WHITEFISHES, LAKE HERRINGS, AND [NCONNU. 495 
whole extent. In the harbor of Saint John, in spring, it has been often 
caught in the seines and weirs with the gaspereau and salted with that fish 
because its value was not known. 
“It is probable that the similar fish found in the lower part of the Saint 
John have strayed from the Great Lakes at the sources of its upper tributaries 
and have been swept over the Grand Falls by some extraordinary flood. 
Once over those falls, there is no possibility of return. The whitefish seen 
by the writer have seldom exceeded 14 pounds in weight, but they are taken 
in Lake Temiscouata of the weight of 3 pounds and even more. 
“Tt is an inhabitant of all the interior lakes of America, from Lake Erie 
to the Arctic Sea. Several Indian tribes mainly subsist upon it, and it 
forms the principal food at many of the fur posts for eight or nine months 
of the year, the supply of other articles of diet being scanty and casual. Its 
usual weight in the northern regions is from 2 to 3 pounds, but it has been 
taken in the clear, deep, and cold waters of Lake Huron of the weight of 13 
pounds. The largest seen in the vicinity of Hudson Bay weighed between 
4 and 5 pounds, and measured 20 inches in length and 4 in depth. One of 
7 pounds’ weight, caught in Lake Huron, was 27 inches long. Very recently 
the writer had an opportunity of seeing some fresh specimens of the white- 
fish of Lake Erie, and was satisfied of their identity with the ‘ Gizzard-fish’ 
of the Saint John and Lake Temiscouata. 
“ During the summer the whitefish is not seen in Lake Temiscouata, and 
it is then supposed to retire to the depths of that unusually deep and cold 
lake. In October it draws near the shores, and ascends the Tuladi River 
for the purpose of spawning. It ascends the river during the night, and, 
having deposited its spawn, returns as quickly as possible to the lake. It 
is when this fish draws near the shore, prior to spawning, that the fishery 
is carried on, chiefly at a little bay in Lake Temiscouata, into which the 
Tuladi discharges its waters. At the same time the great gray trout (Sa/mo 
Jerox) follows the whitefish to the shore and preys upon it. While the nets 
are set for whitefish, the fishers, with torch and spear, attack and capture the 
Salmo ferox, frequently of large size ; and hence this latter fish has acquired 
the name of ¢uéadi, from the river to which it is attracted by its favorite 
prey. 
“The whitefish feeds largely on fresh-water shellfish; its stomach, in 
consequence, acquires an extraordinary thickness and resembles the gizzard 
of a fowl, hence its popular name of ‘ Gizzard-fish.” The stomach, when 
cleaned and boiled, is a favorite morsel with the Canadian voyageurs.” 
