Dec. 12, 1903.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
460 
worked up the stream by the fisherman. The theory is 
that other fishes, seeing the captive rnoving along as 
though feeding or perhaps spawning, will pursue it and 
become impaled on the hooks. In point of fact that 
does happen, as I saw a Chinaman take two fine trout in 
this manner. 
Our success with the flies was poor. We got thirteen 
or fourteen fingerlings, but we saw the fish we wished to 
identify caught in fairly good numbers by the Chinese 
fishing with decoys. Doubtless with large flies and bet- 
ter tackle than we had, we might have had fine sport. 
It seems unusual to find a member of the Salnionidce 
family so near the sea-level in such altitudes. The fish 
is the Plecoglossus altivelis. It has no spots, but: iri- 
descent lines along its sides, parallel to the long axis. It 
has also the adipose dorsal fin. The snout of the male 
at this season overlaps and turns downward somewhat 
as does the snout of the male Chinook salmon late in the 
season. The Plecoglossus weighs from one one-fourth 
to two poimds, is vigorous and shy, and as dainty a fish 
for the table as any that may be found. 
After a few hours' fishing, we descended the river in 
a rather clumsy, flat-bottomed boat, racing down the 
rapids and sculling through the smooth places, until we 
found our rickshaws, and then home. All along the 
smooth water about dusk we saw the Plecoglossus leap- 
ing after flies. 
Might not this fish be planted in the waters of our 
Southern States? I shall be pleased to furnish any in- 
formation in my power to any one interested in this sub- 
ject. ' E. C. Carter^ Major U. S. Army. 
The Growth of Trout. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The rate of growth in fishes is not only interesting 
to the fishculturist, but should be to the angler as 
well. The subject has not received the attention it 
deserves, and reliable data is always welcome. The 
first question that naturally occurs to a person on see- 
ing an unusually large fish is, "How old is it?" This 
query has been propounded to me hundreds of times, 
and if the fish is from wild waters the invariable 
answer has been, "I do not Know; it may be 5 or 25 
years old." 1 oflfer the following examples of the 
rapid rate of growth possible under favorable condi- 
tions, hoping that others may be induced to furnish 
similar authentic examples within their ken. 
Brown Trout. 
In the fall of 1899 a mixed lot of trout frv was as- 
signed to Hon. C. W. Hoffman by the U. S. Bureau 
of Fisheries, which were placed in a pond on his ranch 
a mile from Bozeman, Mont. Last summer he took 
two brown trout {Sahno fario) from this pond, each 
weighing 6 pounds, one of which is now in a pond 
at Bozeman station. Its length is 24 inches from 
snout to base of caudal fin, and 27 inches to the end of 
the fin. These trout are four years old. 
K few months ago I saw a mounted specimen of the 
;;ame species ta.ven in a tributary of the Yellowstone 
River, near Livingston, Mont. The length of this fish 
was 271/2 inches from the snout to the base of the 
cai-dal fin, and 30 inches to the end of the fin. and was 
^aid to weigh 10 pounds. The age of this fish can be 
.stated only approximately. It undoubtedly came from 
the Yellowstone National Park, as the only plant of 
this species in connecting waters was by the U. S. 
Bureau of Fisheries in 1890, in Nez Perces creek and 
Firehole River. I regard ihe growth of these. fishes_ 
quite remarkable considering the low temperature of 
the waters in which they were taken. 
Brook Trout. 
A year ago last summer Mr. Hoft'man's son caught 
on the fly, in the pond referred to, an Eastern red- 
spotted brook trout {Salmo fonfiiialis) that weighed 
pounds. Tliis fish was than three years old. It 
was one of the mixed lot mentioned. Two brook trout 
were caught in a tributary of the Madison River, in 
this State, that weighed V/i and 2 pounds respectively. 
These fish were of a lot of fry assigned to- Mr. \\m. 
Gilmer by the U. S. Bureau, of Fisheries, and when 
caught were but one and a half years old, being taken 
in the fall. Two brook trout weighing i;4 pounds, of 
the same hatching, Avere taken the saiue fall in Bridger 
c-eek, near Bozeman station. The low temperature 
of the Rocky Mountain streams seems to be eminently 
suitable for the Eastern brook trout; and, moreover, 
their food is plentiful. I have heard of other instances 
where brook trout liave been caught of even more re- 
markable growth for age, in trout planted from this 
station, but the eA^dence was not so reliable as to ex- 
act weight. 
