592 MR. J. A. MTLNE ON THE 



River or its tributaries, they will return there when they grow 

 up ? " The very fact that it is in that district alone that three 

 years out of every four are lean years shows that the fish return 

 to their own river. If it were not so, the shortage in these years 

 would have gradually spread itself over a wider area. It seems all 

 the more wonderful that it has not done so, when it is remembered 

 that the big shoal which comes in in the summer is by no means 

 solely composed of fish making for the Fraser. The facts further 

 appear to show that not only do the fish return to the Fraser, 



Text-fio-. 107. 



■ £.7 -Ti 



'ii 



tAl 



Scale of Sockej-e (O. nerka) removed after spawning. 



but to the very creek in which they were hatched, for how 

 otherwise can one account for many of the creeks which are full 

 of spawning fish in the big years being always absolutely un- 

 tenanted in the years between them. Salmon marking in our 

 own country has now shown almost conclusively that when the 

 access to a river is unimpeded the salmon born in it invariably 

 return to it. The fish that have been marked in one river and 

 subsequently recaptured in another have all been from some 



