STONE THE SALMON OF THE MIRAMICHI KIVER. 217 



river thoroughly, over nine miles of spawuing-gTOuud, with a very long 

 sweep-seine, and of all the salmon we caught, which were a great many? 

 there were only two which had not spawned, and one of these had been 

 injured by a spear- wound. The juniper having now faded, the Indian 

 chief pointed to it again, and said, " Salmon all spawned ; no more salmon 

 spawn this year." This was not true, however, of our captured salmon 

 in the ponds, two of which continued to hold their eggs till the 15th of 

 November. Floating ice made its appearance in the river in large quan- 

 tities as early as the 20th of October, and by the first week in i^ovem- 

 ber the river was entirely closed, and fishing through the ice began. The 

 salmon of the Miramichi average about nine or ten pounds in weight. 

 The largest two which we caught weighed 30 i)ounds each. One was a 

 male, the other a female. As a rule the males were the largest. There 

 are no spring runs of salmon in the Miramichi that I am aware of ; but 

 in the Saint John a variety of salmon comes up the river in the spring, 

 and spawns in the spring. They are always expected and regularly 

 ^shed for at this time. They are a little smaller than the fall fish of the 

 Saint John, and weigh, I believe, eight or nine pounds each. The num- 

 ber of these fish is quite limited. 



The salmon of the Eestigouche are larger than those of the Miramichi, 

 averaging perhaps twelve pounds. Very large salmon, weighing fifty 

 or sixty pounds, are caught in the Eestigouche. 



Opinion is very much divided among the fishermen as to the migra- 

 tory movements of the Miramichi salmon. Some say that there are salmon 

 that go to the sea twice a year 5 others that they come from the sea but 

 once in two years. It is certain that some remain through the winter 

 in the river, and that there are salmon going down the river in the spring. 

 It is generally agreed that, as a rule, they spawn in October ; that the 

 young are hatched in the spring; that they remain in the river until the 

 next spring or succeeding summer, when they put on the smolt-coat and 

 go to the sea. They are then about six inches long. It is thought that 

 they return to the river the same fall as grilse, weighing from three to 

 eight pounds. This, I think, is the common opinion, but I do not consider 

 that the belief is by any means faliy established. I saw thousands of 

 smolts going down the river in July, which I cannot believe were the 

 grilse that we caught the following fall. Is it not possible that some of 

 the smolts remain in the ocean till the next year ? One-half the parrs 

 of each year, without doubt, remain two years as parrs in fresh water 

 before going to the sea. 



FRAGMENTARY NOTES. 



Salmon are very abundant in the Miramichi and in all the rivers east 

 of it. Messrs. Stone and Goodfellow shipped 60,000 pounds of fresh 

 salmon from this river to Boston and 'New York from June 10 to July 

 10, 18G9. I never saw a fisherman who had found food in the stomachs 

 of the salmon taken in the river. Oar salmon in the artificial breeding- 



