THE SALMON AND TROUT OF ALASKA. 39 



mountains, and elevated perhaps twenty feet above the 

 sea, is a little lake dubbed by me "Piseco." 



Handy to get at, and its outlet running through the 

 centre of the town, it became, in early spring, our first 

 resort for fishing. Arriving in June, 1879, many of us 

 had, through days of fruitless endeavor, during the 

 summer and autumn, grown to disbelieve the tales of 

 the inhabitants, that this lake abounded in trout ; but 

 on the 20th of May, 1880, from somewhere, there 

 thronged the shallow edges, among the lily pads, great 

 schools of these trout, and for about two weeks there 

 was no limit to the number one could take of them. 

 Salmon spawn was the best bait, but a bit of venison 

 would answer. A fly they would not rise to. In size, 

 they ranged from six to twelve inches — the latter size 

 being, however, very exceptional ; their average Avas 

 about eight inches. The description in my notes is : 

 "Specimen, May 27th. Length, nine and one-half 

 inches ; depth, two and three-eighth inches ; weight, 

 five ounces ; colors — back, rich, dark brown, growing 

 lighter toward medial line ; at wdiich, covering it for a 

 space of half an inch, there is a longitudinal stripe of 

 rich purple, extending from opercle nearly to tail ; be- 

 low the median line, bright olive-green, lightening to 

 silvery wmite on belly. All of the tinted portion is pro- 

 fusely sprinkled with oval black spots, which mark also 

 the dorsal, caudal, and adipose fins ; the ventral and 

 anal fins are yellowish bordered with crimson; tail, 

 nearly square. ' 



