OBSTRUCTIONS TO THE ASCENT OF FISH IN EIVERS. 627 



be seen in great abuudanco iu their midwinter jonruey to the lake. In 

 view of the foregoing facts, it is readily seen that no serions impediments 

 exist to the ultimate saccess of restocking Lake Champlain and its 

 tributaries with the salmon. 



I think the lake is well adapted to the introduction of these fishes, 

 with its numerous rivers and brooks, coves and inlets, wherein these 

 fish would find nice spawning-ground, or where they might be easily 

 caught and artificially propagated to an extent that would make them 

 as plenty in the future as in the past. 



lam of the opinion that in former years the salmon never got up the 

 large rivers into the interior of the country to any great extent, but 

 that they found their fields for propagation around the mouths of the 

 large rivers anil in the coves and inlets of the lake. I reason thus 

 from the fact that nearly or quite all of the large rivers have high 

 natural falls upon them from five to fifteen miles inland, over which it 

 would be impossible for salmon to ascend; and that their abundant 

 increase iu the lake was solely due to the nice gravelly coves and inlets 

 so abundant along the shore of the lake and up the mouths of the 

 large rivers. Many of the large rivers formerly noted for salmon have 

 these coves to a great extent, while others have nice gravelly bottoms 

 in their main channel near their mouths, that afforded a nice place for 

 the salmon to deposit and protect their spawn through the incubation 

 and hatching period. 



Some of the bottoms of the rivers appear to have a peculiar slaty 

 appearance, and the rivers are remarkable for their freedom from any 

 sediment which might impair their facilities for salmon-breeding. The 

 Saranac, Chazy, and Missisquoi Rivers are especially noted for this 

 appearance. 



The west shore of the lake north of Bulwagga Bay to the mouth 

 of the Big Chazy is alternately rocky and gravelly, and the same is 

 also true of the shore north of Shelburne Bay on the east side, while 

 south of "these points the shores are clayey, and the salmon formerly 

 were never found. Histor^^ does not record the fact that they ever 

 existed iu the lake south of 44° 20' north latitude. 



SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER AND LAKE ONTARIO. 



The salmon formerly were very plenty along the southeast shore of 

 the Saint Lawrence, inhabiting the lower reaches of the Chateaugay, 

 St. Regis, Racquet, and Grass Rivers emptying into the Saint Lawrence 

 within the Canadian Dominion, as also the Oswegatchie in the State of 

 Xew York. Of these streams I took but little notice, but passed on to 

 the inspection of the rivers immediately debouching into Lake Ontario 

 proper. 



Of these, first in order I inspected the Black River and Chaumont, 

 both of which I found to have been formerly inhabited by the salmon. 

 Ifeither of these rivers at the present offers any inducements for the 

 introduction of the salmon, by reason of high and impassable dams. 



