168 BULLETIN OF THE TINITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



niou unconscious by striking tbem with tlieir beak, and then drag them 

 on shore, where they devour them. 



We crossed the river near Grimsa, where some small trout were 

 caught, but where we did not find any salmon as we had expected; and 

 by way of Andakill reached Grund, on the Skorradals Lake. In its 

 western portion this lake is 12 fathoms deep, but at the other end 

 it is said to reach a depth of 20 fathoms. It is said to be 2^ Danish 

 [about 12 English] miles long and of considerable breadth. The 

 mountain-trout found in this lake are called hJasilitng, and frequently 

 some are caught weighing 9 pounds. In this lake the trout never be- 

 come so large and fat as the mountain-trout. I did not succeed in 

 catching any fish. The water of this lake is very clear, and here and 

 there on the bottom may be seen patches of Myriophyllum. The 

 hJasiJmuj is said to spawn on stony bottom during September and Oc- 

 tober. 



In the river Laxa there were caught in 18SJ: about 2G0 salmon near 

 Leir<4. The fish go up as high as the Eirafos Falls. Great complaint 

 is made of the seals, of which I noticed several hundreds. The river 

 Laxa has an excellent fall towards the sea and forms a series of nat- 

 ural steps. The salmon can easdy leap all the falls formed by these 

 steps. The river has a tributary called the Baugda, which comes from 

 the small lake Medallfell, to Avhich the salmon ascend, and are caught 

 in a salmon-trap at the place where the river leaves the lake. The bot- 

 tom of the river is partly lava and somewhat loose masses of rock. The 

 salmon do not ordinarily ascend this river till about the 10th of June, 

 but occasionally they come as early as the 25th of May. The largest 

 number come from June 24 till July 1, and about August 20 they stop 

 coming. In 18S4 about 700 salmon were caught, but among these there 

 were many small fish which should never have been caught. There are 

 also many salmon-trout, but only few mountain-trout. Sira Thorkil 

 Bjarnason, of this place, thinks that fishing is carried on to excess, and 

 that this is probably owing to the circumstance that the fisheries have 

 been let to Englishmen who did not know how to fish, while they paid 

 from 800 to 900 crowns [about 8225] for the summer season. Seals are 

 not numerous in this neighborhood, as they are hunted a good deal. 



Thing valla Lake is said to cover an area of from 4 to 5 Danish square 

 miles. Its depth in the northwestern portion is said to be SO fathoms. 

 In many places the bottom consists of sand and gravel, but generally it is 

 a lava bottom with numerous fissures. Here and there it is covered by 

 vegetation. Unfortunately the continued bad weather prevented me 

 from making many observations. We could barelj* undertake a little 

 trip in a row-boat. All the following information was furnished by 

 Sira Jens Pallson, who takes a deep interest in the fisheries, and who 

 may be considered entirely reliable. The natural conditions of the 

 Thingvalla Lake (the most imiiortant lake in Iceland) are, moreover, so 



