520 APPENDIX, 



extremely good when fried, and especially if enveloped 

 in batter. 



The other fish that are caught in the several dis- 

 tricts of the fur countries, in sufficient numbers to be of 

 importance in an economical point of view, are, trouts of 

 various kinds, of which the principal is the salmo namay- 

 cush ; pike (esox lucius) ; several sucking carp (cata- 

 stomi) ; and the methy {lota maculosa). All the trouts are 

 excellent, particularly the large one we have just named. 

 They answer, however, better as occasional articles of 

 diet than for daily use ; and it is only in some months 

 of the year, and particularly on the approach of spring, 

 that they are caught plentifully. The pike is of more 

 importance to the inhabitants of the fur countries, from 

 the readiness with which it takes a bait at all seasons of 

 the year, than from its excellence as an article of diet, 

 for, in that respect, it is inferior to all the trout tribe. 

 It is remarkable that the pike does not exist in the 

 waters to the westward of the Rocky Mountains, though 

 the species which is found in the country to the eastward 

 of that ridge is the same that inhabits the rivers and 

 lakes of Europe, and North Asia, and even the Caspian 

 Sea. 



The sucking carp are not much prized for food ; but 

 they are very numerous, and are all well adapted 

 for making soup. We have selected three different 

 species for representation, partly because they have 

 never been figured before, and partly because the spe- 

 cies being numerous and difficult to distinguish by mere 

 description, the figures cannot fail to be useful to 

 naturalists. 



The methy (lota maculosa), though not so numerous 

 as the coregoni, trouts, or sucking carps, is yet uni- 

 versally diffused through the fur countries ; but its flesh 



