SALMON AND SALMON EIVERS OF ALASKA. 
193 
pounds. This species in Alaska, as in the Puget Sound region, is a fall-running fish. 
It does not ascend the streams to any great distance, and I have seen spent fish of 
this species coming down alive in the fall to within easy reach of salt water. Whether 
the species actually leaves the fresh water after spawning is uncertain. There is a 
conflict of observation on this subject. 
Mr. John W. Clark, agent of the Alaska Commercial Company at Nushagak, a 
man who is noted for his veracity and intelligence, states that he has seen Silver 
Salmon come down the river alive in the spring. In some other Alaskan rivers Cap- 
tain Lansburg, superintendent of the Thin Point Cannery, has seen only black and 
lank-looking salmon of this species during the winter. 
At Afognak the species arrived August 5, 1889, but there was no extensive run 
until about the end of that mouth. A small Silver Salmon was seen at Karluk August 
4. The species was not abundant there, however, until early in September, when about 
seven thousand were caught at one haul of a seine. It was about this time that one 
of Capt. L. P. Larsen’s men at Karluk hooked a very large Silver Salmon, probably 
weighing over 30 pounds. This species is only an occasional visitor at Karluk. When 
it runs there it generally begins about the last of August, according to Mr. Charles 
Hirsch. Mr. Washburn informed me that it arrives at St. Paul late in August or in 
September, and that there is only one annual run. A few fish of this species are found 
in the small river in Olga iBay, near the cannery of the Arctic Packing Company. In 
the river at Thin Point, a small and very shallow, but constant, stream, both Silver 
and Ked Salmon are found, the latter predominating. The season closes here early in 
September. 
The Silver Salmon make their nests among the gravel and stones, from which 
they clean all dirt and slime. They use their snouts in collecting material for the 
nests, and Turner states that he has seen them with the snout worn off past the muzzle. 
After the spawning season, and during their stay in fresh water, they continue to be 
very much emaciated and in poor condition generally. 
No decrease has been observed in the supply of this salmon as far as we are 
informed. Its late arrival in most localities limits the season during which it can 
be caught, and this serves as a sort of protection for the species. 
The Humpback Salmon {Oncorliynclms gorhuscha). 
(Plate XLVii, figs. 4 and 5.) 
This is the smallest, the most abundant, and the most widely distributed of the 
Alaskan salmon. Its average weight is about 5 pounds, and individuals weighing 10 
pounds are very uncommon. 
The Humpback may be recognized readily by its excessively small scales, and, in 
the breeding season, by its greatly distorted jaws and enormous hump. This species 
is found in all parts of the Territory. Its range is known to extend several hundred 
miles to the eastward of Point Barrow, and probably includes the Mackenzie. Speak- 
ing of their extraordinary abundance. Turner has aptly remarked that “ they appear 
at the surface of the water like the pin-drops of an April shower.” 
Mr. Charles Hirsch informed me recently that from about the 6th of July, 1880, 
there was in the Karluk Eiver, continuing for five weeks, a glut of Humpback Salmon 
which kept all other salmon out of the river. It was impossible to pull a boat across 
Bull. H. S. F. C. 89 13 
