42 



blotched with black. Its flesh is much firmer, and it attains the largest 

 size of all fish in this disti-ict, if we except the sturgeon. It is found in 

 the Ottawa and Eideau Piivers,and in the Canal, and in the lakes connected 

 with the Gatineau and Lievres Rivers. Its name is said to be derived from 

 the Ojibway {Maska iwnja), long snout ; the early French settlers called 

 it {^masque langue), or long visage. Ordinai-y bait presents no attraction 

 in the larger fish, and a fish of one or two pounds shoidd be used to 

 catch the large ones, or a spoon twice the size of those ordinarily used. 

 Near the Quio is one of the best fishing grounds for this fish, but very 

 large ones are taken in the Rideau. Mr. Lapoiute tells me the lai'gest 

 maskinonge .he has ever ofiered for sale was 42 lbs. Pike equalling in 

 weight the largest maskinonge are recorded by early writers, such as 

 that described by Pliny, taken in the Rhine, which weighed 1,000 lbs. 

 and was caught with a hook attached to a chain {catenato hamo) and 

 drawn out by oxen (boumjugis). That fish surely must have been a 

 sturgeon, and if weighed, the scales must have been of doubtful veracity ! 

 Whether the common Salmon {Salmo Solar) was ever abundant in 

 the Ottawa River prior to its sawdust and mill refuse pollution is a 

 question on which history is silent, as far as any authentic data can be 

 given ; but that they did frequent it there is no doubt, as the name 

 Salmon River was retained by a small tributary neai Montebello, long 

 after the native fish had abandoned its. waters. A few years ago 

 experiments were tried for restocking that stream by artificial means, 

 and our worthy Commissioner of Fisheries interested himself largely in 

 the undertaking. For the first two years after the young fry iiad been 

 turned out, there was every pi'omise of success ; the young fish were 

 healthy and grew perceptibly. The third year, however, was one of 

 great drought, and although during the spring and early part of the 

 summer several small salmon were found in the fishermen's nets, later 

 on the water fell so low and became so warm that no fish of the salmon 

 tribe could live, and in the following year they seemed to be extinct. 

 The venture however was again tried, and for two seasons numerous 

 small salmon in various stages of growth were seen. In the fall of the 

 second year, misfortune again doomed the fish to destruction. There 

 was at the head of Salmon River a lumber dam which backed the 

 waters of the main stream into a long swampy strip, separating the 



