FAT AND FLESH OF THE HUCHO. 311 



ORN. This hucho is a very good fish, and, 

 indeed, I can praise all the varieties of the 

 salmo on the table that I have yet tasted. 



PHYS. Amongst them, I prefer the char, 

 which, I think, is even better than the best 

 fresh salmon I ever tasted. 



POIET. This char is surprisingly red and 

 full of curd ; I wonder at its fat ; it comes from 

 the Griindtl See, which is a high Alpine lake, 

 covered with ice more than half the year: 

 what food can the fish find in so pure and 

 cold a water ? 



HAL. Minnows and small chubs are found 

 in this lake ; and the flies which haunt it in 

 summer have been aquatic larvae in the au- 

 tumn, winter, and spring; and- there are 

 usually great quantities of small shell fish, 

 which live in the deeper parts of this water; 

 so that char may find food even in winter; 

 and cold, or the repose to which it leads, 

 seems favourable to the developement or con- 

 servation of fat. Most of the polar animals 

 (the whale, morse, seal, and white bear, for 

 instance) are loaded with this substance ; and 

 the salmon of the Arctic Ocean are remark- 



