816 FOREST AND STREAM. lAmt i6, 1904. 
EA AND MvrK nsruN' 
Fish and Fishing. 
Mask?nong6 or Mascalonge. 
' Because of his high standing in the ranks of writers 
upon angling subjects, Dr. Henshall's offer, in Forest 
AND Stream of March 26, to join hands in the endeavor 
to secure uniformity of common names for our game 
fishes, is extremely gratifying. Given a proper under- 
standing of the object to be attained,, among a goodly 
number of those of light and leading in the community 
who are determinedly united in their efforts, I believe 
that the difficulties in their way are far less insuperable 
than the doctor fears. In order to arrive at such an 
understanding, however, it is necessary to deal rather 
with facts than with opinions, and in the case of the lat- 
ter to agree to press or to accept them as the case may 
be, merely for what they are and for what they are worth.. 
Unfortunately, I find a great gulf fixed, at the very out- 
set, between Dr. Henshall and myself, as to the value of 
opinions. As defined by Webster, I believe opinion to be 
a belief stronger than impression, though less strong than 
positive knowledge. I regard it as a reasonable suppo- 
sition. Dr. Henshall, on the other hand, says: "My 
opinion, as quoted by Mr. Chambers, is not 'a supposi- 
tion,' but is, I think, a fact." On my side I can neither 
conscientiously claim that my own opinions are facts, 
nor yet concede as much for the mere opinions of others. 
It may be' taken for granted that uniformity in the 
vernacular names of fishes is easier of attainment when 
the name proposed is that most in vogue, but it is_ not 
essential to success, as Dr. Henshall seems to think it to 
be, that such a name should always be adopted; and 
instead of being satisfied with feeling that it is very 
fortunate when the selected name is both proper and dis- 
tinctive, I believe that we should never attempt to secure 
uniformity for any that does not comply with both of 
these conditions, no matter whether it be that most in 
vogue or otherwise. 
A striking illustration of the success which may attend 
united effort in this direction is afforded in the case of 
the name of o'uananiche. Though various forms _ of 
orthography commencing with a "w," such as winninish, 
wiiionishe, winanishe and wananishe almost invariably 
appeared in the American literature of the fish up to 
nine or ten years ago, the name is now seldorh seen in 
print anywhere except as ouananiche. The change dates 
from the time that the priority and appropriateness of 
the last mentioned spelling Of the word— as _ ascertained 
by thorough investigation in the place of its origin — 
w'ere presented, together with the evidence supporting 
the claim, to the discriminating constituency served by 
Forest and Stream, and to such influential publicists as 
Dr. John Duncan Quackenbos of Columbia University, 
President David Starr Jordan of Leland Stanford, Jr., 
University and the late M. A. N. Cheney. 
In the case of the fish to which Dr. Henshall refers in 
his recent communication, it would doubtless be quite 
possible to attain the same result, even were the more 
appropriate name — maskinonge — for which 1 have urged 
uniformity, not that which is the most in vogue among 
those who angle for it, though I really believe that it is 
so. Dr. Henshall thinks otherwise, and therefore I claim 
that the matter narrows itself down to a question of fact, 
rather than a mere matter of opinion. 
The doctor has given us the names of half a doT'en 
angling authors who use, or favor, he says, the name 
mascalonge, though everybody acquainted with their 
writings' knows that some at least of the number have 
employed other forms of the name. It is perfectly easy, 
too, to produce a greater number of authorities for the 
use of either maskinonge or muskellunge than he has 
given us for his favorite form of the fish's name._ 
Mr. Cheney, one of the doctor's six authorities for 
mascallonge, uses also muskallonge at page 336 of the 
first volume, new series, of the reports of the New York 
Slate Fish, Forest and Game Commission. 
Another, Mr. Charles Hallock, gives both maskinonge 
and muskellunge, as well as mascalonge. 
A third, Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, testifies to the priority 
of maskinonge. 
Mr. Fred Mather, as quoted by Dr. Henshall himself, 
"has investigated the origin and etymology of the word 
to a greater extent than anyone else, and he favors the 
Chippewa derivation of the name maskinonge as opposed 
to the French derivation of Masque allonge and its vari- 
ations. 
Three, then, of Dr. Henshall's six authorities, admit the 
propriety of the orthography maskinonge; Mr. Fred 
Slather, as shown by the doctor himself, Mr. Hallock by 
employing this form, alone, of the name, in his Fishing 
Tourist (page 197), and Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, who, like 
!Mr. Mather and so many others, admits the Indian 
source of its derivation. Like Mitchell, Kirtland, and 
Jordan and Evermann, Dr. Bean adheres to the scientific 
nomenclature, Lucius masquinongy, in his newly issued 
paper on "The Food and Game Fishes of New York" 
(1903), while Dr. Henshall does not. The latter tells 
us that in one of his recent books he has retained the 
specific name, nohilior, _ as, in his opinion, "the later 
r.ame, masqvimng^} i§ irrelevant and was bestowed on 
insufficient evidence." The facts of the case do not bear 
out this opinion, however, for masquinongy is neither a 
later name than nohilior, nor yet was it bestowed on in- 
sufficient evidence. Nobilior, according to Dr. Henshall, 
was conferred by Rev. Zadoch Thompson in 1849. The 
doctor apparently shares the doubts expressed by others, 
that Mitchill had conferred masquinongy in 1824, though 
DeKay, the author of "The Fishes of New York," is 
authority for the statement that he did. In any case, 
however, it is fortunately unnecessary to go back to 
Mitchill in order to show priority of masquinongy over 
iicbilior, for Kirtland employed the former name at page ^ 
194 of his "Fishes of Ohio" in 1838, eleven years before 
the nohilior of the Rev. Zadoch Thompson made its ap- 
pearance. In the "Encyclopaedia of Sport" (London and 
New Yorkj 1896) Dr. Bean points out that "the priority 
of the Indian word, maskinonge is well supported." 
