228 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



have declared it to excel. Withal, I do not question that with time this 

 fish will prove, with the aid of proper vessels and needful appliances, a 

 valuable adjunct to the resources of the provincial waters, either as a 

 market fish or certainly for the extraction of oil." 



The fish above mentioned by Mr. Anderson were caught by the In- 

 dians in Parry Passage, between Graham and North Islands, Queen 

 Charlotte's group ; but along the west coast of those islands, particu- 

 larly at Chaatl, near the western entrance to Skidegate Channel, and 

 south of that place, at Stunthlai, near Tasoo Harbor, the water is much 

 deeper than in Parry Passage, and the fish much larger. Instances are 

 not rare of specimens being taken measuring 50 inches long and weigh- 

 ing 30 pounds, although the average fish caught in shallow water will 

 weigh from 10 to 15 pounds each when fresh, and before being dressed. 



The black cod are found in the deep waters of Fuca Strait, between 

 Port Angeles and Cape Flattery, a distance of some 00 miles, where 

 they attain a large size, and are highly esteemed as a food- fish, but the 

 same objection regarding Indians catching them in that locality exists, 

 such as is mentioned by Mr. Anderson, as quoted, e. g., " depth of water, 

 difficulty of anchoring canoes, strong currents, and necessity of calm 

 weather." Added to this, may be stated that the Indians have such a 

 variety and quantity of other kinds of fish in shoaler water easily taken, 

 such as halibut, ophiodon or green cod, Sebastichthys of many varie- 

 ties, salmon, kelp fish, and herring, they seldom care to fish in deep 

 water for black cod, and when they do it is to obtain them as a luxury 

 for their chiefs. 



It is only the Makah Indians who take these fish on the American 

 side of Fuca Strait, but their fishery is limited, as hitherto there has 

 been no demand for them. Further north, along the west coast of 

 Queen Charlotte's Islands, they are very plentiful in all the fiords and 

 inlets where the water is deep, but are not taken by the Indians, owing 

 to causes before mentioned. On the west coast of Queen Charlotte's 

 Islands they are very plentiful, and the Haidah Indians catch fhem for 

 their oil, which is used as food. These fish are also plentiful in the 

 waters of the various inlets of the mainland ; but the Indians of those 

 tribes obtain their supplies of grease from the eulachon or candle-fish, 

 and the herring. They alsoabound in the waters of Alaska, particularly 

 the Prince of Wales Archipelago, where they have long been known, 

 and a few have been pickled from time to time by white persons for 

 their own use. The reason why this fishing has been so long neglected 

 is that other fish are so abundant and so easily taken that the Indians 

 obtain their food supplies from them. 



The superstition some of th  tribes have had about allowing white 

 persons to catch these fish, to which I have alluded, may be illustrated 

 by the following anecdote, which is but one of hundreds that could be 

 told of similar Indian prejudices: 



The late Capt. Edward Brotchie, for whom Brotchie's Ledge, near 

 Victoria, was named, fitted out a small vessel in 1853 to engage in the 



