ich revels in weird stories concerning it.
Thus it is current report that the waters of Harrison Lake have been
known to rise several inches from some unknown cause, only to be
accounted for by the immense rush of salmon into its waters; that
paddle-steamers have been stopped in the Fraser and at sea by the
salmon armies; that the backs of the fish have made stepping-stones by
which the Fraser has been crossed.

These and similar stories are the folk-lore of British Columbia, and yet
they are almost possible, so immense are the battalions of the salmon
which swarm to the Fraser and other large rivers. It is an astonishing
migration, full of interest and well worthy of study, not only to the
naturalist, but to the student of social economy, as this migration is
the source of an important food supply, and one of the chief industries
of the country. There are fifty canneries established at the mouth of
the Fraser, besides others further north, and between them they export
annually millions of tins of canned salmon.

The Pacific coast salmon in British Columbia comprise five species, all
belonging to the genus _Oncorhynchus_ of the salmonidae family. They are
the king salmon or quinnat, a large fish running up to over 80lb., known
also as the spring salmon; the silver and blue-back salmon, which are
known as the cohoe and sockeye, and are the fish used by the canners;
and the humpback and dog salmon, which are of little value, and only
eaten by the Indians. The first named is the most interesting for the
purpose of this book, as it is the fish which affords the famous sport
at Campbell River. The silver and the blue-back only run to about 10lb.
The two last are pale fleshed, and are hardly considered fit to eat.

The king or tyee, quinnat, spring or chinook salmon (_O. tschawytscha_)
is the most important from the sportsman's point of view, but owing to
its occasional white or very pale pink flesh not so useful to the
canner. It runs from about 15lb. to over 80lb.; fish of 50lb. are
common, and some of 100lb. have been reported. It has sixteen rays in
the anal fin. The back is blackish, and underneath it is not so bright a
silver as the Atlantic salmon. It turns black and not red in the upper
waters.

The sockeye or blue-back (_O. nerka_) is the chief source of the cannery
supply. The anal fin is long, with fourteen rays. The back is blue and
the sides of a bright silver changing to a dark green and dull crimson
in the