SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 137 



to the higher temperature of the water, shad run up the Ogeechee 

 somewhat earlier than in case of the Altamaha or Savannah, but later 

 than in the St. Johns, the fishing season beginning about the first week 

 in January and continuing until the end of March. Practically all the 

 commercial fishing is carried on with drift nets in the lower 22 miles of 

 the river, the best fishing being near Harvey's Cut, about 10 miles from 

 the sea. Most of the fishermen are non-residents of the river basin, 

 many coming from Savannah and New England and living in house 

 boats during the shad season. Savannah is the headquarters for the 

 fishermen and the principal market for the catch. 



The drift nets used on this river range from 200 to 600 feet in length, 

 with 5 to 5^ inch mesh, and cost from $40 to $135 each. Occasionally 

 they are operated as set nets, beiug fastened across the current during a 

 flood tide. The number in use in 1896 was 80, aggregating 10,667 yards 

 in length and $5,000 in value. Eighty fishing boats, worth $2,800, and 

 4 house boats, worth $400, were used, and the catch numbered 22,225 

 roe shad and 33,200 bucks, valued locally at $19,514. 



Several small set nets and bow nets are operated in the middle sec- 

 tions of the river in taking shad for local consumption, but no data are 

 available with which to show the extent of the product. 



SAVANNAH RIVER. 



The Savannah has its sources in the mountains of western North 

 Carolina, but the river proper is formed by the union of the Tugaloo 

 and the Seneca rivers at Andersonville, S. C, and for a distance of 

 325 miles it forms the boundary line between Georgia and South Caro- 

 lina, emptying into the sea a short distance below the city of Savannah. 

 It is navigable for steamboats as far as Augusta, where it crosses the 

 escarpment line. The difference in elevation at this point and at the 

 city of Savannah is 108 feet and the distance 202 miles, giving a mean 

 slope of 0.53 foot per mile. Between Savannah and Augusta there are 

 no villages or considerable collections of houses, except at Pureysburg, 

 S. C, about 23 miles above Savannah. The river averages about 300 

 feet in width in the lower 170 miles; thence to Augusta the width 

 ranges from 500 to 900 feet. The bed of the stream is of sand, with 

 coarse gravel and rock in limited quantities. 



Seven miles above Augusta, where the river crosses the fall line, 

 there is a large dam, developing one of the most important water- 

 powers in the South. When originally constructed, in 1847, the dam 

 was 5 feet high. In 1875 it was enlarged, the height varying from 6 to 

 15 feet, averaging 10.63, built of stone on a foundation of rock. It 

 extends diagonally up stream for 1,000 feet, thence 720 feet directly 

 across, and is provided with 4 waste weirs, 3 of them 20 feet wide and 

 the other one 15 feet, which may be closed by needles. The dam is 

 overflooded during freshets, the water sometimes standing 7 or 8 feet 

 above its crest. Between the base of this obstruction and Augusta the 

 river descends by a series of falls or rapids a vertical distance of 45 or 



