266 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
the unnecessary expense incident to shipping fish to Atlantic ports, 
and would doubtless relieve the fishermen from much sharp competi- 
tion they have heretofore met with. It is also quite certain that a 
judicious system of canvassing would lead to the utilization of moder- 
ately large quantities of halibut in the towns west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and a demand thus created would doubtless grow with the 
increase of population. 
But while it is thus believed to be entirely practicable to build up a 
halibut fishery here of respectable proportions, it will probably be sev- 
eral years before such results are attained, and there are reasons for 
supposing that it will never rival the halibut fishery of the Atlantic. 
Indian shore fishery . — At Neah Bay from 40 to 60 canoes are en- 
gaged in halibut fishing from June 15 to August 15. It is thought that 
perhaps 15 canoes are, on an average, constantly employed. The crews 
of the canoes number four or five men. About two fares are made each 
week, or about sixteeq trips in a season. The principal fishing grounds 
are 10 to 15 miles northwest of Cape Flattery, but less important 
grounds, just out from Neah Bay, are also frequented. Although the 
catch varies from time to time, the average fare of a canoe is about 100 
fish, with an average weight of 25 pounds each. Some halibut, how- 
ever, weigh as much as 100 pounds. The aggregate annual yield of 
this fishery is 600,000 pounds, a small amount of which is marketed in 
Port Townsend and Victoria; but the bulk is dried or smoked and 
reserved by the Indians for use in the winter. It is said that the 
Makahs take more care and pains in drying halibut than in the prepa- 
ration of any other article of food. It is cut into thin ribbon like strips 
and carefully dried in the open air, if the weather is favorable; other- 
wise it is hung up in their “ warm v (smoke) houses, and smoked until 
thoroughly cured. No salt is used on it.* 
Their methods and apparatus, both for fishing and curing, are still 
nearly as primitive as they have been for centuries. They prefer hooks 
of their own make to those used by white men. Their fishing lines were 
formerly made of the fiber of cedar roots firmly twisted together, and 
* At Neah Bay two large “ warm houses” are utilized for residence purposes and 
for smoking fish, blubber, etc. These are barn-like structures, one of which is 66 
feeft long, and the other 92 feet long, 42 feet wide, 14 feet high on the walls, and 32 
feet to the ridge pole. A smudge fire of driftwood is kept burning at each end of 
the building, and around this is a light lattice framework about 10 feet high, upon 
which are hung strips of fish and blubber for smoking. Along both sides of the build- 
ing, for its entire length, are raised platforms, about 5 to 6 feet wide, and 1 foot high. 
These are covered with matting and skin robes of various kinds, upon which the 
Indians sleep or recline. In the center of the warm-house is an earthen floor that is 
frequently used for dances. When a dance is in progress the platforms at the sides 
are filled with men, women, and children, who ate spectators, or not at that time 
participating in the dance. While these two houses are the most important of their 
kind at Neah Bay, there are many small smokehouses, all of which are called by the 
Indian name of warm-houses. The latter are separate from the cottages in which the 
Indians live. 
