400 



OEDEES OF FISHES— TROUT AND SALMON 



birches, beeches and maples, and well backed 

 by the forest shadows that painters love. Usu- 

 ally the music of rushing water pervades the 

 haunt of the Brook Trout; and the only cloud 

 upon it all is that, ever and anon, Man, the 

 supposedly high-minded, savagely bends every 

 energy to kill an unduly-great number of these 

 beautiful creatures, and fills a sordid creel en- 

 tirely too full. 



Most unluckily for the Trout, it is its habit 

 to be ever on the alert for insects on the surface 

 of its pool, and "rise to a fly." To the high- 

 class sportsman who scorns the humble angle- 

 worm, the accurate throwing of a small fly for a 

 very long distance, solely by the exercise of 

 great skill and judgment, is the crowning attrac- 

 tion in seeking the Brook Trout in its haunts. 

 The skill required in fly-fishing is enough to 

 tempt any man who has ever felt the electricity 

 that every good fly-rod is charged with; and it 

 is no wonder that men love to fish for this very 

 beautiful fish, in the most charming of all sylvan 

 situations. 



The Brook Trout was once a habitant of the 

 northeastern United States, northward of a 

 line drawn from New Jersey to Minnesota, into 

 Labrador, Canada and Manitoba; but to-day, 

 where is it? Ask the "fish-hog" who spares no 

 Trout that is big enough to hft from a platter. 

 Ask the market fishers, who fish and fish to sup- 

 ply hotels and restaurants, in season and out of 

 season. 



In its wild state, this fish is doomed to dis- 

 appear at an early date. We have now in this 

 country a large and rapidly increasing element 

 the members of which have come to us to slay 

 and eat. To them, the preservation of wild 

 life to look at seems like childish folly. These, 

 and others like-minded, are raking our trout- 

 streams with fine-toothed combs, and mean that 

 nothing larger than a trout egg shall escape. 

 And the end will be that in a very few years 

 the wild Brook Trout will be as nearly extinct 

 as the wild buffalo. 



THE SALMON GROUP. 



, The salmon were made for the millions. The 

 Siwash Indian eats them fresh in summer, dries 

 them, and later on freezes them, for himself 

 and his dogs in winter. The epicure pays for 



having the fresh fish shipped in ice to his table, 

 wherever that table may happen to be. In 

 mid-ocean, the great American canned salmon is 

 often the best and only fish afloat. In the 

 jungles of the Far East, in the frontier bazaar 

 of the enterprising Chinese trader, it "bobs up 

 serenely" to greet and cheer the lonesome white 

 man who is far from home and meat markets. 

 Even in the wilds of Borneo its name is known 

 and respected; and he who goes beyond the last 

 empty salmon-tin, truly goes beyond the pale of 

 civilization. The diffusion of knowledge among 

 men is not much greater than the diffusion of 

 canned salmon ; and the farther Americans travel 

 from home, the more they rejoice that it follows 

 the flag. 



The common salmon of Europe, and also of 

 Labrador and New England, was accounted a 

 wonderful fish, both for sport and for the table, 

 until the discovery of the salmon millions of the 

 Pacific coast effectually cheapened the name. 

 To hold their place in the hearts of sportsmen, 

 game fishes positively must not inhabit streams 

 so thickly that they are crowded for room, and 

 can be caught with pitchforks. Yet this once 

 was true of the salmon in several streams of the 

 Pacific coast. The bears of Alaska grow big 

 and fat on the salmon which they catch with 

 the hooks that Nature gave them. 



The salmon species of North America are as 

 follows: 



Atlantic 

 Species: 



SO 



[Pacific 

 Species : 



'Atlantic Salmon. 



(Of Europe and N. America.) 



Ouananiche. 



(The leaping fighter.) 



Sebago. 



' Quinnat, or Chinook. 



(Most valuable species.) 

 Bluebaok, or Sockeye. 



(Second in value.) 

 Silver, or Coho. 



(Third; flesh white.) 

 Humpback, or Gorbuscha. 



(Of little value.) 

 Dog, or Kayko. 



(Of least value.) 



The five species of Pacific coast salmon form 

 a remarkable group. They lead all fishes in 

 annual commercial value ($13,000,000); they 

 are the most abundant of all fishes that inhabit 

 fresh water; they traverse very great distances 



