180 THE SALMON AND ITS MIGRATIONS 



they do not know what it is." This meant a good 

 deal, because in the opinion of the good curator, 

 what Dr. Ahern, who is one of the leading med- 

 ical men in Canada, did not know, was not 

 worth knowing. I was getting quite interested. 

 On reaching his work room, I was shown a fresh- 

 ly stuffed specimen of a fresh salmon, that had 

 probably weighed about fifteen pounds when in 

 good condition, but had actually weighed only 

 eight pounds when brought in. I told him what 

 it was, but had to repeat my story several times, 

 giving him specific explanations of how the 

 change had been brought about before he would 

 believe me. 



A considerable proportion of the salmon that 

 spawn early enough, that is to say before the 

 rivers freeze over, return to the sea the same 

 fall. But a very large number winter in the 

 rivers and the lakes drained by them. These are 

 the fish that come down the rivers in the spring 

 as soon as the ice breaks up and until the 

 spring freshets are over. They are known as 

 kelts by anglers and others. French- Canadian 

 fishermen call them lingards, probably a corrup- 

 tion of long gars, long lanky fellows which 

 would certainly be very appropriate in this case. 

 And to these kelts or lingards I will devote a spe- 

 cial chapter. The salmon that descend the riv- 

 ers in the fall are probably those that arrive in 

 the early spring fat and strong, ready to begin 



