THE INDIANS 205 



ingly, is the lake trout namaycush, often called kokomesh, 

 "the fish that swallows anything." It sometimes grows 

 to thirty or forty pounds' weight. Although a lake fish, it 

 is found in some of the running rivers in summer, taking 

 flies along with the fontinalis. The latter is not as impor- 

 tant to the people as the namaycush, and is, on the whole, 

 less regarded by both whites and Indians. In fact, when 

 cooked by boiling, which is the method of the country, 

 perhaps of all countries where the main living is upon fish, 

 the lake trout may fairly be reckoned the better fish of 

 the two. 



The whitefish, when of good size, holds a higher place 

 than either of the t routs. It is a different species from the 

 western one, the coregonus, and such fortunate persons as 

 have taken it from the cold rivers of the plateau are likely 

 to regard it as the superior fish. Its specific name is labra- 

 doricus. The fish is rather insipid, "vealy,," when young, 

 but gains in flavour and firmness up to the. weight of six 

 or eight pounds. It is caught with the gill net, which in 

 the northern districts becomes useless by midwinter, as 

 the fish go into the deepest water and are considerably 

 dormant. Line-fishing then becomes the only resource. 

 The whitefish is thus unavailable, and the trouts and the 

 pike form the mainstay. In many waters of the south 

 slope the most dependable fish in midwinter is one called 

 among whites by the various names maria, ling, loche, 

 cusk, and fresh- water cod. This curious combination, to all 

 appearances, of eel and hornpout, comes freely into shallow 

 water under thick ice, and is easily caught by set lines with 

 almost any bait. Its native name is mildkato, which has 

 been translated by a Montagnais as "Big-wide-head." 



