496 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



THE SISOOWET SALVELINUS NAMAYCUSH VAR. SISCOWET. 



The Siscowet, or "Siskawite," is a form of Lake Trout which, according to many authorities, 

 is a distinct species, and which has been observed only in Lake Superior. Having never seen the 

 fish in a fresh condition, I cannot express an opinion as to its distinctness from the Lake Trout, but 

 good ichthyologists assure me that its peculiarities are very slight, consisting chiefly in the smaller 

 size of the head, teeth, and fins, and in its having a stouter body. Since, however, it is always 

 distinguished from the Lake Trout by the Indians and fishermen of Lake Superior, who often see 

 them side by side, it seems possible that it may claim a sub-specific rank. It was first described 

 in 1850, in Agassiz's "Lake Superior," 1 under the name Salmo siscowet. Herbert, in his "Fish and 

 Fishing," p. 17, gives the following description of its peculiarities : 



"This fish, like the former species, came frequently under my eye during my late northern 

 tour; and I rejoice in the possession of a barrel of him in his pickled state, which I procured at 

 the Sault Ste. Marie, on the strength of which I can recommend him to all lovers of good eating 

 as the very best salt fish that exists in the world. He is so fat and rich that when eaten fresh he 

 is unsufferably rank and oily, but when salted and broiled, after being steeped for forty-eight 

 hours in cold water, he is not surpassed or equaled by any fish with which I am acquainted. Since 

 my return he has been tasted by very many gentlemen of my acquaintance, and by no one of them 

 has he been pronounced anything less than superlative. His habits closely resemble those of the 

 'Namaycush,' and, like him, I cannot learn that he ever takes the fly or is ever taken by trolling. 

 I do not, however, believe that either of these methods is often resorted to for his capture, 

 although there are many scientific fly-fishers about the Sault, and the Brook Trout of those waters 

 are principally taken with large and gaudy lake-flies. The average weight of the 'Siskawitz' does 

 not exceed four or five pounds, though he is taken up to seventeen. His excellence is so perfectly 

 understood and acknowledged in the lake country that he fetches double the price per barrel of 

 his coarser big brother, the 'Namaycush'; and he is so greedily sought for there that it is difficult 

 to procure him, even at Detroit, and impossible almost at Buffalo." 



Milner states that the Siscowet lives at depths greater than forty fathoms, and feeds chiefly 

 upon a species of fresh-water sculpin. It spawns in September in deep water. The average size is 

 about four and one-half pounds. Two five-pound fish yielded respectively 2,796 and 3,120 eggs. 

 This species, like the Lake Trout, is for the most part taken in gill-nets. 



Mr. George Barnston, of Montreal, Canada, formerly of the Hudson Bay Company, who made 

 an extensive natural-history collection on Lake Superior, claims that there is a third species of 

 Lake Trout, different from the Siscowet, on the south shore of Lake Superior, called the "Mucqua" 

 or "Bear Trout." 



Mr. Robert Ormsby Sweeny, chairman of the Minnesota fish commission, in a letter dated 

 Saint Paul, Minnesota, October 19, 1880, conveys the following information concerning the Sisco- 

 wet, which is more precise and comprehensive than anything hitherto published: 



"I have not only examined the Siskowet carefully myself and compared them with Agassiz's 

 formulas, but asked and consulted with traders, voyagers, Indians and half-bloods, and fishermen, 

 in regard to their habits, size, color, weight, etc., and all come to the same conclusion. They are 

 not possibly a 'Namaycush' and should never be considered the same fish. The name 'Sis-ko-wet' 

 is an Ojibewa word, and means literally 'cooks itself.' It is so fat that you can set fire to it and 

 cook it by itself. The fish when fresh is most deliciously rich, tasting like the belly of a mackerel, 

 .UK! with salt and potatoes to the hungry fisherman or hunter is a complete menu. The 'Namay- 



P. 333, plate 1, fig. 3. 



