254 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1772. so close to each other as to form very narrow channels, like 

 January, j-^^j^ rivers, in which I found (when angling for fish) a con- 

 siderable current setting to the Eastward. 



The fish that are common in this lake, as well as in most 

 of the other lakes in this country, are pike, trout, perch, barbie, 

 tittameg, and methy ^ ; the two last are names given by the 

 natives to two species of fish which are found only in this 

 country. Besides these, we also caught another kind of fish, 

 which is said by the Northern Indians to be peculiar to this 

 lake ; at least none of the same kind have been met with in 

 any other. The body of this fish much resembles a pike in 

 shape ; but the scales, which are very large and stiiF, are of a 

 beautifully bright silver colour ; the mouth is large, and situated 

 like that of a pike ; but when open, much resembles that of a 

 sturgeon ; and though not provided with any teeth, takes a 

 bait as ravenously as a pike or a trout. The sizes we 

 caught were from two feet long to four feet. Their flesh, 

 though delicately white, is very soft, and has so rank a taste, 

 that many of the Indians, except they are in absolute want, 

 will not eat it. The Northern Indians call this fish Shees.^ The 

 trout in this lake are of the largest size I ever saw : some that 

 were caught by my companions could not, I think, be less than 

 thirty-five or forty pounds weight. Pike are also of an in- 

 credible size in this extensive water ; here they are seldom 

 [250] molested, and have multitudes of smaller fish to prey 

 upon. If I say that I have seen some of these fish that were 

 upwards of forty pounds weight, I am sure I do not exceed 

 the truth. 



[1 Pike = Esox hccius Linn. ; trout = Cristivomer 7taviaycush Walbaum ; 

 ^tXQS\ = Stizostedion vitreum Mitchill ; \)2Lx\At.= Catastomus j tittameg = white- 

 fish {Coregonus) ; methy = Zi?/^ fnaculosa (Le Sueur). — E. A. P.] 



[^ Shees. This is probably the earliest notice of the inconnu, Stenodus 

 Mackenzii (Richardson). This anadromous species inhabits in summer the 

 principal rivers of Northern Alaska and Mackenzie, east to and including the 

 Anderson. It is present in Great Slave Lake throughout the year, this being, 

 as far as I know, the only inland lake thus distinguished. — E. A. P.] 



