53 G REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



in the progress of improvement " the forests primeval"' that embowered 

 the streams, and aided in imparting a delightful coolness to the waters, 

 were removed, and the waters exposed to the action of the sun and air, 

 while the cold spriugs that fed them were desiccated, the temperature 

 of the water was raised higher than to be congenial to the habits of the 

 salmon. This condition may be discerned in nearly every stream that 

 flows into the lake. Another qualification of the water which is essen- 

 tial to the comfort and enjoyment of the salmon is that it should be 

 pure, and, in the words of Judge Watson, " highly aerated". The rapid 

 erection of saw-mills, until they occupied almost every water-power, lit- 

 erally extinguished in almost every stream this native condition. The 

 sawdust stained and polluted the water, and the sediments and debris 

 of the mills settled largely on the gravelly bottoms, which had been so 

 alluring to the salmon, changed their character, and revolted the cleanly 

 habits of the fish. Mr. Arnold mentions another effect from this cause, 

 which may have exerted a greater influence. He has observed, in his 

 own experience, that the sawdust with which the water was charged 

 was necessarily inhaled by the fish with the fluid, and that particles of 

 it were not ejected, but remained adhering to the gills. This mechanical 

 effect must have produced annoyance to the creature, with succeeding 

 suffering and possible death. 



The most formidable and indeed insuperable obstacle to the ascent 

 of the salmon were the innumerable dams constructed on almost all the 

 streams near their mouths. These were usually of a perpendicular 

 height so great as to utterly repel the attempts of the fish to overcome 

 them. This cause of the disappearance of the salmon is so paramount 

 and obvious that the discussion of any other would be superfluous were 

 it not that it seems appropriate in a paper like this to present every 

 possible view of the question before us, and for the very conclusive rea- 

 son that several streams, of which the Au Sable Eiver is a striking 

 instance, that have equally suffered with the others from the abandon- 

 ment of the salmon, have never impeded the run of the fish by dams or 

 any other artificial obstruction. Had the advent of the salmon in the 

 rivers been coincident with the season of high water, their ascent of 

 these impediments would have been immensely facilitated, but their run 

 was precisely at the usual occurrence of the lowest flow of the streams. 

 The volume of water was almost totally exhausted by the flumes, and at 

 times scarcely trickling over the apron of the dam, without furnishing 

 any supply to the slopes or sluices constructed in accordance with the 

 statute. The popular excitement became at length so deeply inflamed 

 by acts which were then regarded as encroachment on public immuni- 

 ties that the grand jury of Clinton County, New York, were impelled, 

 in the year 1819, to present an indictment against the proprietors of the 

 dam erected at the mouth of the Saranac Kiver in Plattsburgh. The 

 indictment, among other averments, alleged that previous to the erec- 

 tion of this dam " salmon were accustomed to pass, and actually did 



