98 FISH HAEVESTING. 



the White-fish (Coregonus albus\ or ' Attihaw- 

 meg ' (which means ' reindeer of the sea '), being 

 of like importance to those residing east of the 

 mountains. There the Indians frequently have 

 to subsist entirely on white-fish, and, at many 

 of the fur-trading stations, the traders get very 

 little else to eat during nine months of the 

 twelve. 



' In one small lake (Lake St. Ann's), near Fort 

 Edmonton, forty thousand white-fish were taken, 

 of an average weight of three to four pounds, in 

 the course of three weeks.' (Palliser's Exp.} 



Two modes are adopted for preserving them 

 one that of sun-drying, the other by freezing, in 

 which state they may be kept perfectly sweet 

 and free from taint for the whole winter. 



The Round-fish is seldom taken over two 

 pounds in weight, and prior to spawning they 

 are loaded with fat, which on the shoulders almost 

 amounts to a hump, but becomes thin, watery, 

 and insipid, after the all-important 'duty of pro- 

 viding for their offspring is accomplished. I am 

 not quite sure when they return to the sea, as 

 nothing is seen of them after the ice sets in, 

 towards the end of November, until their arrival 

 on the following year. The ova are deposited in 

 much the same way as that of other Salmonidte: 



