THE EIVER FISHERIES OF MAINE. 717 



rapid river. There is very little dead water, the current averaging near 3 miles per hour. Kapids 

 abound, and at several points there are important falls, as at Waterville, Skowhegan, Carritunk, 

 and several points near the lake. Below Augusta there is a 20-miles stretch of water affected 

 by the tides, but which is nevertheless in ordinary summers entirely fresh, ending in Merrymeet- 

 ing Bay, where the Kennebec is joined by the Androscoggin arid by several smaller rivers. 

 From Merrymeeting Bay to the sea the river flows in a narrow channel, and, unlike the Penob- 

 scot and most of the other rivers of the State, it discharges into the ocean by a narrow mouth. 



The tributaries of the Kennebec are of various character. Some of them are characterized by 

 extensive chains of lakes, and others by long stretches of gravelly rapids. They are nearly 

 all free from serious natural impediments, the most important exceptions being the Mussalunskee 

 (Emerson Stream), draining the Belgrade lakes, which has a perpendicular fall of 38 feet at West 

 Waterville, 8 miles from its mouth, and Dead River, or the West Branch, which has a similar fall 

 of 28 feet, 15 miles from its mouth. 



The artificial obstructions to the ascent of the Kennebec and its branches by migratory fishes 

 are numerous and formidable. On the main river there are dams at Augusta, Waterville, Fair- 

 field, Somerset Mills, Skowhegan, and Madison. All of the tributaries are dammed at frequent 

 intervals. On the Gobbosseecontee there are 8 dams within 1 mile of its mouth. On the Sandy 

 there are 3 dams within the natural range of fish, the same number on the Carrabasset; on 

 the Sebasticook and branches 15 or more. The damming of the tributaries dates from the 

 last century. The main river remained open till 1838, when the completion of the Augusta dam 

 shut them out from all waters above that point. Previous to 1838 fisbways were maintained on 

 the Sebasticook and some of the lesser tributaries, but no adequate provision for the ascent of fish 

 was made at Augusta until 1879, and meanwhile all the other fishways had been neglected. 



In other respects the Kennebec has been less unfavorably affected by the influence of civiliza 

 tion than the Penobscot. Neither river has been polluted with sewage nor the waste of manu 

 factures, and the discharge of sawdust and other mill refuse has been on a smaller scale on the 

 Keuuebec, and has not, so far as can be seen, exerted any unfavorable influence. 



Salmon. The original limit of .the range of salmon in the Kennebec was probably about 12 

 miles above the "Forks," or junction of the West Branch, or Dead River, with the main Kennebec, 

 aud 144 miles from the sea. On Dead River it was at Grand Falls, 147 miles from the sea. 

 Owing, however, to early sparsity of population very little information on this point has come 

 clown to us. The most serious natural obstruction in their way was Carritunk Falls, where they 

 were obliged to surmount a perpendicular fall of 16 feet, and although it is certain that many 

 succeeded in doing so, it may well be doubted whether they constituted a majority. In the Carra- 

 basset and Sandy they ascended many miles from their mouths, and i* is supposed that these two 

 rivers afforded their principal spawning grounds. They are known to have ascended the Sebas- 

 ticook, though only in small numbers, and they are said to have been sometimes found in the 

 Wesseruusett and Cobbosseecontee. 



The aborigines doubtless pursued the salmon, but very few facts about it are known. In 

 1754 a military force ascending the river found a few "Indians at Norridgewock, and fresh salmon 

 in their possession. Records of the year 1773 show that salmon in barrels were sent as articles of 

 merchandise from Fort Halifax (near the present town of Waterville) to Fort Western (now 

 Augusta).* It was probably not many years after the latter date that drift-net and dip-net 

 fisheries sprang up at Showhegan and Carritunk. The latter continued to be the best fishing 



* North's History of Augusta, page 115. 



