The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-31
WALKING ON SALMON.
Great Fish Stories From Brit
ish Columbia Coast.
THE siwAsH AND HIS CUSTOMS.
The Farmers TN CIover-Harbor Line
Commission After Judge Lichten-
berg-sugar-Growing

Mr.. and Mrs Stephen G. Clarke, of New
York city, arrived at the Rainier hotel
yesterday, after two weeks excursion on
the steamer Islander along the coast Of
British Columbia and Alaska. Mr.. Clarke
told some interesting facts about his trip
TO PosT-IyTELLIGEscgR reporter yester-
day. He said:
THE finest part Of the trip was up Gar
diners inlet, which has only recently been
surveyed and which steamers have not vis-
tied before this season. After running
east for some distance il turns south and
runs up about 100 miles. It is very narrow
at places, and is shut in on both sides by
mountains from 5000 to 1000 feet high,
which are very precipitous, covered with
forests where they are not bare rock and
are scanned by immense glaciers. At the
head is a mountain on which the rocks and
ice at certain time of day present the APP
pearance of broad human face like that
of siwash. A large stream flows from a
glacier on this mountain and makes the
water in the inlet fresh for a depth of ten
feet from the surface and keeps it cold as
ice
''The run of salmon in the streams is i'm
mense. In a stream off Halibut bay in
which ! was wadIng and which was not
knee deep the salmon were so thick that i
had to push them aside in order to get a
footing, and kicked one ashore. A Gamer
named Cunningham told me he had seen
the run SO strong that he had to brace him
self in order not TO be knocked over by the
fish. | saw the caFcasses of dead salmon
along the banks which would weigh forty
pounds and measure three feet in length.
The fsh which are running now are the
sockeye salmon, weighing six to ten
pounds each, but the run is nearly over.
Cunningham has packed 5000 cases con-
tanning about 200 COO iish and the canneries
we visited have packed about 1, 800. go fish.
Trout also abound in these streams. but
they are so gorged with salmon spawn
that you can not catch them with bait;
beeisteak would not attract them, and if
you use salmon spawn the chances are
very small that they will get hold Of the
particular. piece on your hook. In one
stream We stood on a log overhanging a
deep pooa which was swarming with them
The water was thick with salmon spawn
and passing salmon would stir it up, and
then the trout would jump at it. When
they came up We would reach over with
stick with a hook in the end of it. catch
them by the gills and sling them out; it
was like hooking pork out of barrel
They are common spotted brook trout and
weigh about two pounds. They hang
around the canneries and eat the heads
and tails of salmon as they are thrown
out.
I'VE also caught a good many halibut
whenever the boat anchored. Another
kind of fish We saw there was the hola-
cher, which looks like the smelt. 1t is
very greasy, and they say that the Indians
hang them on end and light them, using
them for candles. but will not vouch for
that story. They do, however, hang
them in baskets and let the oil drip out.
"At asst. on the Queen Charlotte
islands, the Hidah Indians make regu-
lar business of digging out canoes for sale.
They supply most of the canoes to Indians
along the coast. This tribe also has a
large collection of totem poles. They set
one up IN front of each hut and make
copies OF them for sale. At Fort Simpson
the indians are civilized and Christian
lied. and have only one totem pole. which
is lying OF the ground. 1t is about l20
feet long and three feet in diameter at the
top. The carving on these poles is simply
the geneaiogy OF the family. At River
though the bodies were not recovered, the
tribe swung 4 canoe between poles.
with human figure at each
end and a flag flying in the middle. They
are now INDUCING in very extensive mon
uments for their dead. Formerly they
built houses over the graves, but now they
buy monuments in Victoria. Abraham
Lincoln, one of the chiefs, has a granite
monument, for which his tribe paid $50
in Victoria. They are very fond of music;
the first thing they buy is an American
organ, and then comes a sewing machine
They also buy organettes and similar in
struments. They make good living at
several occupations. The men catch
salmon for the canneries, being paid . TO
II cents fish when the catch is sure and
$40 Il month when it is not and the women
pack the salmon. When that is done
they pick hops in the Sound country. and
in winter the men bring in furs. often
making quite large sum by it,"