104 FISniNGGROUNDS OF ^"ORTU AMERICA. 



June. — Kiug; salmon nppear toward tlie iiiidtUe of the luontb. 



July.— " 7?oilo/i " {0. Ix-la), "i-odfisL" (0. 7ierla), "dogfish" (0. (jorlusclia), aud a few 

 wLitefish. 



August. — Keezich ai)d straggling salmon of the other speeies. Whitefish, especially the 

 Luciofruffa and mulsiDi, are more abaudaiit. 



September. — Salmon trout aud whiteflsh are in their best condition and most abundant. 



October. — Much the same ; but toward the, twentieth of the month ice begins to form and 

 puts a stop to fishing until it is firm enough to allow of the setting of the winter traps, which 

 does not usually occur until early in the following month.' 



The method of making and setting the Yukon fish-traps is so well explained by Mr. Dall in 

 the paper already quoted, that I shall simply state that the trap is essentially a double fyke-net 

 with the fence i)laced at right angles with the bank of the river, catching fish either ascending 

 or descending the stream. Gill nets and seines are used in summer. The Tinueh tribes formerly 

 made their seines out of the inner bark of willow and alder. The Innuit made theirs of fine 

 seal-skin strips. In localities where the river is small and narrow, the natives make what 

 corresponds in effect with the yshaped fish-trap of the Susquehanna aud other Eastern rivers — 

 huge bundles of willow brush are tied together aud placed side by side so as to block the passage 

 of fish completely, except at the little opening where the basket is placed. Birch canoes are used 

 in river flshiug on the Yukon. 



We have little information about the running of the Yukon salmon beyond that obtained by 

 Mr. "Dall from the natives at Fort Derabin, Nulato, which follows: 



" King salmon : Arrive at ISTulato ' when the trees have got into full leaf,' about the 20th of 

 June, and continue to run about three weeks. The last that come up are poor and lean. Hoilcoh: 

 The first arrive about the 10th of Jidy, just as the king salmon are about gone, and they last 

 about three weeks. Stragglers are occasionally caught as late as January. Eeclfish : This arrives 

 about a week or teu days after the first hoikoh, and continues with the latter until about the end 

 of August. A few straggling dogfish are occasionally caught with it, but the majority of this 

 si)ecies do not ascend the river as high as Nulato. Keezich : This is the last of the salmon to 

 ascend the river, an(;l is obtained until the cold weather sets in aud puts a stop to the summer 

 fishing." 



The same habit of running in twos or threes instead of in schools is reported of the " king 

 salmon" in the Yukon, as well as in the rivers of Cook's Inlet. Capt. E. P. Herendeen told n)c 

 that he has always noticed it, and he thinks the salmon follow the shore to escape the beluga. 



The superiority of the king salmon of the Yukon has long been well known; persons who are 

 able to secure a supply of the salted bellies from that source consider themselves very fortunate. 

 The species seems to improve in flavor regularly to the northern limit of its distribution, although 

 it is highly i>rized even on the Columbia. 



The following is a list of the principal flshQS of the Yukon division : 



Flat-fish Pleuronectes stellatus. (Marine.) 



" glacialis. (Marine.) 



Liiminda aspera. (Marine.) 



Halibut nippoglossus vulgaris. (^Marine.) 



Polar cod Boreogadus saida. (Marine.) 



Wachna Tilesia gracilis. (Marine.) 



' Report of Commissioner of Agriculture for 1870 (1871), p. 392. 



