SALMONID.E. 13 



ABDOMINAL 

 MALACOPTERYGII. SALMONID^. 



THE BROOK TROUT. 



THE COMMON TROUT. 

 Salmo Fontinalis ; DeKay. 



WITH regard to this very beautiful and excellent fish, I have very 

 little to add to what is recorded in the former part of this volume, at 

 page 86 et seq. 



I have ascertained, however, as a fact, what I mentioned there as a 

 mere surmise, that in some places and. on some occasions the Brook 

 Trout of America are taken of a very much larger size than is gene- 

 rally imagined. 



At the Sault St. Marie, which I visited this autumn, although too 

 late for Trout-fishing in its perfection, the average run of fish is ex- 

 ceedingly large ; as also in the Garden River, which falls into the St. 

 Mary's, a few miles below the beautiful rapid I have mentioned. 



Three and four pounds is by no means an unusual weight ; but the 

 most important fact is this, that some years since, the commandant of 

 the United States' Fort, at the Sault, offered a reward to any Indian 

 who should bring in a Brook Trout of ten pounds' weight. The result 

 was, that many were brought in of six and seven pounds and upward, 

 and at last one monster which actually weighed eleven pounds and 

 some ounces. 



There is no question about this fact, or of its being actually a red- 

 spotted Brook Trout, as distinguished from the Namaycush or Siska- 

 witz ; for the whole affair originated from a desire to investigate and 

 ascertain the fact of natural history, on the part of the distinguished 

 officer in question, and the fish was submitted to a thorough scrutiny 

 and scientific examination before the premium was awarded. 



The question may therefore be regarded as settled, that, in favorable 

 situations and peculiar waters, the Brook Trout grows to a size much 

 larger than is usually supposed to be its utmost limit, possibly even up 



