Salmonberry

“ The berries are black when ripe, are extremely abundant, and, with the huckleberries, form an important part of the food of the Indians, who beat them into paste, dry them, and store them away for winter use, to be eaten with their oily fish. The salmon-berry also is very plentiful, growing in dense prickly tangles. The flowers are as large as wild roses and of the same color, and the berries measure nearly an inch in diameter. ”

“ Open a pound can of salmon, drain, add to the small amount of salmon liquid sufficient water to make a gill, season it with salt and pepper, and, if on hand, add a little anchovy paste. Beat up the yolks of two eggs with half a teaspoonful of flour dissolved in a little cold water or milk: add the gill of water, place it on the range to become hot and thick, whisking it meanwhile; break the salmon into pieces, and add to the sauce. When quite hot, fill the patty shells with it, and serve. A very rich sauce may be made by the addition of butter and cream. ”

“ Having last year paid a visit to one of these beautiful rivers, I propose to give an account of my introduction to the art and mystery of salmon-fishing, to the end that other anglers, whose exploits have hitherto been confined to the capture of a pound trout or a four-pound pickerel, may know the joy of feeling the rush of a twenty-pound salmon fresh run from the sea—the most brilliant, active and vigorous of the finny tribes, the king of the river, using the term in its original sense—the strongest, the ablest, the most cunning. ”

“ By this time the sun was high in the heavens, and we returned to camp—Rodman with a salmon of seventeen pounds and a grilse of five pounds.
A salmon has properly four stages of existence. The first is as a "parr," a small bright-looking fish, four or five inches long, with dark-colored bars across the sides and a row of red spots. It is always found in the fresh water, looks something like a trout, and will take a fly or bait eagerly. ”

“ Take a fresh salmon, sixteen to twenty pounds weight, split it open at the belly, beginning at about eight inches from where the tail sets on, and cutting through to the bone up to the nose, remove the gills and all the refuse, wipe well out, and quite dry. Mix an ounce of ground white pepper with a pound of coarse sugar, and rub all the inside with it, particularly at the bone, for fifteen minutes or more; then bring the sides together, lay it on a dish, and rub the remainder of the mixture all over the outside of the fish, the back fins and thick part of the shoulders. ”

“ Although the salmon float within sight and reach in the most transparent stream, they will not touch the fly, be it thrown even on their noses. The only reason that can be given for this notorious fact is, that the salmon, when they leave the sea, are generally gorged, and do not desire, or seek for food until they have travelled some distance up the rivers; for it is equally well ascertained that the farther the first foss is removed from the mouth of a salmon river, the more voracious are the fish. ”

“ Careful observations, made at various Indian fishing-stations and extending over a long space of time, have quite convinced me that salmon (I more particularly allude to the spring-fish) never feed after leaving saltwater. My reasons for thus thinking are, first, no salmon45 (as far as I know) has ever been tempted to take a bait of any kind in the fresh water above the tideway. The Indians all say that salmon never eat when in the rivers; and I could never discover that they had any recorded instance, or even tradition, of a salmon being taken with bait. ”

“ Salmon has been nourishing the human race and delighting the human palate since prehistoric times. Today, thanks to modern canning methods, it is becoming known more widely than ever as a cosmopolitan food fish. Its delicious flavor and the convenience of the easy-to-store, easy-to-use can are two good reasons for cooking and serving salmon frequently. But there are even better reasons. The protein in salmon is a complete protein, in the same food group as meat and poultry, cheese and eggs. When you serve salmon, you’re serving the kind of food that your family needs every day. ”

“ They hold the small fish for some time and then plant them in the streams. In this way the young fish, called fingerlings, have more of a chance for their white alley.”
“How do they get the salmon to come to the hatcheries?” asked Bill.
“They don’t have to,” replied Earl. “Salmon have a peculiarity which makes it easy for the hatchery people. When spawning time comes, salmon always return to the place where they were born. The young ones gradually work their way down to the sea and go out into the ocean. ”

“ In America, salmon is found in the greatest perfection on the coast of Maine, in the Kennebec. Very fine ones are brought to Boston market. They also abound on the coasts of California and Oregon. The American salmon is much larger than those of Europe. [91] It is so fine a fish that its own flavor is better than any that can be communicated except by the most simple sauce. It requires as much boiling as meat, that is, a quarter of an hour for every pound. ”

“ Their eggs hatch during the winter. By the next winter the young salmon are from four to five inches in length, and by the following fall or early winter they go to the sea, having reached an average length of about ten inches. After leaving the fresh water, which only afforded them a scant subsistence for nearly two years, the generous ocean gives them plenty of sea room and an abundance of food, which in a few years prepares them to repeat the long journey of their parents. We are, in case of most fishes, ignorant of their life histories, as we are of the salmon's. ”

“ The heart of the salmon must never be given to a dog to be eaten, as on account of his base nature it would be an act of impurity, which would provoke the disfavor of the god presiding over the destinies of the salmon, and would cause a failure of the season's run of fish. The first salmon caught in the spring season must never be dressed or cooked until after the sun dips below the horizon in the west—everything is got in readiness for the feast, but all must wait until the sun disappears. ”

“ With one's hands only, or more easily by employing a gaff or a crook-stick, tons of salmon have been procured by the simple process of hooking them out. Once started on their journey, the salmon never turn back. As fast as those in front die, fresh arrivals crowd on to take their places, [Pg 282] and share their fate. "It is a strange and novel sight to see three moving lines of fish—the dead and dying in the eddies and slack water along the bank, the living breasting the current in the centre, blindly pressing on to perish like their kindred." ”

