180 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



resist its voracity. The grey sucking-carp is most frequently found in its stomach ; 

 in the month of March, in lat. 64°, we saw that capacious receptacle crammed with 

 the young of the lota maculosa, and Mr. Todd says that the Herring salmon forms 

 its principal food in Lake Huron. 



The habitual residence of the namaycush is in the deepest parts of the lakes, but 

 at certain seasons it resorts to the shallows to spawn, This movement occurs in 

 Lake Huron about the 10th of October, and in the course of three weeks it retires 

 again to the centre of the lake. During its stay in the narrow channels which 

 separate the innumerable islands that skirt the northern borders of the lake, 

 the Indians spear it in the night, by torch-light. In the fur countries it is taken 

 occasionally in the autumn, in nets, and from March till May more abundantly by 

 cod-hooks baited with sucking-carp, and set through holes in the ice in eight or nine 

 fathoms water, but it is rarely seen in the summer or winter months, except when 

 fished for at great depths. It resorts to the shallows in the spring, most probably in 

 quest of food, as at that period many fish, upon which it preys, seek the borders of 

 the lakes where the ice first breaks up, to feed upon the larvse of insects which 

 then swarm near the shore. The flesh of the namaycush is reddish or orange- 

 coloured, being paler when out of season. When in good condition it yields much 

 oil, and is very palling to the appetite if simply boiled, but roasting renders it a 

 very pleasant article of diet. The Canadian voyageurs are fond of eating it raw, 

 in a frozen state, after scorching it for a second or two over a quick fire, until the 

 scales can be easily detached, but not continuing the application of the heat long 

 enough to thaw the interior. The stomach when boiled is a favourite morsel with 

 the same people. 



The American trouts described in the preceding pages are, with the exception 

 of S. Scouleri, similar to European species in the forms of the different bones of 

 the face and gill-covers, but the namaycush exhibits much peculiarity in these 

 respects, and its cranium is composed of much stronger and firmer bones than is 

 usual in the genus. The coats of its stomach are remarkably thick, though they do 

 not equal those of the Coregonus albua. 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of specimen (Plate 70) taken in Lake Huron, October, 1824. 



Colour. — The head, back, and sides have a dark greenish-grey colour, which, when exa- 

 mined closely, is resolved into small roundish yellowish-grey spots on a bluish-grey ground, 

 which covers less space than the spots : the latter are most evident on the sides, where they 

 are as big as duck-shot, each of them including three or four scales. The uncovered portion 



