166 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



till May, aiKi contijjue iu this river till the eud of August. Some peo- 

 Y)\e, bowerer, informed me that they ascend still earlier in the season. 

 I could not obtain any definite information as regards the spawning. It 

 appears to me that the Icelanders have not paid much attention to the 

 conditions of life of the salmon, which are of great importance as re- 

 gards any measures for protecting the salmon and promoting the fish- 

 eries. The seals ascend the Hvita as far as Klaflbs, and have young 

 ones there, several of which I noticed. In my judgment these falls are 

 not an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the ascent of the salmon, 

 but none have ever been caught above the falls; in fact, I believe no 

 one has ever attempted to fish here. Possibly the river above the falls 

 is too cold to afford proper spawning places. 



Xear Stafholtseyri and still farther up the Hvita but few salmon 

 were caught in 1884, nor have many been caught in the tributaries of 

 that river. Thus, one farmer in the neighborhood caught only six in the 

 Eeikiadalsa. One salmon was caught as late as the 29th of August. 



Xear Xordtunga very considerable salmon fisheries are carried on. 

 It seems that the sx>awning i)laces begin here, and that the wealth 

 of salmon in the Tvera originates here and in the Kjara. In the last- 

 mentioned river large salmon fisheries are carried on, esjiecially from 

 Gilsbakka, whose inhabitants travel several days' journeys to the fish- 

 ing places on the Kjara. IS'ear jSTordtuuga salmon are caught early in 

 May. In 1884 the first salmon was caught May 20. The owner of the 

 Xordtuuga farm maintained that those fish which ascend the river in 

 May had already gone down the stream at the time of my visit (August 

 30). He thinks that the salmon which are found in the river in August 

 probably spawn in October, but he has never noticed any salmon 

 spawning'. It is evident that there are spawning' places near Xord- 

 tunga, and in the heaps of sand which are now lying dry we see prob- 

 ably former hidingplaces for salmon eggs. 



rishing is carried on with nets about 8 fathoms long and 1 fathom 

 deep, and, like all nets used in this neighborhood, they are of exceed- 

 ingly simple construction. These nets cannot carry enough, and do not 

 follow the bottom as they should do. According to the statement of 

 the farmer, the following number of salmon were caught during the last 

 ten years: 1875,300: 1870,400; 1877,500; 1878,100; 1870,30; 1880, 

 200; 1881, 2; 1882, 30; 1883, 14; 1884, 150. 



On August 31 I rode up the Kjani Eiver, accompanied by my guide, 

 and took observations along the course of this stream. Kear Oruolf- 

 stadir the bed of the river becomes rocky, and there are many small 

 falls and deep holes. But it wasmy impression that asfar as I rode (some 

 distance beyond the Ulve Falls) there are no better sjiawning ])laces 

 than farther down near Xordtunga. I made vain attempts in diti'erent 

 I)laces to catch fish with flies or artificial fish, and nowhere could I dis- 

 cover the slightest trace of fish. My guide had no time to take me to 



