10 DEPARTMENT OF THE NATAL SERVICE 



6 GEORGE V, A. 1916 



vation as regards the halibut, but is comparable to the case of the male ling cod 

 noted on May 30. 'With reference to the latter, I applied to Dr. C. McLean Fraser 

 at the Biological Station, Departure bay, for information concerning the date at 

 which he had found the spawn. Dr. Fraser has a paper in the press dealing with the 

 development of the ling cod, shortly to appear in the Transactions of the Royal Cana- 

 dian Institute, but he kindly writes in advance as follows: " The earliest date I have 

 recorded for attached spawn of Ophiodon was January 27. I do not think these egjr» 

 could have been laid more than a couple of days, as I had been around the spot several 

 times not very long previous. Shortly after this the bunches of eggs became common, 

 and I should think that the most of them that I have seen were laid in the early days 

 of February, say before the 15th. As they take so long to hatch out, and since there 

 is so little change in external appearance except when the eyes show through, it is 

 impossible with a casual glance at least to tell the old from the new, and hence it is 

 of little value to record any but the early ones. Those that were first seen hatched 

 out on March 25, so that the period of hatching must be about two months." 



The trip of the Roosevelt came to an end on June 2, whereupon I returned to 

 Nanaimo. There seemed to be a good chance to procure samples of halibut from the 

 west coast of Vancouver island and have them delivered at the laboratory, where I 

 could have examined them with a great deal of convenience. Unfortunately, tlie 

 negotiations to this end fell througlj owing to the difficulty of transporting whole fiah 

 from the deep-sea fisheries to Vancouver and again from Vancouver to Nanaimo. 

 Accordingly I called on Mr.E. G. Taylor, Inspector of Fisheries at Nanaimo, with the 

 intention of paying a visit to the fishing centre of , Ucluelet at the mouth of the 

 Alberni canal. Mr. Taylor advised me to go first to Clayoquot and to take in Ucluelet 

 on the way back. I left Port Alberni on July 9 on board the Princess Maquinna, 

 where I met Dr. C. F. Newcombe, of Victoria, whose laiowledge of the west coast of 

 British Columbia, its peoples and products, is unrivalled. At Glayoquot I lost no 

 time in getting into touch with Mr. John Grice, the fishery overseer of that district, 

 who did all in his power to assist me. 



At my request, Mr. Grice took me to the Indian village of Opatsat on Meara 

 island, where only two families remained, the rest having gone for the season to the 

 Kennedy Eiver salmon cannery, and elsewhere. At Opatsat I saw strips of halibut 

 drying on lines in the open air, as described by Dr. G. M. Dawson, and also in the 

 dwelling-house. Here an agreement was made to secure the services of an expert 

 Indian fisherman, known to the settlers as '^ Little George." The next morning Mr. 

 Grice conveyed me in the Heron as far as the outer islands of the sound, where the 

 Indian was already fishing for bait. A thick fog settled down and continued at 

 intervals all day. I dropped quickly into the canoe and the launch returned to Tofino. 

 The canoe was a large one dug out of a cedar log, light enough for a strong man to 

 manage with a single paddle at the stern or a pair of oars near the bow, and buoyant 

 enough to sail 30 miles out to sea in order to spear fur-seal in the spring. We went 

 close to the lighthouse rocks, where the siren was booming, riding easily in the midst 

 of the white foam washing back from the breakers, and caught a fish which he called 

 "quikima," a ''rock salmon" (Sehastodes sp.), with a hook baited with a small tassel 

 of cord and white spindle-shaped stick in front of the hook. Using pieces of the fish 

 for bait we tried for halibut at several positions up to the 3-mile limit without success 

 there being too much fog to get correct bearings. The following day (July 12) 

 opened with fog, which cleared away later. The Indian came for me shortly after 

 5 a.m., since, according to his notion, halibut chiefly feed in the morning. We fished 

 with four hooks baited in the Indian fashion, in about 25 fathoms, 3 miles off the 

 lighthouse island, c.atching one halibut and one dogfish (Squalus suchleyi). The 

 halibut was an immature male of small size, 281 inches in total length, weighing 9i 

 pounds, age estimated at 7 years, the stomach full of crabs. 



Through the kind mediation of Mr. Grice, I now made arrangements with Little 

 George and another Indian named Peter to take me by canoe to Ucluelet, fishing on 



