88 ANGLING FOR OUANANICHE 



coincide with that expressed in the above letter. He 

 grows large, it is true, in these deep lakes, and grows 

 fat as well so fat from the vast amount of fish-food 

 upon which he feeds, that he cares little for rising to 

 the surface in search of insect life, and so displays but 

 few of those game qualities that distinguish him in the 

 Grande Decharge of Lake St. John. What less suV- 

 prising than that he should conduct himself with even 

 greater gravity when the conditions of his environ- 

 ment are still less conducive to physical activity? 

 That the fresh-water salmon of Maine should remain 

 but a few weeks during the spring near the surface of 

 the water, and then seek its cool depths for the re- 

 mainder of the summer, only to be seduced from its 

 lair by dead bait or a weighted fish or spoon, while 

 that of Lake St. John may be found near the surface 

 all the season through, is altogether due, I believe, to 

 the difference in the temperature of the water. This 

 was brought specially to my notice in August, 1894, by 

 my friend and angling companion Mr. A. N. Cheney, 

 who, immediately upon arriving at the Decharge and 

 placing his hand in the water, remarked upon its ex- 

 ceptionally low temperature. Some time after his re- 

 turn home Mr. Cheney wrote me a letter, from which 

 I extract, by permission, the following notes of valua- 

 ble observations made by him: "I satisfied myself 

 within ten minutes of reaching the Grande Decharge 

 why the ouananiche are taken at the surface all through 

 the season at Lake St. John, and why the landlocked 

 salmon of New England retire to deep water in July 

 and August. I believe it to be simply a matter of 

 temperature. Going from the steamer to the landing 



