466 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
The Togue or Lunge of our northeastern boundary is held in much 
higher favor by the angler. Hallock states that the young fish rise freely 
to trout-flies in rapid water, while the adults are extremely voracious, par¬ 
ticularly in May and June, when they can be taken near the surface. 
Prof. Arthur L. Adams, in “ Field and Forest Rambles,” gives a vivid 
picture of the habits of this peculiar type : “It repairs to shallows to feed 
on Trouts, smelts, and the like; indeed, the last named fish would appear 
to constitute its favorite winter subsistence. It preys extensively, also, on 
eels and cyprinoids, and is in fact a tyrant with an appetite so voracious 
that quantities of twigs, leaves, and fragments of wood are constantly 
found in its stomach. The great monster will sometimes rise to spinning 
tackle, but in so sluggish and undemonstrative a manner that the troller 
may fancy he has caught a water-logged pine or stone. In this way I had 
my line checked in Schoodic Lake, when, striking gently, I found I had 
missed a large Togue, whose trenchant teeth had made a series of deep 
furrows in the chub with which the hook was baited. It is naturally slug¬ 
gish 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 
bowlders, 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 admeasure¬ 
ment being no less than four feet five inches.” 
The Siscowet, or “ Siskawitz,” is a form of Lake Trout which, accord¬ 
ing to many authorities, is a distinct species, and which has been observed 
only in Lake Superior. Having never seen the fish in a fresh condition, 
I cannot express an opinion as to its distinctness from the Lake Trout, 
but good ichthyologists assure me that its peculiarities are very slight, con¬ 
sisting chiefly in its wider head, its thicker skin, and its stouter body. 
Since, however, it is always distinguished from the Lake Trout by the 
Indians and fishermen of Lake Superior, who often see them side by side, 
it seems possible that it may claim a sub-specific rank. It was first described 
in 1850, in Agassiz’s “Lake Superior,” under the name Salmo siscowet. 
Herbert, in his “Fish and Fishing,” p. 17, gives the following descrip¬ 
tion of its peculiarities : 
“ This fish, like the former species, came frequently under my eye during 
my late northern tour ; and I rejoice in the possession of a barrel of him 
