458 Reminiscences of 



they reach a weight in some instances exceeding 20 

 pounds, and in the Rangeleys they are often caught up 

 to 12 pounds, while in the Schoodic Lakes, where they 

 have been long domesticated, and where I have caught 

 many hundreds, they seldom exceed 5 pounds. In 

 California, near Point Reyes, in Crystal Lake, con- 

 trolled by the Country Club, and where I aided some 

 years ago in introducing the landlocked salmon, they 

 gained most incredibly in weight in less than four years, 

 from a few ounces up to 5 and 5^ pounds. In this lake 

 the feed was almost entirely insectivorous, and largely — 

 and in fact I might say almost wholly — the larva of 

 the caddis fly, which abounded most plentifully, and 

 which seemed to be the whole contents of aU the stom- 

 achs I examined at various times. I regret to say, 

 however, that the flavor of these salmon is distinctly 

 off from any I have ever eaten, arising, I believe, from 

 the almost exclusive diet. These salmon, however, 

 will rise well to the fly, and are vigorously gamelike. 

 Crystal Lake is infested also with a red salamander 

 lizard, known as the water devil, quite common in Cali- 

 fornia waters, and one of the toughest and most tena- 

 cious reptiles of the batrachian family, although quite 

 harmless. These lizards are 3 or 4 inches in length, 

 and swim rapidly about with the aid of their tails. 

 Their skin and structure is so tough that it requires 

 a very sharp knife to separate them, and they have a 

 very tenacious life. I found one day on the shore of the 

 lake a salmon between 4 and 5 pounds in weight, freshly 

 dead, and upon examining it found one of these lizards 

 firmly fixed with a deathly grasp in the throat of the 

 salmon, likewise dead. It was plain enough that 

 the salmon had seized the lizard and the latter had 



