292 . How to obtain it. 
fish come up from the sea at a certain time of year. . . e 
The length of their stay at the river mouths before ascending, aad 
the rate of ascent to the spawning grounds, depends upon the: 
urgency of the breeding condition. In the long rivers the king 
salmon (Oncorhynchus chouica) travels from twenty to forty miles. 
a day; this species and the red salmon (Oxcorhynchus nerka) 
are reported to be the greatest travellers. The silver salmon 
(Oncorhynchus kisutch) and dog salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), 
however, are recorded by Dr. Ball as traversing the Yukon at least 
a thousand miles. 
“From the time the salmon enters fresh water it begins to- 
deteriorate in flesh, and undergoes remarkable changes in form 
and colour. Arriving as a shapely fish, clad in shining silvery 
scales, and with its flesh pink or red, it plays around for a little 
while between salt water and fresh, and then begins its long fast 
and its wearisome journey. No food is taken, and there are 
shoals, rapids, and sometimes cataracts to surmount; but the 
salmon falters not, nor can it be prevented from accomplishing 
its mission by anything but death or an impassable barrier. Its. 
body soon becomes thin and lacerated, and its fins are worn to: 
shreds, by contact with the sharp rocks. In the males a great 
lump is developed on the back behind the head, and the jaws. 
are lengthened and distorted, so that the mouth cannot be closed. 
The wounded fish are soon attacked by the salmon fungus, and 
progress from bad to worse, until they become unsightly. In the 
meantime the body colours will have varied from dark grey in the 
humpback (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), with the lower parts milky 
white, to a brilliant vermilion in the red salmon, contrasting 
beautifully with the rich olive green of its head. 
“The excessive mortality of salmon during the ascent of the 
streams, and on the breeding grounds, has led to the belief that 
none of the spawning fish leave the fresh water alive. There is a 
substantial basis for this view in the long rivers, and it is doubt- 
less true that a journey of five hundred miles or more is followed 
by the death of all the salmon concerned in it. 
“The silver salmon does not usually ascend streams to a 
great distance, and I have seen it return to salt water alive after 
spawning. The red salmon spawns around the shores of deep 
