230 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
well as the difficulty of procuring transportation along that unfre- 
quented coast, and, while I was under no direct obligation to deviate 
from my course on his account, I did not hesitate a moment in extend- 
ing the hospitalities of the eke to him and his people and assuring 
him of every practicable assistance in prosecuting his work. 
Nushagak River to the Kuskokwim River.—We left the Nushagak o: on 
the morning of June 7 and ran aline of dredgings and fishing stations 
across the bay and back to the Walrus Islands. Fairly good cod banks 
were found outside of the extensive shoals surrounding Cape Constan- 
tine, but only seattering specimens of cod were taken between there 
and the head of the bay, and these were in poor condition. Reaching 
Round Island, the southernmost of the group, at 9:25 a. m. on the 8th, 
we came to for several hours to allow the naturalists to examine its 
shores. A dense fog prevailed during the night, but finally passed off, 
and we availed ourselves of the opportunity to locate the island astro- 
nomically. Getting under way at 2:25 p. m., we carried our investi- 
gations to the northward between the islands and the mainland, where 
the bottom proved exceedingly barren, with no signs of codfish. A 
black mud, which we frequently encountered, probably had something 
to do with their absence. A running survey was made in passing, 
which resulted in expunging two or three islands from the group and 
correcting the relative positions of others. 
Having cleared the Walrus Islands we steamed to Hagemeister Chan- 
nel, which lies between the island of that name and the mainland, 
anchoring at 7:30 p.m. to the westward of Tongue Point, a long gravel 
spit which makes out from the mainland. The tides were very strong, 
but our anchorage under the point was out of the strength of the 
current. Half a dozen Eskimos came off in their kaiaks ready to 
barter anything they had and drove quite a lively trade with the officers 
and men for a couple of hours. 
We were delayed by fog next morning and lost several hours more 
by persistently attempting to follow the chart, which was very inac- 
curate and constantly leading us into shoal water; in fact, the day was 
nearly spent before we cleared the channel and off-lying banks. The 
bottom was still barren, with no sign of codfish. Work was carried on 
in a westerly direction until dark, when we lay to, intending to resume 
it at daylight, but a gale from SE. sprung up dlinsiate the night and 
forced us to seek shelter under the lee of Cape Newenham, where we 
anchored at 3:45 a.m. June 10, in 7 fathoms, the extreme of the cape 
bearing SE. by S. magnetic. année eee came down from the 
mountains and heavy tide rips surrounded us at times, but we rode 
them out safely and with little discomfort. 
The disposal of our passengers became a serious problem. Two of 
the three Eskimos were quite ill, totally unable to handle a paddle or 
even help themselves. This not only rendered Mr. Petroff entirely 
helpless, as far as the management of his kaiaks was concerned, but 
