218 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



could be brought to the shipping (packing) age in a healthy state ; and 

 finally it was generally thought to be decidedly impracticable to trans- 

 port them alive a distance of over three thousand miles from one ocean 

 to the other, in which latter view the writer to some extent shared. 



It will be seen, therefore, that to settle these doubtful points was no- 

 small achievement, and the fact that they were settled makes the re- 

 sults of this first season, insignificant as they were in magnitude, of the 

 utmost importance in point of fact. 



xVt all events, the United States Commission felt authorized by the 

 results to continue the work another year, and each successive year 

 more and more clearly vindicated the wisdom of this decision. Perhaps, 

 as ten years have elapsed since that time, I may be pardoned for recall- 

 ing some of the reminiscences of that first year at the fishery, so full of 

 novelty, of anxiety, and of interest to those who were engaged in the 

 work. 



I arrived in California on the 8th of August, 1872, with instructions 

 from Professor Baird, United States Commissioner of Fisheries, to 

 find a suitable place for procuring the eggs of the Pacific coast salmon 

 on a large scale, and if practicable to obtain and forward some to the 

 Eastern States that year. As the salmon with which I was familiar — 

 the Salmo solar of the Atlantic coast — does not deposit its spawn until 

 October, I did not feel at all uneasy on account of not having time 

 enough. I nevertheless spared no pains to gather information as to 

 where the Pacific coast salmon spawned, and as to what would be the 

 best location for procuring their eggs on a large scale. 



I expected to be informed at once where the spawning grounds of 

 Sacramento salmon were. 



Eeared in New England, where almost every square foot of ground 

 has been explored, I supposed that almost any one who had given at- 

 tention to the matter could tell where the salmon spawned. To my 

 very great astonishment, not a man could be found in California who 

 could give the desired information. 



The fishermen at Sacramento, and between Sacramento and San Fran- 

 cisco, knew all about catching salmon, but none of them knew where 

 the salmon spawned. The State fish commissioners, although they had 

 collected valuable information of other kinds, had not yet learned the 

 location of the spawning grounds of the Sacramento salmon. As I was 

 about giving up in despair, Hon. B. B. Bedding, secretary of the Cal- 

 ifornia fish commission, introduced me to Mr. W. W. Montague, the 

 chief engineer of the Central Pacific Bailroad, who gave me the first clew 

 I had yet received to the much-desired information in regard to the 

 spawning of the California salmon. Mr. Montague said that he had 

 seen Indians spearing salmon on the McCloud River, and was quite sure 

 that he had seen the ripe spawn coming from the fish that had been 

 speared. Here was a clew to work from. I lost no time in taking con- 

 veyance to the McCloud River. I arrived on the river on the 29th of 



