CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALASKA. 105 



the streams and remain in the sea until September. The more northern localities have the larger 

 individuals, those among the Aleutian Islands being smaller than those seen at Saint Michael's, 

 and which are of the same size and color as those seen at Karluk, on Kadiak Island. At this place 

 great numbers are seined from the river and salted for market in San Francisco. The average 

 weight of those prepared for market is near two and a half pounds. 



The natives of the Aleutian Islands make but little use of these fish, as they are taken most 

 abundantly during the season when the salmon are plentiful. 



I am not prepared to state whether there is any special difference or not between the fish found 

 in the small streams of the Aleutian Islands' and those referred to under this article. As the 

 brook fish of the islands have not the red spots on the sides and have never been seen to attain 

 such size as that of the species at the head of this article, they will be treated of as a separate 

 species until known to be otherwise. They have habits which are essentially different in that they 

 seldom go to the sea for more tban six weeks of time in September and October, and that they dig 

 out the banks where the current is deflected from a point above, and under these banks collect 

 in great numbers. They are poor and lean in the spring, and not until late in August do they 

 become fat. They are in April and May reduced to mere skeletons in some localities. They are 

 abundant at Dnalashka, Atkha, and Attu. They have black spots on the sides, and the general 

 color is very dark. After the large fish have returned from the sea they are lighter iu color and 

 have white edges to the fins. 



A lack of preserving material prevented me from procuring specimens of these fish. They are 

 referred to by the white people as Brook-trout in contradistinction to the Salmon-trout as meant 

 by Salvelinus malma. During the late summer the Brook-trout are caught by means of the fly, or, 

 in lieu of that, a piece of salmon, or the roe of the salmon, is good bait. This same species is 

 reported to be abundant on Nunivak Island, and also on Unga Island. It doubtless occurs in all 

 the mountain streams south of latitude 62° N. 



The Russian name of this species is Ooletz. 



99. Onoorhynchus ghouicha (Walb.) Jordan and Gilbert. 

 This species attains the largest size of any of its genus, weighing from sixty to one hundred 

 pounds. Some individuals have been taken which were said to have weighed one hundred and 

 forty pounds. The range of this species iu Alaska is from Sitka to Bering Strait, and it is found 

 in all the considerable streams of the mainland. It arrives at the mouth of the rivers south of the 

 peninsula of Aliaska iu the mouth of May or early part of Juue. Iu those rivers north of the pe- 

 ninsula it arrives according to the season, being in the Nushagak River rarely later than the 8th 

 of Juue aud a few days later iu the Kuskokoim River. At the Yukon Delta they arrive about 

 the 1.0th to the 20th of Juue, a few days earlier or later, depending on the ice in the river break- 

 ing up, generally occurring about that time before it is removed from the delta. The fish remain 

 outside for several days before entering the fresh water so as to accustom themselves to the change 

 of water. The larger fish usually enter first. They are the healthier and strongest fish which have 

 been able to make their way in advauce of the others. By the 1st of July they have ascended 

 about 400 miles of the Yukon and by the middle of the mouth are a thousand miles from its mouth. 

 The stronger fish ascend the river for several hnudred miles beyond that point. The natives, Es- 

 kimo and Indians, prepare immense quantities of these fish for future use. The fish are caught in 

 various ways. The Eskimo usually set nets of short dimensions, fastened at one end to the shore off a 

 point of rocks, the other end let into water of one to two fathoms deep. Floats of variously shaped 

 pieces of wood prevent the net from sinking too deep and dragging on the bottom against the jagged 

 rocks. The nets are set in the evening as the fish approach the shore during the late hours of the 

 day and early hours of the morning, or between 10 p. m. and 5. a. m. The meshes of the net are made 

 so that when stretched out diagonally they will be five to nine inches across. The fish in attempt- 

 ing to pass through are caught by the gills, hence cannot pass through or go backward. Early in 

 the morning the men visit the net and secure the fish by first drawing them to the surface and strik- 

 ing them over the head with a club. Several hundred pounds are frequently caught in a single set 

 gill-net of that description. The natives of the rivers use the same kind of nets, and usually take 

 these nets in their single canoes and descend the stream. The net is thrown overboard; aud, as the 

 S. Mis. 155 14 



