178 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
flows about 1^ feet per second. There are many deep holes or pools with mud bottom, while iu the 
shallower reaches the bottom is of gravel and the curreut is more swift. The banks are usually low 
and of clay, with occasional rocky places. The water is rather clear and cool, the temperature being 
76° at noon, August 2, 'when that of the air iu the shade was 90°. There appeared to be very little 
alg;e or other water vegetation in this stream. The banks were covered with a dense growth of willows, 
while back from the stream a short distance on either side are sagebrush plains. 
A few dead bivalves (Marijaritana margaritifera) were found, but molluscous life seems to be rare 
in this stream. Crawfish (Astacns gambelU) were found iu considerable abundance*. Not many 
species of fish were found here. By far the most abundant species is Leueiscus liydroplilox, the next 
most common are the western dace (Bhinichthi/s cafaractce didcis) and the chub {Leueiscus liueatus). 
Suckers (Catostomus catostomus) and blobs {Coitus phUonips) were also found, the latter in consider- 
able numbers. No trout were seen here, luit we were informed that they are sometimes taken in the 
river near Pocatello, and that they are found rather plentifully further up the stream. The tempera- 
ture and otlier characters of the water are fairly suitable for trout, and no doubt plants of such fish 
would prove successful iu this river. 
Mink Creek. — This is a small stream flowing into the Port Neuf about 6 miles aliove Pocatello. 
Near its mouth it averages about G to 8 feet wide, 2 feet deej), and has a 2-foot current. The water 
at the time of our visit was j)retty clear and the temperature 59o at noon, August 3, when that of 
the air in the shade was 92°. The bed of the stream was of mud and sand iu the more quiet iiortions 
and of gravel on the riffles. The banks were overhung by a heavy growth of willows. I'his is a 
typical trout stream, and we found the cut-throat trout to be quite common. About the same species 
of minnows and suckers which were found in the I’ort Neuf at Pocatello were also found here. 
Crawfish, toads, frogs, and mussels were also obtained here. 
The Port Neuf Kiver at the mouth of Mink Creek is a clear, cool stream with gravel and lime- 
deposit bottom in the shallower parts and mud and sand where deeper and more quiet. The same 
species of fishes were obtained here as elsewhere iu this river. 
Salmon Creek. — The uppermost tributary of Snake River to which salmon have access is Salmon 
Creek, emptying into the river 3 or 4 miles above the Upper Salmon Falls. This was not visited by 
us, and little seems to be known about the general character of the stream. Mr. J. L. Fuller has seen 
salmon iu the lower 2 or 3 miles of the stream, but does not know how far they ascend. 
Malade Hirer. — The next stream is the Malade or Little Wood River, already mentioned. This 
was fished near Shoshone by ilessrs. Thoburn and Rutter, August 5. Width, 25 feet; dejith, 3 feet ; 
curreut, 2 feet ; temperature-at 7 a. m. : air, 70° ; water, 62.5°. During dry seasons the Malade becomes 
dry forthe lower 40 or 50 miles of its course and is prevented from being a salmon stream by inaccessible 
falls near its mouth. As seen by us iu its lower course, it runs on the surface of the country until a 
point about 4 miles above its mouth. Here it leaves the surface and enters a narrow cleft iu the rocks 
by a succession of falls and rapids, two of which are designated the Upper and the Lower Falls. This 
cleft iu the rock soon deepens and widens into an extensive canon, which seemed to be faom 500 to 
800 feet deep in its lower j>art. At the lower falls the stream descends vertically about 40 feet, shooting 
out of the canon, which is here a mere cleft 20 to 30 feet wide, and falling into a deep pool at the bottom. 
As Mr. Fuller stated, it looks very much like the stream out of the spout of a teakettle. During 
high water the stream rises so as to obliterate tnese falls, and in the spring trout have no difficulty in 
ascending from the Snake into the Upper Malade. In autumn, however, these falls are an iui|jassable 
obstacle to the salmon. It is below these falls that the large springs already referred to enter the 
Malade. These increase the size of the stream many times, so that even during the lowest stage of 
w'ater in autumn the Lower Malade flows full — this even at times when the miper stream is entirely dry. 
According to Mr. Fuller, who based his statement upon the reports of engineers, the Lower Malade at 
its lowest stage is a stream averaging 7 feet deep, 72 feet wide, having a curreut 15 miles an hour. It 
descends rapidly iu its lower course and would offer a fine site for a hatchery, Salmon are seen as 
far as the base of the Lower Falls, i. e., 2 or 3 miles above its mouth. 
Brnneau Hirer. — The next considerable trilurtary is the Bruueau, which enters from the south about 
opposite the town of Mountain Home. This was not visited by any member of the 2 >arty. A large 
number of men were interviewed who were acquainted with the stream ; these all agreed that it was a 
natural salmon stream. Mr. Fuller has seen the salmon 82 )awning in the headwaters of the Bruueau, 
iu October. Recently a dam has been }»laced iu the lower course of the stream for irrigation imrposes- 
The dam is without fishway, and salmon are now absolutely j)reveuted from ascending. 
