THE SALMON FISHER. 11 



and the scales of the back become imbedded in tha 

 flesh. The flesh, which is red and rich in spring > 

 becomes dry and poor then. They are in no respect 

 the shapely symmetrical, clean, lithe, and beautiful 

 fish which dominates the Atlantic streams, althougk 

 the Quinnat, or King Salmon, is the most comely of 

 the five species named and the most valuable com- 

 mercially, and may be justly called the typical andL 

 royal representative of the Oncorhyncus branch of 

 the family. He is a good deal heavier fish than his 

 congener of the Atlantic, and in the rivers of western 

 Alaska will average fifty pounds, individuals often 

 running up to 70 and 100 pounds in weight. His 

 range is even more remarkable than that of any of 

 his related species, wherever found, for they not 

 only swarm in the Sacramento, in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, but are found crowding the channels of Bach's 

 Great Fish River and its tributaries in the Arctic 

 Ocean. Upwards of thirty millions of pounds of 

 Quinnat Salmon have been taken yearly in the Col- 

 umbia Eiver, and indeed the canned commodity is 

 known all over the world where commerce extends. 

 Immense numbers ascend the large rivers of the 



