THE SALMON FAMILY. 253 



taken on a set line in the straits opposite Bois Blaue Island. 

 The fisherman assured me it was not a very unusual size. 

 Its proportions were rather shorter than those indicated by 

 the preceding engraving. It has been taken in Lake Supe- 

 rior weighing as much as a hundred pounds. The flavor of 

 this fish is nothing to boast of. They are seldom eaten when 

 the delicate Whitefish, which inhabits the same waters, is on 

 the table. 



It is said that the Naymacush spawns along the shores of 

 the lakes in the month of November. I have never been 

 able to ascertain whether they seek those places where the 

 aerated waters of brooks or rivers flow into the lake, or that 

 they enter the mouths of such streams for that purpose. 

 They are doubtless fish of rapid growth, although there is no 

 reliable means of judging what size they attain in a given 

 time. 



In returning from Sault Ste. Marie in July, 1844, in a 

 " Mackinaw boat," such as was then in general use among 

 the voyageurs, I threw a line over, with two stout 00 Kirby 

 hooks at the end of it, baited with a white rag and a piece of 

 my red flannel shirt, and hooked several Trout of this kind 

 near the "Detour," but the hooks in every instance but one 

 were straightened or broken, and the fish lost ; the single 

 exception being a small one of about eight pounds, which 

 was evidently a young fish, from the fact of its meat cutting 

 nearly white, when we broiled it. 



The degree of skill attained by the Indians, half-breeds, 

 and traders in spearing the Naymacush is wonderful ; but it 

 is only by early education, or long practice, that they become 

 adepts in the art. The usual mode is as follows : — 



The spearer provides himself with the necessary weapon 

 fastened into the end of a long ash handle, and the leaden 

 counterfeit of a small fish, six or seven inches long, which he 