Steelhead Trout. 
The first steelhead trout fry planted from Bozeman 
station was in the summer and fall of 1897- They have 
been caught during the past year or two up to 4 pounds. 
One lot was planted in Mystic Lake, a very deep moun- 
tain lake, twelve miles from Bozeman, where they have 
done well. Another planting was made in a mountain 
lake above Pony, Mont, where fish of 5 pounds 
have been taken, and numerous young ones have been 
seen. 
In carrying the fingerlings to Mystic Lake a can was 
jolted out of the wagon, the road being very rough, 
and fell in a pool a few feet from Bozeman creek. The. 
■fish were scooped up and placed in the creek, where- 
they have multiplied, furnishing good hshing. This 
accidental planting was alluded to by Mr. Choate, our 
•Embassador to Great Brijtain, at an annual dinner of 
the London Flv Fishers' Club, at which he presided. 
It has been ' supposed that steelhead trout would 
thrive only in deep waters, but both Bridger and Boze- 
man creeks are small mountain streams, quite shallow 
most of the year, and when these fish reach 3 pounds 
m such waters in six or seven years, it is pretty good 
evidence that they will thrive in waters suitable to 
others of the trout species; moreover, they live in per- 
fect amity with them. In Bridger creek, a rocky and 
j^vift stream, there are the native red-throat trout. 
brook trout, steelhead trout and grayling, and each 
species is holding its own. 
Red-Throat Trout, 
I weighed a red-tlu-oat, or native trout {Salmo 
clarkii), which was 3 pounds, good weight, when 
dressed. It was two years old, and was one of a lot 
sent by the Commissioner to a party near Toston, 
Mont. There were no fish but German carp in the 
pond before the trout were planted, and their rapid 
growth was no doubt the result of feeding on young 
carp. The owner of the pond assured me that there 
were still larger trout in the pond than the one sent me. 
Some native fry were placed in a new pond, which was 
made, however, in a swamp fed by springs and con- 
tained an abundance of food. Two fish from the pond 
were weighed at two years of age and were 2y^ pounds 
each. I might multiply instances, but forbear. 
Grayling. 
I have heard from plantings of grayling in streams 
in which they did not exist before, in several Western 
States, and the reports have been uniformly favorable. 
As the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries has shipped millions 
of eggs from Bozeman stations to its Eastern stations 
and to State fish commissions, it is hoped that this 
beautiful game fish may find a suitable and congenial 
home in Eastern trout streams. It lives in pertect ac- 
cord with the native trout, also the Eastern brook 
trout, in this State. I have taken them up to 2 pounds 
on the fly. in the upper Madison, but five or six miles 
from the Yellov/stone Park, also a few miles below in 
the upper canyon of the river, and in Beaver creek, a 
tributary in the canyon. These grayling are gamer 
than the trout, and leap several times from the water 
when hooked. Flies should be smaller than the usual 
trout fly, on No. 12 hooks. I have found the pro- 
fessor, Henshall, coachman and black-gnat, all good 
flies, especially if tied with split wings and a red tag 
of worsted for tail; the gray and black hackles are as 
good. 
The grayling is found in the Madison and a few 
tributaries in Yellowstone Park, but I do not think 
it goes above the confluence of Gibbon and Firehole 
rivers, owing to their high temperature consequent on 
the hot water from the geysers. 
James A, Henshall, 
U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. 
BozsMAK, Mont. 
Fish and Fishing. 
A Boy and a Maskinonge. 
AVhile attending a fish and game protection meet- 
ing the other day in the ofiice of Mr. F. L. Wanklyn, 
manager of the Montreal Street Railway, my attention 
was at once attracted by the beautifully mounted head 
of a maskinonge. The enormous mouth of the monster 
is wide upen, showing the tremendous capacity of its 
throat in life and its large, sharp teeth. The fish to 
which this head belonged, weighed 37 pounds several 
hours after it had been caught, and when it had already 
lost a good pound or two of blood, due to the fact that 
it had been found necessary to gaff it a second time. 
