Clinton's letter on the fishes of new-york. 495 



Mississippi, and the eel does not avail himself of it, because his habits 

 are directly the reverse of all fishes that ascend from the sea into fresh 

 water rivers. They pass into rivers for the purpose of propagation, and 

 in course of time their brood go to the ocean, where they acquire their 

 growth. On the contrary, he visits the sea every autumn with the same 

 view, where he produces his young, and the ensuing spring they ascend 

 into the rivers. As it is near two thousand miles from the lakes to the 

 Gulf of Mexico, these periodical and semi-annual voyages, are impracti- 

 cable : and it is certainly almost impossible for the young eels to proceed 

 to such a distance against the rapid currents of the Mississippi and 

 Illinois. 



3. Fishes are found in small ponds and lakes which have no communi- 

 cation with any other waters. This is, perhaps, generally accomplished 

 by aquatic birds who swallow the ova of fishes, and carry them to other 

 places. They may have been conveyed in like manner to our inland 

 fresh water seas. 



At the head of the western fishes, may be placed the white Jish, which 

 is universally admitted to be the most delicious. When I visited that 

 section of the country, I had no opportunity of seeing this celebrated 

 fish. We are even ignorant of the family to which it belongs, and it is 

 not known to us by any specific marks. From the general account which 

 I have had of its form and habitudes, I am induced to believe, that it be- 

 longs to the salmo genus, and that it is a non-descript. It is found not 

 only in all our great lakes, but it exists also in the lakes and rivers to the 

 north west of them. It is described as a white straight fish, not unlike 

 salmon in appearance, but very different in taste ; about the size of a 

 shad, but thicker and less bony, and generally weighing from three to six 

 pounds : It abounds at the falls of St. Mary's, and is taken in great 

 numbers, in the spring, in the mouth of the Niagara river, and even as 

 high up as Lewiston : It is caught by sweeping the beach with a seine; 



