268 DAYS IN THE OPEN 



such treatment, but this was an exceptional fish. 

 He came walking into the boat as if he had been 

 accustomed to such violent exercise from child- 

 hood. We did not need to club him; he had died 

 of surprise. 



It was a muskie that furnished us with an in- 

 troduction to those tricky scales which some unre- 

 generate fishermen are said to use. We had jour- 

 neyed to the Ottonaby Lakes, north of Port Hope, 

 in search of bass and muskallonge. The senior 

 member of the party had never caught a speci- 

 men of the latter, and was up at sunrise every 

 morning to be rowed up and down until breakfast- 

 time in pursuit of this gallant fish. When the 

 Preacher came down to breakfast one morning 

 there was the old gentleman, the centre of an 

 admiring group gathered about a muskallonge. 

 There could be no doubt as to its genuineness, but 

 when the Senior announced that it weighed thir- 

 teen pounds, the Preacher was stunned. He 

 thought of certain fish of which he had heard 

 whose great weight was found to be due to some 

 pounds of shot that had been surreptitiously poured 

 down their gullets. One look at the honest face of 

 the Senior dispelled all such suspicions. 



"Who weighed him?" 



" I did," answered the landlord. " He goes a 

 little over thirteen pounds." After breakfast the 



