THE PACIFIC SALMON. 7/ 



strike until he was landed was fully twenty minutes. In the 

 ancient aboriginal manner he would have been "taken in and 

 done for" in one minute. Nineteen minutes of useful time 

 wasted just to be in the fashionable swim! 



After presenting the young lady with the victim she had 

 landed, the engineer paddled away, and soon joined the merry 

 throng of anglers. A myriad of Salmon surrounded them, 

 and but few of the two iiundred or more boats that were in 

 the fleet had failed to capture one or more Salmon. But in 

 all that flotilla the engineer was the only one who attempted 

 the scientific method. Striking a fish, he began to reel in or 

 pay out his line, as the rushes of the fish required. Then 

 the ridiculous appearance that he made became strongly 

 apparent, when, after landing his quarry (a tiny fingerling of 

 eight pounds), he became an object of ridicule and the sub- 

 ject of much chaffing. Ancient squaws derided him as "cultus" 

 (exceedingly bad or worthless). A weather-beaten old tar 

 with one leg called him a dude, and said he was sorry for 

 him. Chinamen smiled that bland smile that means certain 

 death to the one smiled upon, especially if the smiler is a 

 member of the noble order of Highbinders, and happens to 

 have his Malay Kriss about him. People of many other 

 nations made equally flattering remarks to him. Then he 

 became indignant, said he would seek better company, and 

 began to paddle sarcastically in the direction where some sea- 

 hogs, or porpoises, were rolling in the straits. 



The course in which he was paddling brought him near one 

 of the scows where the Italians were drawing a net. Four 

 sturdy maccaroni-fed Romans were pulling on each end of 

 the net, while two Greek patriots beat the water with wide 

 oars, that made a great splashing, on the opposite side of 

 the scow, in order to frighten any Salmon who might attempt 

 to escape back into the net. The engineer waited until the 

 net was drawn and the fishes tossed into the scow. In this 

 <iraw over three hundred Salmon and one small Shark were , 



