Ward. — Migration of the Sock eye Salmon 407 



fish as observed both on Lake Klutina and on Lake Tazlina. 

 Nowhere were the fish appreciably mutilated; in fact, I do not 

 recall a single instance in which a living fish showed marks 

 that were the result of a struggle with the stream. Despite 

 the fierce current of the Copper River, the strenuous passage 

 of the Abercrombie Rapids, and the still more violent condi- 

 tions of the Klutina or Tazlina River, the fish that we caught 

 alive in the lakes or saw on the spawning grounds adjacent 

 to them were in perfect condition. It is true, to be sure, that 

 at no point in the course which they have followed was it 

 necessary for these fish to contend with falls. I have dis- 

 cussed elsewhere the jumping of the salmon, and have called 

 attention to the fact that their work is by no means as perfect 

 as sometimes supposed. The facts are that when salmon are 

 striving to surmount a fall not more than a small fraction 

 of the jumps is successful, and many of the efforts result in 

 dashing the fish, against the face of the fall or on rocks stand- 

 ing in the stream bed at the foot of the drop. From such 

 adventures the fish drift away stunned, and require some time 

 to recover their wonted activity. They are also badly battered 

 by the collision and in some cases suffer so that they are un- 

 able to carry out the migration and reach the spawning ground. 

 The extent to which migrating salmon suffer from this has 

 been vividly described by several observers, including Ever- 

 mann* and Rutter. It is not to be wondered that the efforts 

 of the fish in leaping are relatively so little successful, for the 

 base from which they take off is a most inconstant and swiftly 

 changing one as the different currents in the water swing in 

 eddies to and fro at the base of the fall. One has only to 

 watch conditions there to see the difficulties under which the 

 jumping fish labor, and to get a full explanation of the con- 

 dition of the fish as a result of its many attempts to surmount 

 the barrier. Now the effort to ascend a rapid may be unsuc- 

 cessful also and even the maximum expenditure of energy 



• Evermann (1897) holds the view that these bruises are received after arrival at 

 the spawning grounds. While this is largely true, it is not universal by any means. 



