OPERATIONS ON THE m'cLOUD RIVER IN 1876. 945 



number of 400,000, were sent to the Australian steamer, and the remain- 

 ing eggs for destinations in this country were forwarded. The bridge 

 was taken to pieces, the piers were shored up for the winter, and the' 

 other work was going on well when a disaster occurred which it was 

 not within the scope of human foresight to avoid. A terrible storm of 

 rain came on, the river rose to an unnatural height for this season of the 

 year, and with the tremendous force which it acquired when swollen, 

 it swept away the splendid 17-foot wheel, foundatious and all, which 

 pumps up the water into the hatching-house. There was no avoiding 

 this calamity. It was necessary to keep the wheel in its place at this 

 period, in order to supply water to the immense number of young sal- 

 mon in the hatching-house, and no humau power could hold it there 

 against the almost irresistible force of the McCloud River at its height. 

 The wheel, as I said, was torn to pieces, with its solid foundations, and 

 swept down the river. Before the absence of the water was felt, however, 

 by the young salmon in the hatching-house, Mr. Green removed them to 

 the river and saved them. It was the wish and the intention of the 

 California tish comuiissiou, who paid for the hatching of the hsh, to 

 have them kept in the hatching-house till they were more mature : but I 

 think I shall find indorsement from most fish-culturists when I say that 

 the young fish are about as safe when they are placed in the turbid waters 

 of a freshet, where they cannot be seen by the larger fish that prey upon 

 them till they have hidden themselves under rocks and snags, as they 

 are when they are placed at a more advanced stage in the clear water 

 of the river, with the disadvantage of having lost a large part of their 

 natural caution and shyness from having lived so long in the artificial 

 troughs in absolute freedom from all their natural enemies. When the 

 wheel is rebuilt, I am inclined to think that it will be better to support 

 it on boats that will rise and fall with the water than on stationary 

 piers. Lumber costs so much in that section that it will be rather an 

 expensive undertaking, but will be an economical one, 1 think, in the 

 long run, especially as this plan will secure irrigation of the ground about 

 the buildings all the year round, and pave the way for a vineyard, fruit- 

 orchard, and vegetable garden at the fishery in subsequent years. 



F— FOREIGN DEMAND FOR SALMON-EGGS. 



The foreign demand for salmon-eggs from the McCloud Fishery prom- 

 ises to be a marked peculiarity of this station in the immediate future. 

 Australia, New Zealand, the Sandwich Islands, and South America have 

 appeared as applicants for eggs from this source. It is trne Australia 

 had received all its salmon-ova before last year from Great Britain, but 

 the shipments from that country have been so expensive and so hazard- 

 ous, and have been attended with such disastrous results that in future 

 the Australians will, without doubt, look for their supply of salmon-eggs 

 to California, which furnishes a source of supply so much nearer home. 

 This is more likely to occur because a consignment of eggs from the 



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