SALMONIDJE. 31 



ABDOMINAL 

 MALACOPTERYGII. SALMONID^E. 



THE QUINNAT. 



Salmo Quinnat; Cuvier. 



" ' THIS is the species which ascends the Columbia earliest in the 

 season, commencing its run in the month of May in enormous shoals, 

 clearing the greater Dalles, cascades and rapids innumerable, and ma- 

 king its way to the sources of the river, where, at the close of the sea- 

 son, it is found dead on the beach in great numbers. The muscular 

 power of this fish is truly astonishing, even in a class of the animal 

 kingdom remarkable for vigorous movements, for it may be seen 

 ascending channels at the Kettle Falls so rapid, that when a stone as 

 big as a man's head is dropped into them, it is shot downwards with 

 the swiftness of an arrow.* Individuals of this species have often been 

 seen with their noses fairly worn down to the bone, and in the last 

 stage of emaciation, yet still striving, to the last gasp, to ascend the 

 stream. The selection of particular streams for spawning is a remark- 

 able feature in the history of the fish. It ascends the Walamet, Snake, 

 and Kootanie rivers, &c., and passes by the Kawalitch, Okanagan, 

 Dease's river, and others, seeming to prefer a rapid stream interrupted 

 by falls, to one of a quieter character, though other circumstances 

 must regulate its choice, as some of the rivers which it refuses to enter 

 have an extremely rapid current. It is this Salmon which forms the 

 main subsistence of the numerous hordes of Indians who live upon the 

 banks of the Columbia, and it is known by the name of Quinnat, for 

 one hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of the river. It attains a 

 large size, weighing often from thirty to forty pounds.' The Quinnat 

 is evidently the ' Common Salmon' of Lewis and Clarke. These tra- 

 vellers mention the first arrival of the Salmon at the Skilloot village, 



* In the map published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, the 

 descent at the Kettle Falls is stated at twenty-one feet ; but Lewis and Clarke were 

 of opinion that in high floods the Water below the falls rises nearly to a level with 

 that above them. 



