42 FISHING WITH THE FLY. 



most part upon dried salmon for their winter suste- 

 nance." 



The Hon. Wm. S. Dodge, formerly Mayor of Sitka, 

 states in an official report : " And additional testimony 

 comes to us from numerous persons, that at Cook's In- 

 let the salmon average in weight sixty pounds, and some 

 of them reach a weight of one hundred and twenty 

 pounds, and Mr. T. G. Murphy only last week brought 

 down from there on the Newlern a barrel full, con- 

 taining only four fish." Surgeon Thomas T. Minor, 

 who some years ago visited Cook's Inlet, in connection 

 with business of the Smithsonian Institution, makes 

 statements which confirm the foregoing. 



In the vicinity of Klawack a cannery is established. 

 A catch of seven thousand fish at one haul of the seines 

 is not unusual, many weighing over forty pounds. 



Mr. Frederick Whymper, artist to the Eussian Over- 

 land Telegraph Expedition, says in his well-written 

 and interesting account of his adventures: "The 

 Yukon salmon is by no means to be despised. One 

 large variety is so rich that there is no necessity when 

 frying it to put fat in the pan. The fish sometimes 

 measure five feet in length, and I have seen boats whose 

 sides were made of the tough skin." 



And a writer who, if disposed to strain the truth 

 would not do so to say anything in favor of Alaska, 

 says in an article in Harper's Magazine, Vol. LV. 

 page 815 : "The number of spawning fish that as- 

 cend the Yukon every June or July is something 



