eastward Mount Persephone, an immense wall of granite, shoots up 

 athwart the sky, rising abruptly over 2,000 feet from the water's edge, 

 seamed and scarred by the by-gone ages, and frowning down sullenly, as 

 if jealous of the innovations below. Pound the base of 'Big Mountain,' 

 the beautiful river sweeps like a blue ribbon, flecked and sparkling here 

 and there with bits of silver spray that bubble up from its ever-chang- 

 ing, restless current. Willows and water plants fringe the banks wilh 

 their graceful drapery ; wild flowers of brilliant hue light up the rugged 

 hdlsides ; the bright, airy green of the manzanita shimmers on ridge and 

 mountain crest; and the great moss-covered oaks, swinging their 

 gnarled branches amid the music of the waters, lend a charm to the 

 scene of peaceful beauty." 



OUR NEIGHBORS. 



Our neighbors were Mr. George Allen and wife, who kept the stage 

 station a mile and a half west of the camp; the ferryman at Pitt Eiver 

 Crossing, four miles down the river, Mr. O'Conuer, commonly called 

 " Old Jack," who lived alone, four miles up the stage-road ; Dr. 

 Silverthorne, who lived with an Indian wife, seven miles from camp on 



