84 GILPIN — ON THE TROUT AND SALMON. 



of his flesh varies from red to pink, and pale yellowish white. In- 

 ferior in taste to salmon, it is only prized by those who cannot get 

 the sea-board fish, yet it tastes very savoury roasted and eaten ten 

 minutes after swimming in the cool M'aters, from a sharp pointed 

 stick stuck around a camp-fire. 



Salmo Canadensis — Hamili'on Smith. 



In early spring there is taken by gill nets or by fly fishing 

 about Halifax, a sea trout. The tide water mouths of the various 

 rivers are its favorite resort. In these waters he remains till August, 

 sometimes running up the rivers with the tide a few miles, then 

 again running sea-ward. A very gaudy fly Avill tempt him out of 

 cover, in the thick tangled kelpy marine forests. Again he is found 

 lurking in the up river deep holes of our turbulent streams. After 

 August he is never found. This is the Trutta of Perley and Frank 

 Forrester, confounding it with the English species. This is tlu^ 

 salmon trout of " The Game Fish of the North,^'' whose author identifies 

 it with S. Fontinalis; and also this is the S. Cana,densis of Hamilton 

 Smith, in Griffith's Cuvier, as given in Dekay and Norris's American 

 Angler. The question has been still more complicated by the brook 

 trout running to sea, which they are always fond of, and thus being 

 classed as sea trout. 



On 26th May, 1864, Mr. John Butler, Bedford Hotel, gave me 



two taken from tide water. June 18th, J. Willis, Esq., gave me 



one from Cole Harbour, and during July I examined some dozen 



from Musquodoboit, and finally Wm. Silver, Esq., Flalifax, gave me 



one in Sept. from the fresh water, the rest Avere from the tide water. 



The description of these fish wouki be thus : of those fi'om the title way, 

 length from twelve to fourteen inches, deepest breadth, soinething more than 

 one quarter from tip of nose to insertion of tail. The outline rounds up rather 

 suddenly from a small and arched head to insertion of dorsal, slopes quickly 

 but gently to adipose fin, then runs straight to insertion of caudal, tail gently 

 curved rather than cleft, lower line straight to anal, then falling rather rapidly 

 to make a very convex line for belly and ending at the gills. The body deeper 

 and more compressed than the brook trout. The dorsal is quadrangular, the 



NoTK. — Wni. C. Silver, Esq.^ gave me a trout Sept. 29, 1866, taken on his own 

 {irounds, weighing- about two pounds, fifteen and a lialf'inelic.s lontj, entire depth 

 five and a half inches. TJiis was a male tisli, miit well developed. Tlie intermax- 

 illary enlarged and armed witji larger teeth having a notch in it to receive tlu' 

 lower jaw, also huigtliened and hooked. These eiianges altered the profile of tho 

 fish giving him a pointed nose. The colour was most brilliant, the belly tints car- 

 mine and the sides of tiie tenderest azure. The lower fins ami lower edge of tail 

 had the broad white and black anterior rays very well developed. 



