128 THE SALMON 



the river bed. There are very few birds ; the cuckoo 

 is common. Hours there are not regular, but it 

 does not matter, as night and day are the same ; in 

 fact, a bright midnight is lighter than a cloudy mid- 

 day. Two Lapps navigate each canoe. They are 

 splendid boatmen, going one hundred and ten miles 

 in thirty-six hours against a three-mile-an-hour stream. 

 They never seem to tire ; all they want is half an 

 hour's rest, and coffee and food every three or four 

 hours. They are just like jolly boys, always laughing 

 and chatting. They vary much in appearance. 

 Their features are not Tartar. Some are like 

 American Indians. One would be very like a 

 Soudanese if he were black. Some you would take 

 for Scotchmen, or rather Lewis men. They are 

 cleanly. To give an idea of the size of the river : 

 seventy miles from the mouth at dead low water the 

 breadth is two hundred and thirty yards, the average 

 depth four feet. The current runs about two miles 

 an hour, which gives 390,000 cubic feet per minute. 



It will be readily understood that, in a river of 

 this description, harling is the only method of fishing 

 which affords a fair chance of success. It would be 

 very tedious to cast in such wide and monotonous 

 water. A pine-built, flat-bottomed canoe is used, 

 managed by two Lapps, who are splendid boatmen, 