Jordan and Evermann's new and magnificent catalogue 
of "The Fishes of North America," in four sumptuous 
volumes, certainly constitutes the court of final appeal 
in matters concerning the scientific nomenclature of 
North American fishes, and when backed up by such other 
authorities as Dr. Tarleton Bean, already quoted, and by 
Dr. Hugh M. Smith in the Manual of Fish Culture, 
issued by the U. S. Fish Commission, in adhering to the 
name, Lucius masquinongy, it is safe to assert that 
masquinongy it is and masquinongy it will be for gen- 
erations to come. Mr. George McAleer, in Dr. Johnson's 
elaborate new work on North American fishes and fish- 
ing waters, follows the now almost universal manner of 
writing the scientific name of the fish, giving both mas- 
kinonge and mascalonge as the vernacular. It certainlv 
seems absurd, however, when so excellent an opportunity 
is afforded of using the scientific name of a fish as the 
vernacular, to insist upon a variation. If masquinongy 
is to remain the scientific title, as it seems pretty certain 
that it will, why should not the popularization of the 
vernacular, maskinonge, be encouraged, rather than the 
hybrid orthography, mascalonge? This is how the mat- 
ter presented itself to the distinguished American and 
Canadian sportsmen, fish and game commissioners and 
others composing the North American Fish and Game 
Protective Association, when they unanimously adopted 
the resolution so adversely criticised by Dr. Henshall. 
Perhaps one of the greatest authorities of the age upon 
the proper classification and nomenclature, of fishes is 
Dr. Gunther, a fellow of the Royal Society and for rnany 
years keeper of the zoological department of the British 
Museum. In his voluminous "Introduction to the Study 
of Fishes" he avoids the word mascalonge altogether and 
describes the fish as "muskellunge or maskinonge." • 
Jet clan and Evermann equally avoid mascalonge in 
iheir latest work on "American Food and Game Fishes," 
(Doubleday, Page & Co., 1902,) adhering to the scientific 
form masquinongy, but so far contradicting Dr. Hen- 
shall's statement that "common consent and custom have 
decreed among the rfiajority of anglers that it is mas- 
calonge," as to declare that muskallunge is the spelling 
which now seems to be most usually followed. And from 
the long list of variant spellings which is given, the form 
mascalonge. as already intimated, is carefully excluded, 
though both WMsquinongy and maskinongy are given. 
That most magnificent specimen of the x'\merican sports- 
man, and angling author, Mr. Genio C. Scott, admirably 
summed up, many years ago, some of the reasons which 
compelled his use and advocacy of the orthography, mas- 
kinonge. In his "Fishing in American Waters," he says : 
"The Ojibwa name of this fish is maskanonja, meaning 
long snout. When Canada was a French colony the 
hahitants named it masque-longue, signifying long visage. 
I submit that the Ojibwa was entitled by priority to the 
right of naming the fish ; but, as the Dominion of Canada 
has named it again, and in all legal enactments there in 
reference to it the name of the fish is written maskinonge, 
I willingly accept the modification instead of either the 
Irdian or the French name. Thus much in explanation 
of naming a fish which has puzzled most ichthyologists 
and anglers, so that they have been uncertain and dubious 
on the point. The name is maskinonge." And to em- 
phasize his concluding statement, Mr. Scott printed the 
name in small capitals. 
It is unnecessary to weary the reader with other quo- 
tations from American or English authors who both use 
and favor the name maskinonge. 
Among Canadian authorities, Prof. Prince, of Ottawa, 
trikes deservedly high rank. In a very scholarly paper 
on "Vernacular Names of Fishes," published by the 
Dominion Minister of Marine and Fisheries in 1901, Prof. 
Prince, of Ottawa, says : "As a rule these early names" 
—Indian or Indo-Frcnch names, which the early settlers 
continued to apply to animals, because they were already 
in use — "always more or less accurately describe features 
in the forms on which they were bestowed. Thus the 
name maskinonge, commonly, but very erroneously, spelt 
rnuskcUunge or mascalonge in the United States, is really 
an Indian name, the Chippewa name for pike being 
kenosha and the prefix mis or mas means large or great, 
so that maskenosha or maskinoge (corrupted into 
maskinonge) is really a large, deformed pike." 
