12 DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVAL SERVICE 



6 GEORGE V, A. 1916 



halibut hooks made of abalone shell (HaUotis) in earlier days. The common hooks 

 were made of bone, and later of iron. The former existence of ceremonial hooks and, 

 halibut crests is a fact of historical interest in connection with the Pacific halibut 

 fishery. 



On my return to Departure bay I wrote to Inspector J. T. Williams of the 

 Dominion Fishery Service at Prince Eupert, to whom I had been recommended by 

 Chief Inspector Cunningham, to request his good offices in securing permission for me 

 to accompany one of the steamers belonging to the Canadian Cold Storage Company 

 to the gulf of Alaska. This was arranged without difficulty, thanks to the willing 

 courtesy of Messrs. Johnson and Nicholl, manager and controller respectively of the 

 company's plant at Seal Cove, Prince Eupert. It was desirable to put off the trip 

 until a late moment in order that the examination of the halibut groimds might be 

 made to cover as long a period as was possible during the season'. Accordingly I set 

 out once more for Prince Eupert on August 6, and booked a passage by the ss. Prince 

 George from Vancouver. This was the day of the deblaration of war, one effect of 

 which was that the sailing of the vessel was cancelled, so that I had to transfer to the 

 Princess Alice, which duly sailed north on August 8, reaching Prince Eupert two days 

 later. It was the first dry day after forty days of almost continuous rain. In the 

 afternoon I walked over to Seal Cove, after having conferred with Inspector Williams, 

 and met the above-named gentlemen who informed me that the steamer G. E. Foster, 

 which I was to join, had not yet been sighted. Eventually she came in about 6 p.m. on 

 August 12. I had to sign on board as " cook's assistant," and the voyage commenced 

 shortly before 1 a.m. on August 15. 



After calling at Ketchikan, we continued north along the inside passage through 

 Tongass narrows into Clarence strait which separates Prince of Wales island from the 

 mainland. At 6.50 a.m. on August 16 we rounded cape Ommaney at the southern 

 extremity of Baranof island, on which Sitka stands, and set a straight course across 

 the gulf of Alaska to the south end of Kodiak island, distant 650 miles. During most 

 of the voyage across the gulf and back the ship was accompanied by a large brown bird 

 called a " goony," behaving something after the style of a tropical " booby." Some- 

 times several of them alighted on the surface close to the ship. Numerous other birds 

 were seen far out of sight of land, shearwaters, puffins, and petrels, but the soundings 

 gave no bottom until the evening of August 19, when land was sighted and the 

 captain anchored at 10 p.m. in 54 fathoms on a bottom of greenish sand and gravel, 

 about 20 miles southeast of the Trinity islands to the southward of Kodiak island. The 

 Trinity islands ground is a continuation, south and west, of the great Albatross bank, 

 which flanks the southeast side of Kodiak island, and juts out to the northeast into the 

 Portlock bank. All this forms part of the submerged Alaskan plateau or continental 

 shelf, the edge of which is approximately marked by the 100-fathom line of soundings 

 which is sometimes 50 miles from the nearest land. At certain spots on the plateau 

 there is a great deal of mud, and it is notorious that the halibut taken at such places 

 are soft and gray and of inferior quality; these are called low-grade halibut, and are 

 often rejected. The cause and nature of the change in the consistency of the flesh 

 have not been investigated. 



The fishing on the first day did not come up to expectations, the amount taken 

 being estimated at 5,000 pounds. At least as great a quantity of true grey cod was 

 thrown away. The halibut taken on the Albatross and Portlock banks belonged to 

 the same class and quality of fish as those from Hecate strait, presenting the same 

 range in size, the same colour and consistency, and the same degree of immaturity. 

 A large one, measuring 46 inches in total length, weighed 45J pounds; the ovaries 

 weighed 2 pounds, and the eggs, as in all other cases e.x.amined, were fast in their 

 follicles. 



For the rest of the trip the weather was almost continually unfavourable for 

 fishing, with strong southeast wind, heavy sea, and fog. The hooks brought up from 

 time to time Actinians and Ascidians with the stones to which they were attached, 



