142 AMERICAN FISHES. ., 



ever, found in the Coppermine, the Mackenzie, and other rivers which 

 fall into the Arctic sea, and can " probably live indifferently," as Dr. 

 Richardson observes, " on fresh or salt-water, like several species of 

 Truttd and Coregoni, that occasionally wander to the sea, although 

 they are not strictly auadromous." 



It is claimed by the inhabitants of that portion of the State of New 

 York that the finest Whiti;-Fish of the whole western country are 

 taken in Chatauque lake, a small mountain tarn situated some hun- 

 dred feet above Lake Erie, and forming one of the sources of the Alle- 

 ghany river. I doubt not the superiority of the Chatauque lake White- 

 Fish to the same species taken in the shallow, muddy, and turbulent 

 waters of Lake Erie ; but I entirely disbelieve in its being able to 

 sustain coinparisdn with that of the clear, deep, and cold waters of 

 Lake Union, wliere it is found of the greatest size, and in, as I under- 

 stand, the greatest perfection. 



" It is," says Richardson, " a rich, fat fi.sh, yet instead of producing 

 satiety, it becomi-s daily more agreeable to the palate ; and I know 

 from experi?nee, that though deprived of bread and vegetables, one 

 may live wholly upon this fish for months, or even years, without tiring." 



" In October," observes the same author, " the Attihawmeg" — this 

 is its appellation among the Cree Indians, and it were most desirable 

 that in the absence of any correct English nomenclature the aboriginal 

 names could be adopted — "quits the lakes, and enters the rivers for 

 the purpose of spawning. It ascends the streams in the night-time, 

 and returns to the lake as soon as it has spawned. Dr. Todd informed 

 me that it enters the Severn river from Lake Huron about the 25th of 

 October, and retires to tlie depths of the lake again by the 10th of 

 November ; but that in some rapid rocky rivers of that lake, indivi- 

 duals are taken throughout the year. A few spawn in the summer. 

 It is a gregarious fish, and resorts to different parts of a lake, accord- 

 in<^ to the season of the year, its movements being in all probability 

 ret^ulated by its supply of food. In winter the fisheries are generally 

 established in deep water, remote from the shore ; toward the breaking 

 up of the ice, they are moved near to the outlets of the lake ; and in 

 the summer comparatively few Attihawmeg are caught, except what 

 are speared in the rivers. After the spawning period, the fall fishery, 

 as it is termed, is more productive in shallow bays and on banks near 



