104 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
About Moose Jaw tliere are rolling bills. Above the town, Moose Jaw Creek 
flows tlirough a narrow valley or gorge; near the station it joins Thunder Creek, a 
smaller stream. As is usual along the railroad, the stream is dammed near the sta- 
tion. Below the dam it forms a succession of deep pools and shallow riffles. The 
conditions seemed favorable for a large variety of flsh life, but the number of species 
obtained was very small. The larger species are more abundant here than the 
smaller. 
Old Wives Lake is alkaline, and as far as I could determine contains no fishes. 
Swift Current is an ideal place for variety in flsh life. The stream is narrow and 
on an average about 2 feet deep. It flows over gravel and, as the name implies, has 
a swift current. It is just such a stream as the darter delights in in more southern 
latitudes, and in fact one of their number. Eiheostoma ioww, is quite abundant here. 
This is the only darter, however, that I obtained in the waters of the Saskatchewan 
Basin. The streaju is dammed above the railway, and it is just below the dam that 
the most favorable locality for fishing was found. 
At the time I visited Maple Creek it consisted of a succession of slimy pools in a 
moderately deep channel. There was an almost incessant cold rain that prevented 
much work, but although l.t inches of water fell during my stay, no impression what- 
ever was made on the quantity of water in the pools. Maple Creek empties into Big 
Stick Lake which, in high water, overflows into a tributary' of the Saskatchewan. 
The Saskatchewan Eiver at Medicine Hat is a navigable stream with a swift cur- 
rent. The water is cold and cloudy. Many of the larger species of flsh were reported 
to me here, although I obtained but few. The river bed is said to be 1,600 feet lower 
than that at Maple Creek, the descent during the last few miles before reaching the 
river being considerable. The bed of this river lies in a level valley of varying width. 
At Medicine Hat the low hills approach almost to the edge of the river. 
Calgary lies in the V formed by the iunction of the Elbow with the Bow Eiver. 
Both of the rivers are swift, clear, cold mountain streams, the former being the shal- 
lower. Trout, 8(dmo and Sah'elimis, are abundant, Seining in the Bow Eiver proper 
was inqiossible, and it was confined to the sloughs of that river and to the Elbow. The 
country is hilly and devoid of timber. The Eockies are seen from here. 
From Calgary to Banff there is a steady ascent. Banff is located on the Bow 
Eiver and in the Canadian Eoc.ky Mountains Park. 
The valley of the Bow is swampy for several miles above Banff, and the Bow Eiver 
itself is a quiet deep stream. At Banff it becomes a torrent in which fishing with a 
net is impossible. The valley is everywhere quite narrow and flanked by high moun- 
tains. Vermillion Creek, the outlet of the Vermillion Lakes, which lie in the swamps 
of the Bow, enters the Bow at Banff, as also does Forty-Mile Creek. These tribu- 
taries are clear and icy cold. On the opposite side a small stream of warm water 
enters from the hot sulphur springs, and a much larger stream, the Spray Eiver, 
which is, however, too swift for seining. The larger streams all abound in Sahno 
myliiss, Salveliims namayeiish, and Coregonus imUiamsoni. 
From Banff the ascent is very rapid to the continental divide. The descent on 
the Pacific side is even more steep. Mj" first station on the Pacific side was at Field, 
where the mountains rise 10,000 feet above the river. The river bed of the Kicking 
Horse, at Field, is abroad sandy stretch and the water flows in several channels. The 
main stream is too swift for seining, but the smaller branches are quieter in many 
