518 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



vary in size, and sometimes reach a weight of 10 pounds. They have a 

 tolerably good flavor, but nothinglike our flounders. They fetch a good 

 price. 



Eel are often found close to the coast, and between the rocks where 

 the breakers are not too strong. They say that large-sized eel are found 

 near some of the outer islands at a depth of 50 to 80 feet, but I never 

 had an opportunity of seeing any. 



These are about the only fish which bear any similarity to oars ; but 

 there are a large number of excellent fish which we do not have, and 

 which, to a great extent, form an article of food. It is useless to give 

 their names and to describe them, as long as I cannot send you speci- 

 mens. One kind, called Baballes or Corobinas, weighs from 20 to 80 

 pounds, and somewhat resembles the salmon, but its flavor is not quite 

 as delicate. Owing to the want of fresh-water streams, there are no 

 salmon on this coast, while large quantities of excellent salmon are caught 

 on the coast of California and further north. These are put up in brine, 

 and sold all along the west coast of South America, and salted, canned, 

 and packed in ice, they are sent to the Atlantic coast of North America* 

 On the west coast of South America the water has often, during calm 

 weather, a brownish color, and it seems at first sight as if the water was 

 shallow. But on closer examination we find that this brown color is pro- 

 duced by another cause, viz, by very diminutive animals, which cover 

 the surface of the sea for many miles. They are so small that they can- 

 not be seen with the naked eye ; but when you let this colored water 

 stand for some time in a glass, a brownish sediment will soon form. I 

 have not had the instruments nor the opportunity to observe this matter 

 closer, but I refer you to Ch. Darwin's observations, made during Her 

 Majesty's ship Beagle's voyage around the world. These little animals 

 are also found on the coast of Norway, and it is interesting to hear what 

 an authority like Darwin has observed in this line during his voyage in 

 the South Pacific: 



"On the coast of Chili, a few leagues north of Conception, the Beagle 

 one day passed through a large extent of muddy water, and the same 

 phenomenon appeared, in a still more marked degree, a few days later 

 south of Valparaiso. We were more than fifty miles from the coast, but 

 still I believed at first that this muddy water might possibly come from 

 the river Maypo. But Dr. Sullivan, who had collected some of this 

 water in a glass, thought ho could see little spots moving about in it. 

 The water looked as if a quantity of reddish dust had been put into it, 

 and when left undisturbed this dust collected at the bottom. Through 

 a magnifying-glass these little spots could be seen moving about very 

 rapidly, and quite frequently they would burst. When placed under the 

 microscope, it appeared that their form was oval, and surrounded by a 

 ring, from the middle of which small fibers protruded, which served as 

 means of motion. One end of the body was narrower than the other. 

 It was very difficult, however, to observe them, for suddenly the motion 



