170 CAPE BRETON. 



the young fish remain in the lakes for about a year, viz. 

 till the following August, when they make their first trip 

 to the sea. At this time they are about two inches or 

 two inches and a half in length. They do not breed till 

 the third year. I base this assertion on the fact that a 

 second run of small-sized fish, without spawn or melt, 

 follows immediately after the ascent of the gravid gas- 

 pereau. They are said to be hostile to the Salmonidte, 

 and I have noticed that lakes which they frequent in 

 great numbers seem to be shunned by salmon and trout. 

 On two occasions when angling I have caught gaspereau 

 on,a salmon fly. It is a stupid thing, and I might almost 

 say a wicked thing, to shut the gaspereau out from their 

 spawning beds. Settlers along the banks of Nova Scotian, 

 Cape Breton, and New Brunswick rivers are not generally 

 so rich as to be able to dispense with the little fixed 

 incomes which these fish would surely afford them if they 

 were allowed fair play. 



