SUCKLEY MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS SALMO. 107 



1807,011 the lOtli of April. Major G. I. Rains, Uuited States Army, no- 

 ticed them at the latter x)lace in 1854, o]i the 28th of April, and I myself 

 saw the first of the season in 1855, April 11. George Gibbs, esq., in 

 niss. notes informs me that in 1853 the same species were "in season" 

 at the mouth of the Columbia on the 20th of April. 



The (jHumat, in an economical point of view, is by far the most valu- 

 able salmon of any species found in Oregon. The extreme richness and 

 delicacy of its flesh cause it to be mnch preferred for salting, and were 

 it not for the hitherto high prices of labor, barrels, and salt, it would 

 have, ere this, been found a staple article of export from the Columbia. 

 In numbers they seem to be inexhaustible, and are readily taken in nets 

 and otherwise. During the "season" they are so abuiulantly taken at 

 the rapids near Dalles that, notwithstanding the high rates at which 

 most articles of domestic consumption are sold, I have frequently pur- 

 chased noble specimens of this tish, vv^eighing twenty i^ouuds or more, 

 each, for the small price of a quarter of a dollar. The Indians on the 

 Columbia take immense numbers, eating what they need while fresh, aiid 

 drying thousands for winter consumi)tion or for trade. The principal 

 method of cai)tnre emi)loyed at the Dalles is by " scooping" at random 

 in the rapid water as it passes a projecting rock, along the banks of the 

 stream. The salmon, keeping close to the shore, in order to avoid the 

 force of the current, take advantage of "vshore eddies" in their ascent. 

 The Indian selects a proper location, generally by aprojecting rock, upon 

 which he builds a platform, and with a "scoop-net" about tour feet in 

 diameter, attached to a long pole, rapidly sweeps the water below. The 

 net passing down with the current, and immersed four or five feet below 

 the surface, is alteruatelydippedanddrawnup, againtobe plunged in the 

 boiling waters above. During the height of tbeseason it is notuncommon 

 for a single man thus to take twenty or thirty fish in an hour. The 

 time chosen is usually during tlie long twilight of the evening or early 

 morning. Whether this is because the fish do not " run" during the 

 the briglit hours of the day, or because they, seeing better, avoid the 

 net, I am in doubt. 



For subsequent consumption the salmon are split open and the entrails 

 and back-bone taken out; they are then hung up in the lodges to dvy in 

 the smoke. When perfectly dry they are packed in bundles and kept 

 in baskets or mats, and in some places, as along the river from Walla- 

 Walla to Fort Colville, large stores are jilaced on platforms raised on 

 poles some twelve or fifteen feet from the ground. This is to protect 

 them from the ravages of the wolves. To guard against rain and the 

 plundering propensities of crows, magpies, and ravens, they are covered 

 with mats or strips of bark, and occasionally with rough-hewn boards. 

 No salt is used by the savages in preparing the fish; nevertheless, the 

 food thus preserved keeps in good order for several years. 



Four undoubted specimens of the S. qulimat* arein the Smithsonian 



* A iniich fuller collectiou in the present clay. 



