46 FISH HARVESTING. 



I invariably found the remains of small fish 

 and marine animals in its stomach ; and in 

 the estuaries and long inland canals that so 

 strangely intersect the coast-line of British Co- 

 lumbia, salmon are readily and easily caught 

 with hook and line ; clearly showing to my mind, 

 that whilst in salt and brackish water the 

 North-western spring-salmon feed and fatten, 

 but, after quitting their ocean-haunts for the cold 

 fresh-water, they starve, waste, and die, as a 

 lamp goes out from sheer want of oil. Surely, 

 where hundreds of salmon are split in a day, 

 as at the Kettle Falls, it is fair to assume 

 that if they took any food, by chance a fish 

 would be caught immediately after its meal, 

 with enough evidence in the stomach to prove 

 the fact of having broken its fast ; but such 

 proof is never discoverable. Digestion w^ould 

 scarcely be more rapid in the rivers than it is 

 in the ocean and estuary, where we know they 

 cat. Open a salmon and examine its stomach 

 at any time, caught either in nets or with hook 

 and line, and food in various stages of digestion 

 will be invariably found. 



Another proof that they undergo a rigid and 

 persistent lent is found in the rapid wasting of 

 all the tissues that goes on during their sojourn 



