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rior preserve the former lands also, which after a stay in the fresh water 

 have lost their superfluous oil, and these are often actually traded to those 

 Indians at the mouth of the river or on the Sound. The Dalles was for- 

 merly a great depot for this commerce. It seems that the spring salmon 

 ascend only those rivers which take their rise in snow or which are subject 

 to spring freshets. Thus they are found in the Sacramento, the Klamath, the 

 Columbia, and in the Kwinaiutl, where there is a variety considered the finest 

 on the coast. Into the bays however, they do not enter, at least in any 

 numbers; and in Puget Sound, though taken in some of the streams rising 

 in the Cascades, they are by no means abundant nor so large as in the 

 Columbia. The other kinds are, however, found in great quantity. 



The spring salmon are taken on the rivers with the seine ; at the rapids 

 and in the small streams either with the scoop-net or with a gig. The lat- 

 ter is usually forked, the points or barbs attached loosely by a thong so as 

 to give play to the fish. On some of the rivers where the depth permits, 

 weirs are built to stop their ascent. 



The fish are split very thin, the backbone being taken out and then a 

 slice on each side, and all parts even to the heads are preserved. No salt 

 is used, nor are they properly smoked; but a small fire is kept beneath the 

 poles on which they hang, to hasten their drying. The quantity put up at 

 some of the principal fishing grounds was formerly immense, and even now 

 is very considerable. 



Besides the salmon, sturgeon is taken in the Columbia, and a variety 

 of other fish, though the two former only are staples of food. In the Straits 

 of Fuca and part of the Sound, halibut is found ; rock-cod, and several 

 other species are abundant everywhere. The true cod is sometimes taken 

 within the Sound, but mostly without the headlands. Off the Straits of 

 Fuca, about fifteen miles are banks upon which the Makah are in the habit 

 of fishing for these and halibut. What salmon are taken by this tribe are 

 chiefly got by trolling. Among the Klallam and some others, the flesh of 

 the dog-fish is boiled, and when dried, pounded to the consistency of flour. 

 Shell-fish in great variety exist in the bays and on the coast, and many 

 of these are dried for winter stores. Seals are also occasionally captured 

 and regarded as a great luxury ; but a yet greater prize is the whale. The 



