214 ON THE ECONOMICAL USES OF FISHES. 



by the inhabitants of the dreary regions to the north 

 of the states may not be out of place. 



Among the numerous members of the perch family, 

 inhabiting the northern regions, and many of which 

 will be found described and figured in a former 

 volume of this work, devoted to the Percidce^ the 

 huron or black-bass, Perca nigricans, is the most 

 notable. It is considered the best fish that is found 

 in the great Canadian lakes, and is easily captured 

 with almost any bait, even a white rag trailed after 

 the boat, in this latter respect resembling the 

 mackarel. 



The pike, Esox lucius, exactly similar to that 

 found in Britain, according to Dr. Richardson, 

 readily takes a bait in winter under the ice, and is 

 then an important resource to the Indian hunter 

 when the chace fails him. Salmon ascend the St. 

 Lawrence as far as Lake Ontario, and before the 

 war, there was an extensive salmon-fishery at the 

 head of the lake. The Salmo Scouleri is a large 

 species of trout, or rather a true salmon, found on 

 the north-west coast of America in such abundance, 

 that sixty were killed with boarding-pikes, by a few 

 men in a small brook, in a very short time. " Du- 

 ring the summer," says Dr. Richardson, " the north- 

 west Indians reside near the coast, or the banks of 

 rivers where the salmon is abundant, and occupy 

 themselves in curing the fish for winter use. They 

 cut two long and broad slices from each side of the 

 fish, and eat them like bread." In New Caledonia, 

 the natives are said to eat the roe of this fish, mixed 



