242 Field and Forest Rambles. 



seen the like before. No doubt the flashing of the blades 

 attracted the monster, to find the chub on the hook. It is 

 naturally sluggish and inert, and apparently much of a bottom 

 feeder. As we glided along the shore of one of the islets, 

 composed more or less of granitic boulders, our attention was 

 directed by the guide to a large black object on the bottom, 

 among a mass of stones. This he asserted was a monster togue, 

 which, if such was the case, must have exceeded three feet in 

 length ; moreover, he showed us two notches on the side of his 

 canoe, representing the dimensions of an enormous individual, 

 which an Indian had speared in the same waters during the 

 spawning season, the admeasurement being no less than four 

 feet five inches. 



The average weight of the togue is seemingly about 

 nine pounds, but this may not be altogether correct. I 

 have seen individuals weighing fifteen pounds, and fishermen 

 and Indians speak of having captured togues from twenty-five 

 pounds to thirty pounds, and even forty pounds in weight. 

 . Probably the largest seldom leave the deep bottoms of the 

 great lakes. A noble specimen of this uncouth-looking deni- 

 zen of these forest-shaded lochs is now before me. If ever bull 

 trout deserved the name, those prominent eyes, huge muscular 

 jaws, broad back, deep sides, with the force of the frame 

 centred in front, might well win that appellation for the togue. 

 The Indian indulges his love of the marvellous when talking 

 of him ; and although often impromptu stories are got up to 

 amuse and impress you with the learning and knowledge of 

 the speaker, still, even in the absence of unwritten history, 

 one may detect figments of their wild legends and mythology, 

 strangely mingled even with the traditions of their earliest 

 Christian instructors, — of monster togues and sturgeons that 

 appeared on the surface of the lakes at night, striking such 

 terror among the tribe that they were forced to abandon 

 their hunting- grounds ; indeed such, with the pigmy fairies, 

 giants, and other offspring of their ever-fruitful imaginations, 



