198 
BULLETIN OF THE . UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Occasionally there are a large number of dog salmon, and in the early part of 
the season, before the redfish run strong enough to keep the full force employed, 
some ave packed under pink-label brands. Scattering dog salmon are taken through- 
out the season. There is a prejudice against these fish, caused, it is believed, by the 
name. The sea run, in my opinion, is a very good fish, and many are consumed 
fresh every year, but not under that name. 
At intervals of several years there is a large run of humpbacks, but so little 
attention is paid to this species that the date of the run is not available, but, approxi- 
mately, from the middle of July to the middle of August covers the period. 
Cohoes are not plentiful, and are not regularly packed. Occasionally a bunch is 
captured large enough to induce the canner to turn the machinery on a few hundred 
cases. They usually commence to run early in August, and continue after the can- 
nery is closed, probably until after cold weather sets in. 
There are no steel heads and no sturgeon. Trout are plentiful, and occasionally 
a shad has been taken so it is said; sole and smelt also are taken. 
WOOD RIVER AND ALEKNAGIK LAKE. 
The commanding officer examined the river for a distance of 15 miles, and Lieu- 
tenant Rodman, with the steam launch, made a running sketch of the river and lake. 
It is from Lieutenant Rodman’s notes that the following remarks are largely written, 
and reference is made to the sketch accompanying the report. 
W ood River empties into the head of Nusnagak Bay at its junction with the 
Nushagak River, about If miles above the cannery of the Alaska Packing Company. 
The mouth is much obstructed by shoals and flats, making the entrance difficult at 
low water, even for small boats, without, local knowledge. Its length to the lake 
entrance is about 21 miles; the width at the mouth is about three-fourths mile, and 
thence for 15 miles it varies from 600 to 200 yards; above, it narrows very much 
until, arriving at the lake entrance, it has a width of about 50 yards. The left bank, 
fora distance of about 16 miles from the mouth, is a low marshy plain, treeless until 
the upper part of the stretch is reached, where small clumps appear. The right bank 
is generally low, with bluffs bordering the stream in places, or separated from it 
by a belt of marsh land from one-fourth to one-half mile in width. The bluffs and 
the high rolling land back from the river are wooded with spruce, broken here and 
there by tundra flats. The banks on the upper course are high and more heavily 
wooded, the last 2 miles lying between steep banks from 100 to 200 feet high. 
There are three low islands in the lower part of the river and one in the upper 
part. The first is about a mile from the mouth and is over a mile in length; the 
second and third are 8£ and 9£ miles respectively from the mouth, each situated in a 
sharp bend. In ascending, these islands are left to the eastward. The fourth is very 
small, about 20 miles from the mouth, and should be left to the westward. 
The banks and bottom are of mud and gravel. In the upper course there are a 
number of sand and gravel bars, extending entirely across the channel, but it is 
probable that 2 feet can be carried across them at any time. For the first 15 miles 
the water is discolored and muddy, but above this it is usually clear, though at high- 
water spring tides the discoloration continues farther up. About 10 miles from the 
mouth it receives as a tributary the Maklau River, which is said to be about 8 miles 
