45 8 Reminiscences of 



they reach a weight in some instances exceeding 20 

 pounds, and in the Rangeleys they are often caught up 

 to 1 2 pounds, while in the Schoodic Lakes, where they 

 have been long domesticated, and where I have caught 

 many hundreds, they seldom exceed 5 pounds. In 

 California, near Point Reyes, in Crystal Lake, con- 

 trolled by the Country Club, and where I aided some 

 years ago in introducing the landlocked salmon, they 

 gained most incredibly in weight in less than four years, 

 from a few ounces up to 5 and 5-^- pounds. In this lake 

 the feed was almost entirely insectivorous, and largely 

 and in fact I might say almost wholly the larva of 

 the caddis fly, which abounded most plentifully, and 

 which seemed to be the whole contents of all the stom- 

 achs I examined at various times. I regret to say, 

 however, that the flavor of these salmon is distinctly 

 off from any I have ever eaten, arising, I believe, from 

 the almost exclusive diet. These salmon, however, 

 will rise well to the fly, and are vigorously gamelike. 

 Crystal Lake is infested also with a red salamander 

 lizard, known as the water devil, quite common in Cali- 

 fornia waters, and one of the toughest and most tena- 

 cious reptiles of the batrachian family, although quite 

 harmless. These lizards are 3 or 4 inches in length, 

 and swim rapidly about with the aid of their tails. 

 Their skin and structure is so tough that it requires 

 a very sharp knife to separate them, and they have a 

 very tenacious life. I found one day on the shore of the 

 lake a salmon between 4 and 5 pounds in weight, freshly 

 dead, and upon examining it found one of these lizards 

 firmly fixed with a deathly grasp in the throat of the 

 salmon, likewise dead. It was plain enough that 

 the salmon had seized the lizard and the latter had 



