SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN IN 1896. 
55 
tied up here until tlie 27th, when the Lillian took them in tow and brought them to 
the Mapleton wharf, where they were kept until the fish were spawned. 
Three fish were placed in Box No. 4 on the evening of October 1, and 29 more were 
added the next morning. This box was set drifting on the evening of October 2. 
The fish were quite restless, jumping and striking against the top of the box in efforts 
to get out. After floating about 1£ miles this box was tied up for the night. That 
evening it was covered with spruce boughs, so as to darken it and at the same time to 
cause it to float lower in the water. The next morning it was drifted to within half a 
mile of McLeod’s wharf, or about 6 miles. The box was anchored here until the even- 
ing flood tide, when it was drifted to McLeod’s wharf and tied up. The next day it 
was drifted about miles to Hartley’s wharf, and on the day following it was floated 
to within half a mile of Mapleton, to which place it was taken on the next tide on the 
morning of October 6. It was tied in a protected place in the river opposite Mapleton, 
where it was not subject to the disturbances to which the other three were liable. On 
October 8 two more salmon, which had been caught in a gill net near by, were placed 
in this box, thus increasing the number to 34. Except during the first evening the 
fish in this box remained quiet and showed no signs of restlessness under the restraint. 
Boxes 1, 2, and 3 were tied to the piling at the upper end of the wharf at Mapleton. 
The fish were here occasionally disturbed by persons coming about the boxes or step- 
ping upon them; whether this really increased the mortality or not can not be certainly 
stated, but it seems reasonable to believe that it would prove detrimental to the fish. 
An unusually low tide on October 15 left Box No. 3 about one-third out of water. 
This seemed to distress the fish, and may have caused some injury. During the latter 
part of October about 12 more fish were put in No. 1. These had been caught in the 
gill nets at Mapleton. 
The total number of fish which were experimented with was as follows : In Box 
No. 1, 103; in No. 2, 47 ; in No. 3, 28; in No. 4, 34. No accurate record was kept of 
the number of each sex, but at least three fifths of the total number were females. 
The mortality among the fish in these different boxes is shown in the following 
tabular statement : 
After the taking of spawu began, October 26, the fish were shifted about from one 
box to another, and, though a few continued to die, no accurate record was kept. The 
mortality was greatest in No. 1 and least in No. 4. The crowded condition of the fish 
in No. 1 was doubtless a feature which contributed to the loss. 
After October 26, when spawn-taking began, the fish were shifted about from box 
to box, and it was therefore impossible to keep an accurate record of the number dying 
