Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 
JUNCTION OF THE KENAI AND RUSSIAN RIVERS, SHOWING THE MIEKY, GLACIAE 
WATERS OE THE EORMER COMMINGLING WITH THE CEEAR, SPRING-EED 
WATERS OF THE OTHER (SEE PAGE 461) 
tion, and in that time the victim of this 
relentless pursuit was driven on the bar 
about one hundred times. 
"In the second case the pair swam 
side by side in a circle and seemed ami- 
cable enough until the inner salmon 
gradually crowded the other on to a 
shoal, when it would drop back and 
seize the tail of its helpless mate and, 
after rending it for a moment or so, the 
two would begin circling again. 
"The remaining salmon in the pool 
were carrying on contests more or less 
similar. In no case did they interfere 
with another fish except when it got in 
the way or tried to occupy a position re- 
served by the others." 
The possible explanation for this strange 
conduct — and the subsequent suggestions 
come largely from those better informed 
upon the habits of these fish than the 
writer — is this : ( i ) That the imprisoned 
fish had not yet spawned (corroborated 
by the fact that I saw no dead or dying 
ones in these pools) ; (2) that the fe- 
male, restrained by the instinct from de- 
positing her eggs except in small streams 
tributary to lakes, refused to spawn, even 
though the period was about over; and 
(3), that the male fish, mated from the 
time of leaving the sea, had not only 
become infuriated at the conduct of the 
female, but likewise angered by confine- 
ment, was venting his rage upon a mate 
in no wise responsible for the situation- — 
a trait not always confined to the male 
of the fish tribe. 
I found it difficult, if not impossible, 
to get satisfactory photographs of these 
battles, for the lens loses its power to 
penetrate the water whenever the sur- 
face is broken or ruffled from any cause. 
The pictures accompanying the text illus- 
trate this, where a slowly moving salmon 
is plainly to be seen below the surface ; 
while where the two pair were fighting, 
only the portion out of water is visible 
(see picture, page 471). 
In the main channel of the river and 
its tributaries, where there was plenty of 
water for the fish to move about freely, 
I saw only an occasional fight, possibly 
near the spawning beds, and the nervous 
energy of certain fish seemed directed 
against the swift current, with which 
they struggled desperately until repeated 
inhalations of air above the surface pro- 
duced a delirium and death apparently 
by drowning; and that this was confined 
to those which had already spawned now 
seems likely. At tidewater, where swift 
and short mountain streams often bore 
many of the weaker fish into the bays, I 
saw one salmon tear to pieces seaweed, 
and in the final dash its teeth locked on 
an upturned strand of vegetation and 
thus it died. The next day I could see 
it, head down and tail up, swinging in 
470 