“ So there in the sand he scooped out with his tail a smooth round place, and his companion came and filled it with orange-colored eggs. Then our salmon came back again; and softly covering the eggs, the work of their lives was done, and, in the old salmon fashion, they drifted tail foremost down the stream.
They drifted on together for a night and a day, but they never came to the sea. For the salmon has but one life to live, and it ascends the river but once. The rest lies with its children. And when the April sunshine fell on the globules in the gravel, these were wakened into life. ”

“ No feeble salmon ever got to the top of that straight and thunderous pitch. Therefore, as the spawning-bars were all above the Falls, it was a fine, long-finned, clean swimming breed of salmon that was bred in the Great South Branch.
When the tiny egg in the gravel stirred to life, [Pg 33] —as the thousands of other tiny eggs about it were doing at the same time,—there was no ice sheet imprisoning the current, which ran singing pleasantly under a soft spring sun. The deep hollow in the gravel sheltered the moving atoms, so that they were not swept away by the current streaming over them. ”

“ And I said to myself in my mind I would never be satisfied to eat the salmon raw, and I put it out again into the sea; and I was fasting through the length of another three days. And at the third none I saw the otter bringing the salmon to me again out of the sea; and another otter brought kindled wood and put it down and blew it with his breath that the fire blazed up. So I roasted the salmon, and for another seven years I lived that way. And a salmon would come to me every day" he said "and with it firing, and the rock was increasing until now it is large. ”

“ It is usual to eat cucumbers with salmon, and no other vegetables; the cucumbers to be pared, sliced, laid in cold water, and dressed, and served up by themselves, with a little plate for each person, that the vinegar, &c., of the cucumbers may not impart too much acid to the salmon.
In places remote from the sea, a whole salmon is seldom seen at table but at dinner parties, or at good hotels. In a very hot climate it should not be seen at all. ”

“ This fish is a voracious feeder, and an epicure in his tastes, for his food is composed principally of small and delicate fish, and the sea-sand eel; but it is a fact that the surest bait to capture him with is the common red worm.
The salmon is a shy fish, and as he invariably inhabits the clearest of water, it is always important that the angler’s movements should be particularly cautious; and in throwing the fly, he should throw it clear across the stream, if possible; and after letting it float down for a few yards he should gradually draw it back again, with an upward tendency. ”

“ The most obvious point of distinction is the large size of the anal fin and tail, which contain a great many more rays than those of our own trout and salmon. This point of distinction is common to all the five species of the Pacific coast salmon, and distinguishes them from the rainbow and steel-head, which are true salmonidæ. The flesh, especially in spring, is excellent eating, but possibly not quite so delicate as the Atlantic fish, and not so highly esteemed. ”

“ The moist alluvial soil produces the delicious salmon-berry, in appearance a glowing jewel of gold; these, with cranberries, bramble-berries, currants, and a small black gooseberry, are very abundant. The most arid and rocky situations are often fairly black with grape-like bunches of the sweet sellal berry, which grows on a low hardy evergreen, and defies frosts until late in the season. Another variety of the gooseberry, larger than the black ones, with a skin covered with a bitter and glutinous secretion, grows very abundantly on the dryer soils. ”

“ One man after another would leave for his home, his back bending under the weight of many fish, his place to be taken by another, who begins casting his nets. And so these rude scaffoldings here and all along the rivers are occupied by busy fishermen throughout the summer, for salmon is chief of the winter's food supply of these people. In one house we saw over a thousand salmon hung up to dry for use during the winter months.
We left the cañon for the ride back to Hazelton with keen regret, for no more fascinating spot did we find on our entire journey than right here. ”

“ The flesh of salmon, while fresh, is tender, flaky, and nutritive; but, being rather oily, it is difficult of digestion. In the spawning season, its flavour and tint are much impaired: when boiled or salted, it acquires a fine red colour. Those of a moderate size and middle age, are in the greatest perfection, both with respect to their taste and salubrity.—Salmon-trout are chiefly distinguished from the common fish of that name, by their soft and gelatinous nature. ”

“ As this is all cold, we should naturally see to the hot things first, and we will, therefore, suppose that the ox-tail soup, the curried rabbit, the asparagus, and the plum pudding are all getting hot in the saucepan. First open the tin of salmon. Turn the contents entirely out. If there is any liquid, throw it away, and, as far as possible, absorb all the moisture of the salmon in a dry cloth before placing it in a dish. Make the surface, as far as possible, oval, and raised in the middle, and then pour the sauce with a spoon gently over the top, so that it looks like a custard pudding. ”

“ The web of fancy is not confined when a bend in the road reveals a group of Indians spearing salmon from a flat rock, perilously over-hanging the swirling, canyoned cauldron of the Fraser. There is something bizarre in the simple arrangement of the bleached wooden poles whereon their salmon swings a-drying in the wind. ”

“ SALMON CUTLETS WITH OYSTER SAUCE Boil large slices of salmon in salted water Page 269 until done. Fry a small onion, chopped, in oil, add four dozen oysters, cut small, two tablespoonfuls of flour, the liquor drained from the oysters, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, and pepper, salt, and anchovy essence to season. When thick, take from the fire, add the beaten yolks of four eggs, and reheat but do not boil. Pour the sauce into a platter, and cool. Lay the slices of salmon on the sauce, brush with egg, sprinkle with crumbs and brown in the oven. ”

“ As the salmon is led past or near him, almost on the surface of the water, the hook is extended beyond the fish, the gaffsman makes a short sharp stroke with it, and digging the hook into the side of the salmon, with a sudden and instantaneous pull drags it out of the water to the land ; a rap on the skull from a stick or stone terminates the poor salmon s life, and henceforth he be comes mere provender. ”