370 SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



functions of nature for which they ascend; that is to say, if left to their natural 

 state they will all die. And the females will all die anyway. But the males, if 

 they do not connect with a spawning bed, their milt in some cases does not liquify, 

 but remains solid, and some of them will return to the sea. But had they not been 

 barred from the spawning beds their milt would liquify and they would all die. 



We have discovered what seems to us to be anew variety of sea trout, quite. similar 

 to the rainbow, with the addition of a gristly hook, or turning up of the lower jaw, 

 and fitting into a recess in the end of the upper jaw, completely covering the end 

 of the snout and fitting in the recess so neatly that it will not be observed unless 

 the jaws are open. I can find no description of a similar trout in the treatise sent me 

 in June, 1894, by the Fish Commissioner, Hon. Marshall McDonald, which gave a full 

 description of all the different species of trout. We have no alcohol or would have 

 preserved a specimen. 



According to the rule generally accepted by scientific men, the salmon will return 

 four years from the time their parents enter the stream for spawning purposes, which 

 will bring my first salmon back the coming summer, when I will be able to give 

 you a more definite account of my venture. 



I think, in cases like my own, where hitherto worthless streams are built up and 

 made to produce large quantities of valuable fish that will assemble in the bays or 

 inlets at the mouths of the streams, where they have been bred, that hitherto* pro- 

 duced none, so to speak, a law of Congress should be passed giving property rights 

 to the producer for all fish in excess of the natural product of the stream. It is held 

 by legal men that I have consulted on the subject that I will have a property right 

 in such fish, but it would be far better if such rights were reent'orced by an act of 

 Congress. 



I have kept a careful account of all the sukkesh and echoes that we passed over the 

 dam from day to day, so that I can tell exactly the number of fish that the stream 

 normally produced. 



Hoping I may have the pleasure of meeting you on your return, 

 I remain, yours, truly, 



JOHN C. CALLBKEATH. 



Hon. JOSEPH MURRAY, 



Special Agent for the Protection of Salmon Fisheries in Alaska. 



p. g t i w in oe at Fort Wrangell during February, and should be pleased to hear 

 from you. 



J. C. C. 



Now, here is a man who, though not wealthy, has spent money and 

 many years' valuable time making experiments in one of the most useful 

 and honorable of the arts the production of human food. 



Such men deserve a patient hearing and every possible encourage- 

 ment, and in the hope of his getting both I respectfully recommend 

 his very timely and practical letter to the serious consideration of the 

 Department. 



Exhibit D gives the names of the canneries and packing stations, 

 Exhibit E shows the sailing distances one must travel from cannery to 

 cannery in order to see all of them, and shows conclusively, 1 think, 

 that in order to see all of them in one season it will be necessary to detail 

 a revenue cutter to carry the agent. 



A revenue cutter could make the trip between June 1 and July 20, 

 completing the journey at the canneries in Bering Sea in ample time to 

 report for patrol duty in August. 



Exhibit G gives a summary of the Alaskan and Pacific Coast salmon 

 pack from 1866 to 1895, both inclusive, showing at a glance that the 

 Alaskan streams were drawn upon to their utmost capacity in 1891, 

 when 789,294 cases of 48 pounds each were packed, with the result of a 

 falling off of 40 per cent the following year. 



The wisdom of pfotectingan industry that has yielded in the thirteen 

 years of its existence 5,505,002 cases of salmon, worth 822,000,000, 

 should not be lightly questioned or set aside, and when it is remembered 

 that, excepting the civilized Indians with Mr. Duncan at Metlakahtla, 

 there is not a resident cannery owner in Alaska, and that not one dollar 

 of all the millions taken from her streams is left or spent in the Terri- 

 tory, it will be conceded, I think, by all fair-minded men that the least 