I might continue to quote from other distiiiguished 
writers of fish and fishing, notably frorft Mr. Whitcher, 
from Mr. Wilmot, Irom Stlr. L. Z. Joncas, from Prof. 
Ramsay Wright, of the University of Toronto ;_ from A.- 
N. Montpetit,, author of the exhaustive book entitled "Les- 
Poissons d'eau douce du Canada; from Castell Hopkins,, 
in his "Cyclopedia of Canada; from Sir James M.- 
LeMoine, D. C. L., F. R. S. C., in "Les Pecheries du^ 
Canada," and from many more, did time and space permit; - 
though I am satisfied that enough has been said to show 
that the employment of the form mascalonge is far from 
being as geisei^al as Dr. Henshall supposes, and that if 
uniformity of nomenclature is to be striven for in the 
case of the fish in question, with any prospect of success, 
it must, be upon the basis of the name by which it has 
been officially known for considerably over half a cen- 
tury in the country in which it was first found and de- 
scribed by white men — which has received the general 
indorsement of writers upon fish and fishing — and which 
by Mr. Genio C. Scott, in 1849, and by the North Amer- 
ican Fish and Game Protective Association in 1904, has 
been alike declared to be maskinonge. 
E. T. D. Chambers. 
A-Fishing Would You Go? 
From the Log of Camp Nessmuk. 
He would know of the ways and joys of a "Ness- 
muker," or life under the greenwood trees, of the 
strikes and trophies of rod and reel; of the beauties 
of mountains, the melody of murmuring brooks and 
the play and splash of mimic Niagaras; of the epi- 
cureau delights of a boutiful camp larder; of the mys- 
teries of the sparks ascending through the leafy 
branches far into the darkling night; of the joys un- 
confined that linger and loiter in and around a canvas 
home, under grand old maples, surrounded by balmsly 
hemlock covered mountains, deep down in the "kettle" 
with the waters of some "Big Sock," "Dry Rim," 
"Kettle Creek," or "Ogdonia," clear and cold, mingling 
and murmuring at your feet — each the haunt of the 
shy but garney trout — the hawk of the brook — wait- 
ing the call of your reel and the diopping of your 
flies, to be yours, perhaps, after an unequal though) 
gamey fight; or of the dewey freshness of sleep uporii 
a hard but wholesome bed, stripped from the feathery 
hemlock, all bound and cemented by the ties of con- 
genial companionship among true friends, each anxious; 
to serve your comfort and pleasure; of these and the; 
thousand and one things that go to make life pleasant 
under the greenwood trees, and knowing, would en- 
joy? Come with us. Sit round our Nessmuk fire andl 
watch the glimmering sparks as they go to join the 
twinkling points of light far up in the calm, enfolding: 
vault of heaven. Behold the crescent moon as she 
breaks over the brow of yonder mountain, casting: 
shimmering lines of molten silver over the dimpling; 
. waters of the 'Sock and plays hide-and-seek amid the 
leafy blackness of our maple trees. Go forth in the 
early morn with rod and creel up the rocky bed of 
Dry Run to try, in its mid-day gloom, the cast for 
beauties speckled o'er with red and black and -silver;: 
at the sinking of the sun behind that high and wooded! 
peak, take your place at the rude table, prepared with 
appetite known only to the fisherman after a hard day's 
tramp, to partake of the evening meal — trout, done tO' 
a turn, coffee, Mocha and Java — the blended essence 
of the desert and the Isles of the Orient, fit drink for 
Olympus. And the work of camp — help to build the 
fire of drift and logs, in the manner pointed out by 
our patron saint, Nessmuk, but no saint was he if his; 
runi rhymes read true, though deep learned in wood- 
craft, and camp lore; join the friendly group circled 
round the brightening fire where tales and song and; 
laughter bid Time fly on golden \yings unnoted. After 
the making of- the bed, take your allotted place in the 
row of recumbent forms beneath the fleecy blankets,, 
where each face is lit by the fitful light from the blaz- 
ing, crackling fire as it laurns and hisses in front of the 
open canvas door, and one by one, to the music of the 
katydids, the call of the whippoorwill, the sighing of 
the' winds, the murmur of the leaves and the rhythmic 
plashings of the waters, fall' to sleep — the sleep that 
the call for breakfast — 5 A. M. — will leave you fresh 
and vigorous for another day; another day in camp; 
another day in the balmy oiountains; another day to- 
seek the trout in his favorite haunts; another day in 
which to drink the life-giving ozone and the joys of 
hie in the greenwood. 
The simple annals of camp life, with its work and 
its play, its sun and its shadow, its going and its com- 
ing, its days and its nights, its incidents and its charms, 
we might attempt to portray. Not as they are, for 
who can paint the beauties of nature, the charm of 
moonlight upon mountain and stream, of the glory of 
the orb of day sinking beyond peak, while its last 
lingering rays illume the tops of yonder mountain 
range; or who could reproduce the music of the waters 
and the winds; and what of the night, with its sound- 
mg Stillness broken ever and anon by the soulful cry 
of the whippoorwill and the mournful hoot of the 
night-haunting owl? Of the thrill of a strike when the 
hungry trout leaps for the reductive fly, and the ej^- 
