Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 
"Throwing the missile with all my force at his well-covered rihs, I gave a piercing yell at 
the same time. The marksmanship was poor, for the stick struck the ground just this side 
and, one end flying up, hit him in the pit of the stomach. This probably had greater effect 
than a drubbing on the ribs, however much it violated the ethics of striking below the belt, 
for he jumped up into the air with his back arched like a scared cat. Only once, when I blew 
up a huge grizzly bear with a flashlight machine, have I known an animal that got its educa- 
tion quicker, and never, as later events proved, to better purpose" (see page 449). 
of Alaska is one of its best and certainly 
its most reliable producer of wealth, but 
few in the eastern portion of our coun- 
try realize that, unlike the Atlantic 
species, the salmon of the northwest 
coast, male and female, always die fol- 
lowing the spawning season in the fresh 
waters of the interior. 
Of course this means that the salmon, 
of which there are five species, spawn 
but once, on reaching maturity, and 
therefore their perpetuation depends 
upon a reasonable protection for the 
brooding fish. 
From the middle of July into October 
the swift rivers are carrying towards the 
sea millions of dead and dying fish. As 
practically all of these lodge on sandbars 
or sink to the bottom of the ice-chilled 
streams, the air becomes polluted and the 
waters defiled to such a degree that a 
good many who witness these repulsive 
scenes acquire an unconquerable distaste 
for salmon thereafter, be they fresh or 
458 
