336 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



lu previous years a man netted immense quantities of these fisli (trout)^ 

 and I am iuformed that he is now making arrangements to go into this 

 lake and again net out these fish. If your influence can be used to bring- 

 about their protection and i)revent their destruction I think that it will 

 preserve a plentiful supply of this class of fish for all time in the Snake 

 Eiver and its tributaries. I did not see in this lake a single fish of any 

 kind other than the salmon trout, and their numbers seem to me to be 

 beyond concei)tion. While there I fished in the Gallatin and its tribu- 

 taries, the Madison audits tributaries, also the Yellowstone and its trib- 

 utaries. 1 found, to my surprise, an abundant supply of grayling as 

 well as trout in these rivers. I also found another kind of fish equally 

 as gamy as either a trout or the grayling, known in that country and 

 called by the people a whitefish. This fish in shape was very similar to 

 the grayling, having the same dorsal fin far back on the fish as the 

 grayling only not so large, and not having such variety of color as the 

 fin of the grayling has; and one marked peculiarity of this fish is that 

 its mouth is the exact shape of that of the sucker. The flesh of this fish 

 is equal to that of the trout, if not superior, and one among the few 

 fish that it has been my fortune to find which was fat enough to cook 

 itself. While there I heard one other name for this fish. I met a man 

 on the Yjellowstone Eiver who told me that the correct name of the fish 

 was the ''sterlet" or "steret" ; how he si^elled the name I do not know; 

 I spell it to you simply to pronounce the name he gave the fish. This 

 fish is found in the Yellowstone, Gallatin, and Madison Eivers. While 

 the grayling was very plentiful in the Madison and Gallatin and their 

 tributaries, I did not find any in the Yellowstone. 



I have hoped for a long time to be able to give you definite informa- 

 tion in regard to my efforts in the propagation of whitefish in the inland 

 lakes in the State of Michigan. In a i^revious communication to you I 

 gave the names of lakes and localities where I planted whitefish and 

 the number so planted. I have received from parties residing in the 

 vicinities of those lakes several well-developed whitefish weighing from 

 8 to 10 ounces, and I have recently been informed by a reliable gentle- 

 man who lives near Klinger Lake, Saint Joseph County, Michigan, one 

 of the lakes where I planted fish, that one was speared there this fall 

 weighing 3 pounds. I regret exceedingly that I was unable to procure 

 the fish for examination. I am, however, soon to make some thorough 

 experiments in these lakes to demonstrate whether or not these fish have 

 grown and multiplied, and I will most gladly, when this is done, give 

 you the result. 



Toledo, Ohio, Novemher 26, 1882. 



