156 The Pacific Salmons 



entered by February. In March the fish is seen 

 in the Columbia, but not until May does it be- 

 come abundant there. It seeks the shores of 

 southern Alaska in May, and probably does not 

 reach the Yukon until the latter part of June 

 or early in July. The runs continue for four to 

 six months in the more southern waters, while 

 in northern Alaska the running season is very 

 short, probably not exceeding four to six weeks. 



This fish is justly called " royal chinook 

 salmon " and " king salmon " by the people of the 

 Pacific states, for no other salmon in the world 

 compares with it in size. In the Yukon and 

 Norton Sound it attains a weight of one hundred 

 and ten pounds, and in the Columbia of over 

 eighty pounds. Examples weighing forty to 

 sixty pounds are common in the Columbia and 

 Sacramento, and the average weight of those 

 caught in the former stream is nearly twenty-five 

 pounds. 



Since the discovery of gold on the upper Yu- 

 kon, large numbers of king salmon, often of 

 huge size, have been taken at Dawson, eighteen 

 hundred miles from the sea, and salmon are 

 known to pass above that point. 



The greater part of the life of the salmon is 



