Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 



"Throwing the missile with all my force at his well-covered ribs. 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 



