The Days of a Man 1889 



lava over which each stream then dropped perforce 

 in a high, vertical waterfall. That was a topographic 

 change which has ever since effectually prevented 

 free fish migration between the main stream and the 

 three tributaries. As a result, in the upper reaches 

 formed m o f eacn o f the latter has developed a special trout 

 of singular beauty of color, quite distinct from the 

 other two and very different from the big, profusely 

 spotted Kern Rainbow Salmo gilberti found in 

 abundance below the falls. Complicated and difficult 

 cascades trout will worm up somehow, but any 

 considerable perpendicular drop gives no leverage 

 for caudal fin and acts as a positive check. In such 

 cases the upper reaches of Sierran streams are 

 naturally barren except where the trout antedate 

 the fall. 



The trout of the South Fork I described in 1892 

 as Salmo aguabonita a curious misnomer due to 

 the fact that the types were mistakenly reported to 

 have been taken in Volcano Creek above Agua 

 . Bonita Falls. But the subsequent exploration con- 

 ducted by Evermann and his party (undertaken at 

 Roosevelt's request on the instance of Stewart 

 Edward White) showed that aguabonita really belongs 

 to the South Fork. The true Volcano Creek form 

 Evermann named Salmo roosevelti, and the Soda 

 Creek form Salmo whitei. Collectively, the three 

 species are known as the Golden Trout of Mount 

 Whitney, all being bright golden, spotted with 

 black, with orange fins and an orange stripe along 

 the side. All are also dwarf, maturing at six inches. 



The fiery hues of the Golden Trout are presum- 

 ably perpetuated by natural selection, as the bottoms 

 over which they hover are of bright granite and 



n 342 3 



