SSi ANIJIAL FOOD EESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



highly prized, but for extensive packing and profitable 

 investment as an article of traffic, white fish stand con- 

 spicuous. 



The excellence of the white fish as an article of food 

 is described by all travellers in the Northern regions of 

 America, where it forms the staple diet of the Indians 

 and trappers during a large part of the year. It is a 

 plump-bodied fish, free from small bones, with firm, 

 delicately flavoured flesh in large white flakes. As an 

 article of food it is highly nutritious ; but at the same 

 time free from the rich oil which renders the salmon so 

 cloying to the appetite if constantly used as food. The 

 size of the full grown fish is pretty uniform if caught in 

 the same locality; but in some places they reach a 

 weight of 20 lbs., and even 40 lbs., while in others the 

 average is about 2 lbs. weight, the difference being no 

 doubt due to the paucity or abundance of their favourite 

 food, which consists of small crustaceans and shell fish. 

 They grow rapidly and are very fertile, the number of 

 eggs deposited by tlie female being about 10,000 for 

 every pound weight of fish. They have the great 

 advantage of being in season and procurable at all times 

 of the year, although they have regular migrations from 

 the shallows to the deeper waters of the lakes for the 

 purpose of spawning. 



One of the most valuable fish of Canada is this white 

 fish {Coregoniis albus), a species of salmon common to 

 most of the lakes in the North- West and called by the 

 Indians " attehawmeg." It is esteemed the prince of 

 fresh- water fish, and affords the staple food of thousands 

 in the remoter parts of the country ; it varies in size, 

 and is caught principally in the autumn, when it is 

 spawning, and is consequently in its worst condition. 

 These fish are hung up in bunches of a dozen, by means 

 of sticks passed through the tails, and dried and frozen ; 

 when sufficiently solid they are brought down and stored. 

 The value of these fish annually cured on the American 

 and Canadian lakes has been estimated at about £200,000, 

 besides the larger amount consumed fresh. The winter 



