30 



SALMONID^. 



to mention other countries, we find no less than nineteen 

 yarieties npon our Pacific coast alone. Dr. Suckley, U. S. A., 

 in his official report (1855) on the surveys for the Pacific 

 Eailway, gives a list of seventeen, peculiar to the waters of 

 Oregon and Washington, which is appended herewith, with 

 their scientific synonyms, their local or vernacular names, and 

 the season of year when they run up the rivers to spawn : 



To the above should be added the Salar iridea, or brook- 

 trout, the silver-trout, and the Ptyclioclieilus grandis, sal- 

 mon-trout — these varieties peculiar to California. Of the so- 

 called varieties of salmon, it is probable that several are 

 identical ; nevertheless, the best-approved authorities place 

 the number of distinct species at not less than half-a-dozen. 

 The Salmo quinnat is esteemed the finest on the Pacific — 

 often weighs 30 or 40 lbs., and sometimes 75 lbs. ; the Sal- 

 mo scouleri will average 30 lbs. Magnificent as these 

 weights are, they have been equaled in eastern waters in 

 years gone by ; but pf late our fish have greatly diminished 

 in size, both in the average and in individual specimens. 

 AVheu the Northern Pacific Railroad is comj^leted, the rod- 

 fisherman will find this Paradise of the Pacific easily access- 

 ible ; at present he must confine himself to Canadian waters. 

 There is not a river in the eastern United States that aflfbrds 



A 



