56 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



a small steam-launch that took us in tow, and brought us 

 safely to the cannery wharf, where our Salmon were secured 

 and counted. We received one cent each for them, and con- 

 sidered ourse'lves well paid; but the next day the net-tender 

 put in a bill for twelve dollars damages, claiming that we had 

 torn and almost ruined his net. We paid the bill, and 

 ever since we have considered that we "lost money on de 

 goods." 



Various methods of taking the Pacific Salmon are by the 

 fish-wheel, "of all diabolical inventions the most infernal," 

 the net, the trap, the spoon, and the bait-hook. But I will 

 only describe here the methods of catching Salmon by hand. 



When the sultry June sun shines on the Cascade Mount- 

 ains, the melting snow causes the river to rise rapidly. The 

 Indians watch closely for this event, and the various tribes 

 gather in the deep, narrow canyon where the river runs. 

 The drying-sheds of these people have stood in the same 

 places since the unknown ages, and every year the same 

 families return to the same sheds. These sheds, or scaffolds, 

 are crudely, yet strongly, built. No nails or pins are used. 

 Posts are set firmly in the ground, to the tops of which beams 

 are firmly lashed with ropes of bark, and strong poles laid 

 from one rafter to another. Sometimes there will be a com- 

 plete net-work of beams and rafters, the whole capable of sus- 

 taining many tons of Salmon. This skeleton building is then 

 covered and sided up with bark, and noble Mr. Lo is ready 

 for business. 



When the morning sun warms the air, he arises, gives 

 himself a shake, and his toilet is made. Taking his dip-net 

 from the side of the bark rancherie, where he has slept, he 

 ambles down to the river, takes his position on a jutting rock, 

 and begins to drag his net down the stream. The hoop of 

 this net is usually thirty inches in diameter, and the net about 

 four feet deep. It is attached to a handle about twelve feet 

 long. The current of the Frazer is very swift, and in order 



