LET US GO AFIELD 



fish, I found it to be almost square, with a sort of 

 projecting rim, so that it stuck out in front of the 

 fish's countenance something like the mouth of the 

 sucker; only it was larger and more directly east 

 of the fish's face. 



Each of the specimens we took ran eight or nine 

 pounds, being small, as I found later. The tail was 

 not square like that of any of the salmon family, 

 but forked. Yet to my astonishment I found the 

 fatty little caudal fin which is supposed to be dis- 

 tinctive of the salmon family. The body was not 

 the shape of a salmon's but more like that of a giant 

 whitefish, somewhat flattened, the general lines 

 being those of the pike-perch or wall-eyed pike, 

 except that the mouth was quite different also the 

 head and everything else. 



Naturally I could not name this fish at the time, 

 though I examined it with curiosity. Thus far I 

 had been unable to diagnose the parentage of my 

 companion, whether French, Scotch, or English 

 I could never get used to a half breed who says 

 "cawn't" instead of "can't"; but having tried him 

 in French, Spanish, Cree, Chippewyan, and Black- 

 foot, I concluded to try English, knowing that he 

 was a mission boy. 



"What in blazes do you call this thing?" I asked 

 him. 



72 



