494 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



week in September the maximum was 

 67°, on the 1st, and the minimum 28°, 

 on the night of the 2d. Part of this 

 time we were in the mountains, but the 

 weather continued so warm that the alti- 

 tude did not materially afifect the average. 



Undoubtedly we were in the most fa- 

 vored portion of the peninsula, and there 

 during an unusual season besides. Often 

 rain and fog encompassed the higher 

 mountains, and frequently we could see 

 storms moving up and down Cook Inlet. 

 Moreover, the great mountain range on 

 the east undoubtedly cleared the wind of 

 moisture before reaching us. 



Hunting parties coming out later re- 

 ported bad weather during the last of 

 September and in October, so the above 

 data must be taken rather as an evidence 

 of what the weather can be than what it 

 is apt to be. 



In the winter months the snow is not 

 deep in this region, and for causes al- 

 ready suggested. Last winter, when the 

 middle and easterly States were experi- 

 encing the severest weather in 40 years, 

 it was unusually mild on the Kenai 

 Peninsula, because during the fall and 

 winter a continuance of southeasterly 

 winds held the Japanese current close 

 against the Alaskan shore, and at a time 



when the Arctic cold waves were sweep- 

 ing over the central and Atlantic coast 

 States. Whether these counter-currents 

 were correlated or whether they were co- 

 incidental and of no significance is a 

 matter for the expert meteorologist to 

 investigate. 



In conclusion, let us hope that those 

 interested in the permanent prosperity of 

 the Kenai Peninsula appreciate the value 

 of an abundant and available supply of 

 game-food animals and fish, and under- 

 stand how much the presence of this 

 game has contributed to its fame through- 

 out the world. 



The shipment each fall of thousands 

 of pounds of moose and sheep meat from 

 the Kenai Peninsula to the mining towns 

 of Valdez and Cordova is only of a tem- 

 porary and trifling benefit to a few mar- 

 ket hunters, and will some day prove a 

 costly loss. 



Long after the last flake of gold has 

 been panned from the sands and the last 

 blast has fractured the veins of quartz, 

 the Kenai Peninsula should continue to 

 be the home of the giant moose and the 

 place where the sheep, the grouse, and 

 the salmon are worth more in dollars and 

 more in life than all the visionary or 

 fleeting fortunes beneath the soil. 



AMERICA'S MOST VALUABLE FISHES 



By Hugh M. Smith 

 United States Deputy Commissioner op Fisheries 



T 



I HE answer to the question, What 

 are the most important fishes in 

 American waters ? is likely to vary 

 with the geographical distribution of the 

 persons addressed. 



The average citizen who lives within 

 the sphere of influence of the sacred 

 fish effigy hanging in the Massachusetts 

 State-house will undoubtedly name the 

 cod and its allies that frequent the in- 

 shore waters and the great submerged 

 "banks" lying ofif the coasts of New Eng- 

 land, the British maritime provinces, and 

 Newfoundland. 



From the Hudson to the St. Johns, a 

 primary vote would probably favor the 



shad and herrings among river fishes, 

 and the bluefish and squeteague among 

 marine species. 



Along the 1,700 miles of low-lying 

 coast that extends from Key West to the 

 Rio Grande, the fishermen and the fish- 

 eating public can hardly conceive of any- 

 thing more important in the way of food 

 fish than the mullets and snappers. 



Throughout the Great Lakes the white- 

 fishes, trouts, and pike perches are so 

 abundant and support such extensive 

 fisheries that they would undoubtedly be 

 awarded front rank by millions of people 

 in the States abutting on these waters. 



In the vast region drained by the Mis- 



