﻿REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  LX1X 
  

  

  sidered 
  great 
  delicacies 
  by 
  those 
  who 
  are. 
  fond 
  of 
  fat 
  or 
  oily 
  Jish.. 
  It 
  

   makes 
  a 
  good 
  salt 
  fish, 
  though 
  scarcely 
  equal 
  to 
  our 
  regular 
  codfish, 
  

   which 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  likely 
  to 
  displace 
  in 
  the 
  Eastern 
  markets. 
  

  

  When 
  smoked 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  success, 
  and 
  competent 
  judges 
  have 
  

   declared 
  it 
  equal 
  to 
  the 
  best 
  smoked 
  Greenland 
  halibut. 
  Prepared 
  in 
  

   this 
  way, 
  it 
  bids 
  fair 
  to 
  become 
  a 
  valuable 
  article 
  of 
  commerce 
  in 
  all 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  if 
  its 
  catch, 
  preparation, 
  and 
  distribution 
  are 
  not 
  

   attended 
  with 
  too 
  great 
  expense. 
  

  

  25. 
  — 
  THE 
  FISHERIES 
  OF 
  THE 
  PACIFIC 
  COAST. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Charles 
  H. 
  Townscnd 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  Alaska 
  and 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast 
  

   during 
  the 
  present 
  year 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  whale 
  and 
  other 
  fisheries. 
  A 
  pre- 
  

   liminary 
  report 
  of 
  his 
  work, 
  furnished 
  by 
  himself, 
  is 
  as 
  follows: 
  

  

  1 
  was 
  in 
  Alaska, 
  at 
  the 
  Pribylov 
  Islands, 
  in 
  June, 
  1885, 
  engaged 
  in 
  

   zoological 
  work, 
  when 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  revenue-cutter 
  Thomas 
  Corwin 
  called 
  

   there 
  on 
  her 
  way 
  to 
  the 
  Arctic. 
  An 
  opportunity 
  offering 
  to 
  accompany 
  

   as 
  naturalist 
  an 
  exploring 
  party 
  to 
  be 
  sent 
  up 
  the 
  Kowak 
  Eiver, 
  I 
  went 
  

   on 
  board, 
  and 
  after 
  several 
  days' 
  uneventful 
  voyaging, 
  during 
  which 
  we 
  

   called 
  at 
  Saint 
  Michael's, 
  Golofnin 
  Bay. 
  and 
  Port 
  Clarence, 
  the 
  Corwin 
  

   entered 
  Behriug 
  Strait 
  on 
  July 
  1. 
  Here 
  we 
  encountered 
  much 
  loose 
  drift- 
  

   ice, 
  which 
  impeded 
  our 
  progress 
  into 
  Kotzebue 
  Sound, 
  where 
  we 
  arrived 
  

   at 
  11 
  o'clock 
  on 
  the 
  night 
  of 
  July 
  2, 
  the 
  midnight 
  sun 
  still 
  shining 
  

   brightly, 
  as 
  might 
  be 
  expected 
  from 
  the 
  high 
  latitude 
  and 
  the 
  season 
  

   of 
  year. 
  The 
  steam-launch 
  was 
  put 
  overboard, 
  and 
  our 
  party, 
  consist- 
  

   pig 
  of 
  Lieutenant 
  Cantwell, 
  two 
  seamen, 
  and 
  myself, 
  and 
  several 
  Eski- 
  

   mos, 
  started 
  up 
  Hotham 
  Inlet 
  to 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Kowak. 
  This 
  river 
  

   flows 
  into 
  the 
  inlet 
  through 
  a 
  delta 
  about 
  40 
  miles 
  wide, 
  the 
  islands 
  of 
  

   which 
  bear 
  a 
  thick 
  growth 
  of 
  low 
  pines, 
  the 
  first 
  I 
  had 
  seen 
  in 
  Alaska. 
  

   It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  forests 
  approach 
  nearer 
  the 
  coast 
  here 
  than 
  at 
  

   any 
  other 
  point 
  in 
  Northern 
  Alaska. 
  

  

  In 
  about 
  eight 
  days, 
  by 
  continuous 
  traveling, 
  we 
  reached 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  

   steam-launch 
  navigation, 
  at 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  nearly 
  350 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  sea, 
  

   finding 
  plenty 
  of 
  pine 
  fuel 
  all 
  the 
  way 
  for 
  our 
  little 
  steamer. 
  Here, 
  

   with 
  the 
  assistance 
  of 
  two 
  seamen, 
  I 
  set 
  up 
  my 
  laboratory 
  on 
  board 
  the 
  

   launch, 
  which 
  was 
  supplied 
  with 
  a 
  good 
  canvas 
  cover, 
  and 
  began 
  col- 
  

   lecting, 
  Lieutenant 
  Cantwell 
  and 
  the 
  natives 
  going 
  on 
  to 
  the 
  source 
  of 
  

   the 
  river 
  with 
  the 
  canoes. 
  During 
  the 
  three 
  weeks 
  that 
  I 
  remained 
  at 
  

   this 
  camp, 
  a 
  remote 
  spot 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  Alaska, 
  and 
  considerably 
  

   north 
  of 
  the 
  arctic 
  circle, 
  I 
  gathered 
  a 
  goodly 
  collection 
  of 
  fishes, 
  birds 
  

   mammals, 
  and 
  plants, 
  and 
  filled 
  my 
  note-book 
  with 
  memoranda 
  on 
  the 
  

   natives 
  and 
  the 
  physical 
  aspects 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  Lieutenant 
  Cantwell 
  found 
  the 
  source 
  of 
  the 
  Kowak 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  lake 
  

   among 
  the 
  mountains 
  nearly 
  4o() 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  sea, 
  a 
  lake 
  swarming 
  

   with 
  the 
  largest 
  of 
  trout 
  (Salvellnus 
  namaycut.li). 
  Photographs 
  were 
  

   taken 
  at 
  many 
  places 
  along 
  the_jiver, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  observations 
  for 
  lati- 
  

  

  