Several larger maskinonge have been captured in the 
St. Lawrence waters,- but none so large as this, I fancy, 
b}'- so young an angler. It was hooked by a fourteen- 
year-old son of Mr. Wanklyn, on the 27th of last 
August, near Isle Perrot. Young Wanklyn was trolling 
for maskinonge from a boat in which were also his 
father and sister. His bait was a perch nearly a 
pound in weight, the dorsal fin of which, with its sharp 
rays or spikes, had no terrors for the huge-throated 
fish which gorged himself with it and became impaled 
upon the hook. It may well be imagined that the boy 
had a swift time for half an hour or so with his new 
connection. When- it was first found possible to bring 
the fish close up to the boat, Mr. Wanklyn struck at 
it with the gaff and impaled it at the first attempt. Its 
weight was such, however, that the effort to lift the 
fish into the boat tore- the gaff out of its body, and a 
stream of blood marked its course as it writhed in the 
water, lashing it into foam and then placing a consider- 
able distance between itself and the boat. It was not 
very long before it was again brought to the side of the 
boat, and the gaff having a better hold in the body of 
the fisb this timei it was safely, though not without 
considerable difficulty, lifted over the stern into the 
boat. Even then it was not killed without considerable 
difficulty and some danger of upsetting the boat. The 
head of a maskinonge, when well mounted, as this one 
certainly is, makes a very handsome trophy. 
The Philology of the Maskinonge. 
Next to the ouananlche, there is, perhaps, no other 
American fish respecting the name of which there is so 
much confusion, as the makinonge. Dr. Henshall's 
praiseworthy effort to secure uniformity in the spelling 
of this fish's name, has met with no success, doubtless 
because he advanced no justification for the orthog- 
raphy proposed by him, He claims, erroneously, I 
believe, that by common consent and custom, the name 
is "inascalcnge" among the majority of. anglers, and 
that "mascalonge"' it will be for generations to come. 
As a matter of curiosity, I have just turned over the 
pages of all the numbers, of Forest and Stre.4m for 
the last two months to .see how far this estimate is cor- 
rect. In the numbers which 1 examined, the name of 
this fish is printed at least half a dozen times. Yet not 
once does it appear in. the form which Dr. Henshall 
claims to have Iseen adopted by the majority of anglers. 
I find it printed "muscalonge" two or three times. It 
has also appeared as "muscalunge." "muscallonge" and 
"maskinonge."' Other formb of the word are "muskal- 
longe" and "muskellunge," the latter being the name 
employed to designate the species by Dr. C. Brown 
Goo.de it) his '"American Fishes." Still another form 
of the word— ''muskallunge" — is enwloyed by Messrs. 
Jordan and Evermarm, in their cat^gue of the fishes 
of- North America. Neither this form, nor yet "mas- 
calonge," which is favored by Dr. Henshall. is the most 
Qommonty accepted orthography. The forms of the 
word which appear to me to be of most common use 
and acceptation, are "muscalonge" and "maskinonge." 
For the use of "muscalonge" I know of neither reason 
nor important authority. The original spelling of 1.he 
Indian name by the early French settlers in America 
was undoubtedly "maskinonge," and such it is still 
called in the statutes of Cauda. According to the late 
Bishop Lafleche, of Three Rivers, a recognized author- 
ity upon Indian customs and dialects, and early in life 
a devoted missionary to the Northwest, "makinonge" 
is derived from mashk (deformed) and kinonge (a 
pike), and was applied to the Esox nohilior by the In- 
dians, because it appeared to them a deformed or differ- 
ent kind of pike from that to which they had been ac- 
customed. The river of the same name which flows 
into Lake St. Peter, which name has been extended to 
the town built at its mouth, and the county of which it 
is the chef lieu, was doubtless so-called from the num- 
ber of these fish taken in or near its estuary, and after 
their Indian name. And it is a singular corroboration 
of the absolute correctness of the French orthography 
"makinonge," that the very best authorities on the 
scientific classification of North American fish, includ- 
ing De Kay, Mitchell, Jordan and Evermann and Dr. 
