XXXVI.-REPORT ON AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT EGGS OF SEBAGO 



SALMON IN 1878. 



By Charles G. Atkests. 



1.— HABITAT OF SEBAGO SALMON. 



Within tlie limits of tlie State of Maine there are known to be four 

 distinct localities inhabited from olden times by fresh-water salmon, com- 

 monly called " landlocked salmon." The first of these districts is in the 

 valley of the Saint Croix Eiver, mainly in Grand Lake and connecting 

 waters, on the west branch or Schoodic Eiver, whence the name " Schoodic 

 salmon." The second is Eeed's Pond, Union Eiver, Hancock County; 

 the third is Sebec Lake and vicinity, tributary to the Penobscot ; and 

 the fourth is Sebago Lake and vicinity, tributary to the Presurapscot 

 Eiver. 



Lake Sebago, the principal haunt of the salmon in this district, is 

 the second largest body of fresh water in Maine. It has an area of 

 about sixty square miles. Its depth is known to exceed 100 feet, and 

 is reported to be in places not less tliau 400 feet deep. Its shores are 

 for the most part sandy, but in some places gravelly and stony, and in 

 a few places the solid ledge comes down steeply to the water's edge. A 

 large portion of the country draining into the lake is also sandy and 

 gravelly, and the streams are generally clear, though considerably dis- 

 colored by peat swamps. 



Though in the midst of a country long since settled, the immediate 

 shores of the lake are almost wholly clothed with forests of recent growth, 

 their sterile character forbidding any extensive attempt at farming. 



Sebago Lake discharges its waters into the Presumxiscot Eiver, which 

 empties into Casco Bay near Portland. The entire length of this river 

 is about twenty-two miles. It descends rapidly, having a total faU of 

 247 feet between the lake and the sea, yet in its natural condition there 

 was no imi^ediraent to the free passage of fish up and down. There were 

 many rapids which were doiTbtless resorted to by spawning salmon. For 

 many years, however, the river has been obstructed by many high mill- 

 dams, which have entirely prevented the ascent of fish. The descent is 

 of course still open, and the fresh- water salmon are occasionally taken 

 on all parts of the river. 



The principal affluent of Sebago Lake is Songo Eiver, which drains 

 the country lying to the north. Songo Eiver itself is very short, form- 

 ing merely the connecting link between Sebago Lake and an extensive 

 chain of ponds (so called) above. In a straight line the distance from 



775 



