50 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
tow it through the water until relieved of sufficient weight to allow of its being landed 
on deck. This proved to be an exceedingly rich haul, the bulk consisting of sponges, 
of which there were several bushels. Fishes, crustaceans, and brachiopods were also 
abundant, the latter group being represented by apparently three species. 
Three dredgings were made between Departure Bay and Puget Sound, as follows : 
No. 2863, in the Gulf of Georgia, off the mouth of Fraser Eiver (latitude 48° 58' N., 
longitude 123° 10' W.), 67 fathoms, flue sand; No. 2864, in the southern part of Wash- 
ington Sound (latitude 48° 22' N., longitude 122° 51' W.), 48 fathoms, mud, sand, and 
broken shells; No. 2865, off the northern entrance to Admiralty Inlet (latitude 48° 12' 
N., longitude 122° 49' W.), 40 fathoms, pebbles. At the two former stations a large 
quantity of material was obtained, but at the last the trawl capsized and only a few 
specimens came up. Fishes, mollusks, crustaceans, annelids, echiuoderms, and hydroids 
were abundant. Two bushels of large red shrimps, representing several species, and 
a few cup corals, were secured at station No. 2864. 
FORT RUPERT, VANCOUVER ISLAND. 
July 12 the Albatross called at Fort Rupert, or Beaver Harbor, for the purpose of 
obtaining a supply of clams, to be used as baii on the Alaskan grounds. Clams are 
unusually plentiful in this locality, and with a force of fifteen sailors ten bushels were 
dug at one low tide. Three species occur here in about equal abundance. The large 
gaper clam {Scliizotlicerus) is obtained by digging deeply at lowest water mark. 8axi- 
domus 'tmttallii (quahog) and the little Tapes staminea are usually only 6 or 8 inches 
below the surface, and may be found anywhere between high and low water mark. 
During unfavorable fishing seasons the salmon cannery at Alert Bay has put up clams, 
obtaining its supplies from Beaver Harbor. The chief occupation of the Indians is 
hunting and fishing. All the furs they obtain are sold to Mr. Robert Hunt, who 
pays for them in flour, clothing, and other necessary articles. Money is sometimes 
demanded, but not often. 
Discovering the object of the visit of the Albatross, the Indians brought many clams 
alongside the ship in their graceful canoes. An entire canoe load was obtained in 
exchange for articles of barter of most trifling value. There are at Fort Rupert only 
two white settlers and about one hundred Indians. 
ALERT BAY, VANCOUVER ISLAND. 
Short stops were made at Alert Bay both going and returning. There is an Indian 
village at this place, and also a salmon cannery, where, up to September, 46,000 cases 
of salmon had been put up. 
Salmon are sometimes very abundant about the bay and neighboring islands, and 
are fished for chiefly with seines and gill nets. The fishermen are paid 5 cents each 
for all the salmon landed at the cannery. The Indians of the village are principally 
occupied in fishing for the cannery. A few of them use spears for this purpose, and 
at times they do fairly well, frequently earning as much as $5 a day. At the time of 
the first visit to the cannery, July 11, seven or eight hundred of the Suk-kegh salmon 
{Oncorhynchus nerTca) were piled upon the floor. 