Henshall, have substituted for the earlier name — 
nobilior — of this particular species, that of masquinongy, 
which is about as near as it is possible for English 
orthography to go in representing the correct pro- 
nunciation of maskinonge. Jordan and Evermann 
quote H. W. Henshaw as giving exactly the same deri- 
vation of maskinonge as Bishop Lafleche, and the late 
Fred Mather gave similar testimony. Here, then, we 
have a form of the name of this fish, for which there 
is a good reason to give, namely, that of priority and 
intelligent derivation, while it is also the rnost common 
form of the name in the country in which it originated, 
and one of the simplest to write and to pronounce from 
the written word. Is it not therefore advisable to en- 
deavor to secure uniformity for the orthography 
"maskinonge?" 
The Fishes of Hudson Bay. 
The Canadian exploring expedition which is winter- 
ing in Hudson Bay on board the steamer Neptune, is 
likely to bring back with it very importat information 
concerning the fishes of Hudson Bay, since an icthy- 
ologist from the Department of Fisheries at Ottawa 
accompanies the expedition. It is known already that 
of edible fishes in those waters there are at least thirty 
species, but it is expected that there are many more. 
The cod, the common salmon, sea trout, speckled and 
gray trout, halibut, whitefish, herring, capelin, eels, 
whiting, jackfish, pickerel, pike, perch, sturgeon and 
others are found there. That most beautiful of fishes, 
Back's grayling, is common in some of the streams on 
the western side of the bay. Newfoundlanders now go 
regularly to Ungava Inlet, its eastern arm, after cod, 
each summer, while the same fish are also taken regu- 
larly at Fort George on James Bay, the southern pro- 
jection of the greast basin. It is clear, therefore, that 
these northern waters teem with fish life of the first 
commercial importance, and as many of the Atlantic 
areas now regularly fished are becoming more or less 
depleted, fishermen are turning their attention tnore 
and more to Hudson Bay as a reserve. It is only within 
the last few years that the bay has been much fre- 
quented by Newfoundland fishermen, but American 
whalers have visited it for a very long time past. 
Porpoises are found in great numbers in the bay, 
which is also the mating place of the hair seals, which 
are killed in such thousands every spring off the New- 
foundland coasts. During their presence in the bay, 
large quantities of them are secured by the Eskimos 
and Indians of the far North. 
An Old Fish and Game Protective Association. 
The Province of Quebec Fish and Game Protective 
Association, of which Mr. Wanklyn, of Montreal, is 
the president, claims to be the oldest organization of 
the kind upon the Continent. It Avas organized on Feb. 
23, 1859. One other kindred organization dates back 
to 1844, but this is a game protective association only; 
namely the New York Association for the Protection 
of Game, of which Mr. Robert B. Roosevelt is the 
president. The oldest organization for the protection 
of both fish and game, in the United States, Avhich ap- 
pears in the list of such societies in the year book of 
the Department of Agriculture, is the New York State 
Fish, Game and Forest League, organized in 1865, and 
of which Mr. Robert B. Lawrence, of New York City, 
is the president. E. T. D. Chambers. 
Constimption of Fish in Getmany. 
Simon W\ LIanauer, Deputy Consul-General, Frank- 
fort, Germany, reports: The inhibitory measures in Ger- 
many against the importation of foreign cattle and meat 
pioducts have greatly advanced the price of meat in the 
country, causing a considerable reduction in the con- 
sumption thereof, as the middle and Avorking classes ean- 
not afford to pay the high prices demanded. In con.se- 
quence of this, 'the consumption of fresh, dried, and 
salted fish has largely increased. A Hamburg fishing 
company has sent one of its cold-storage steamers to 
eastern Siberia to take in a cargo of salmon. Another 
Hamburg company has opened a depot and packing 
houses at Matarieh-Menzaleh, Egypt, for the curing and 
shipping of eels caught in the Nile and affluents, Avhich 
are brought to Hamburg by way of Trieste. In German 
cities and tOAvms the increased consumption of fish is 
making itself perceptible by the ncAV additions of shops 
dealing in fish. Formerly, fishmongers were fcAV in num- 
ber, their custom only being among the rich and the first- 
class hotels. ^ 
One of the famous white oaks of New Jersey stands 
in the Presbyterian churchyard at Basking Ridge. It 
measures fourteen feet four inches in circumference at 
five feet high, Avhile the branches shade a circle 115 feet 
in diameter. 
All communications for Forest and Stream rnust 
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York, to receive attention^ We have no other o^c^, 
