BOOK FOR GOLD-SEEKERS.              375
ern diver, but marked much the same on the body, the difference being principally in the head and neck-the bill is sharper and finer and the head smaller; but its chief distinguishing feature is the neck, which is covered with long, beautiful dun-colored down for more than half its length from the head downward. I tried to kill one so as to get the skin as a specimen, but after I had fired three times at close range with heavy shot it seemed as lively as if I had not fired at all. I then killed it with my rifle, but the bullet so tore and mangled the skin that it was useless.
"With the exception of a small species, locally called the 'Arctic' trout, fish are not numerous in the district. Schwatka calls this trout the 'grayling,' but from the descriptions and drawings of that fish which I have seen this is a different fish. It seldom exceeds ten inches in length, and has fins very large for its size, which give it, when in motion, the appearance of having wings. Its dorsal fin is very large, being fully half the length of the body, and very high. It is of a brownish gray color on the back and sides, and lighter on the belly. It is found in large numbers in the upper part of the river, especially where the current is swift, and takes any kind of bait greedily.
"The flesh is somewhat soft and not very palatable. Lake trout are caught in the lakes, but as far I saw are not numerous nor of large size. They take a troll bait readily, and a few were caught in that way coming down the lakes, but the largest did not weigh more than six or seven pounds. Salmon came up, I was assured by several Indians, natives of the district, as far as Lake LeBarge, and are never found above it, but Dr. Dawson reports their dead bodies along the river for some miles above the canyon. I mention this to show the unreliabil-