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'IS uospuoujp3 g
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M o I X r A I, 1. I s () N

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M i: M () H I A 1. 1. I B n A W Y

Tin.
\v IX I'll nop i'ic:kahi) bi.i.l

COI.LKCTIOX
OF

acadiaxa

S M

149762

Skci'ion II., 18fl(i.

[131]

Tkans. II. S. c.

YII. — y/n' P/n'/nli>(/i/ lit' f lie <)iniiiiin'i/ic, .1 pliui fur the /I'l'i'iii/iiifi'in
<)(' Pri'irilji of X'nniiifhifiii'i',

\\\ Iv T. I). ( 'llAMUKIiS.
Aiillior of the " Oniiiiiiuii'lie ami it> C'iiriiKliuii Kiniioimiciit."

(('i)iimiiiiiic;itt'(l l>.v Dr. (ieo. .Sti'warl, K-H-Ci..*^., and rend Mav lil, ISil.").)

Tlir in! I'diluctioii. in ivciMit years, of lai'i^'c iiiiinlK'rs (if Miin'lisli-si>f;ik-
inu' uiiu'lcrs to tin' iVi'sh-wati'i' salmon ot LaUf St. .lolm ami otluT Jja ra-
(lor uati'fs tias produced vai'iations most eoiifusiiit;- in its iioiueiKdattire.
'I'lie followiui;' are some ol tlu' many forms of N|p(dliiiL;' tiie name of the
i;M'eat i;'ame tisli of noi't lieastefn < 'anada tlial iiave |ier|)le\ed tlie readers
of modern anylinn' and other literature : Sananielie. ouananiidie. oiiin-
nani(die. oiiiuanicdie. ouananish. winiuniscdi. w innonisii. winanislie. wiinn-
isji. wininnisli. winninisli. wiiinonieiie. winnonitdie. wananish. waiiiinishc.
wannanisli. w annainslie. wenanisii. awenanisli. oiiininnisli. ouiniiiiidu'.
oiianielie. winanis. wannoniidie. owaninaidi. oiienanesli and oiiinenish.
• Memory recalls some other remarkahle attempts to reduce to writinii' the
French and Indian |ironnnciation of t his tishs name. Imt 1 coiitini' my-
si'lf in this paper to the mention of the forms for the list' of whiidi at
present writinu' ' •"Hi furnish aiil horities.

Oninaniidic was I'liiployeil in Mar(di. iS!l-|. in a i\'\ie\v ot a new honk
in the columns of L' J-Jn'ii'tm iit newspaper of (^iidiec and the I'ev.
I>iincan Anderson uses it in "A I'ominion Day Idyll.' It also appears
in the literatiii'e of the .\. Y.. N. II. and Hudson liiver l{l>.. and is iis^mI
incidi'iitiilly. as a syni>nym. hy .Mr. .1. (i. Aylwin ( 'ri'iuhtoii. It is one
of the many forms of tiie name indiscriminately employed hy .Mr. .1. M.
jjcmoine. I'M\.S.('.. who at pai^H' 2(i;{ of his (^/idssri'f in'r/n' dn Citmiila.
uses also the plural form ■• ouinaniclics. ' .\t paii'c 1\1 of the same work
Mr. I^'iuoiiie writi's it • ouiniiani(die. " for wliicdi spidliui;'. however. \
have found nootlu'r aul hority. and in tlu' ap|ieiidix he Lfives us •• win-
noniche," em])loyini4' still anot her torin in a later work, as will he seen as
wi' proei'i'd. M i'. ,1 . Ivlmon 1 IJoy. I'M'.S.t'.. in his I'm/d'/r tin piii/s. ilf
TiidDUiisdr. usi's ■■ouananish." ■ Winninisidi is employed hy ('. ^[.
i'almei' of Minneapolis at jta^'e 71 i>t Fiir<>rHr Flies hy .Mary Ovvis
Marhury : •■ winnonisji ' is the spelling found on a hoard nailed to a tree
on the shore of Lake Tschotai^'ama. over fifty miles up the (ii'and
Perihouca Hiver. and containiiii; the rt'cord ot ii tishiim' e.xperienci' there
in July. 1S!II. liy Messrs. K. ,1. .Myers and A. \V. K(eliler of Xow York;
ihoun'h in justice ti> Mr. Myers, it must he said that he invai-iahly uses
■• ouiUianiidie ' in ids iuterestiuii- eont riimtions to the literature (d the tish

132

KOYAL frUClETY Ol-' CANADA

ami of tlu' ^s|l()^t that it atVords. • Winaiii>lii' '" is iln' urtli<)i;Ta|iliy I'ln-
))ii)\H'(l bv one <)1' the earliest students ami closest ohsiM'vers ot' tlu^ tisli —
Mr. .1. <i. A. ( 'i'eiu;litoii — t liroiiu'lioiit liis ai'liele in ^frilnifr'^ Miiijiiziin'
for May. ISS'.l. while •• wananishe ' is that whieh the same author adopts,
not only in the title of his nionou;ra|)ii in Shield's Aiiicrirdii d'ciinc /V^Ao.
but generally t hroiigliout thai ean-fnlly prepared jtaper. In OntiiKj for
Auii'Ust. 1S!M). .Mr. (ii'o. Ii. Alosle writes • wininish.' and the s|)ellini;'
•■ winmtuitdie" is 'hat ado])ted in Loveli's (1 iizcffcr nf liritish Norfh.
Ainvr'nut. 3lr. , ■ .'s .MaeUenzie of the old Northwest Company visited
"The Kiuii's Posts" of the Sai;'uenay and the Laltrador coast in ISOS.
ami in the joui'nal of his canoe jaunt whi(di has ln'en printed by the linn.
L. H. .Masson. he spt-aUs of a tish resemblinii' salmon, a foot and a half
lonn'. found in Lake St. John, and called l>y tn* I idians •■ winanis.'" .Mr.
0. JI. Farnham. in tlu' course of his adnnrable story of the Canadian
voi/(i(/ciirs in Iliir/icr's Mdijiizint' for ^[arch. 1S8S. employs the name
•• wainioniche. ' The Manjuis of Lome has invented ■• onaniidie." — if his
printer does him no injustice. This spt'llinn' iippears at pai;H' SS ot
(.'((iHii/iiin FIrfiiris. )iublished by the Relii^'ious Tract Society. Both Mr.
W. II. II. .Murray and Mr. .1. M. riemoim — the fornu-r in his desei'lptim
of the Jjake St. John region ((Quebec edition. ISSS) ami the latter in his
JL'stnricit/ iinil Sjiiirfiiiij JS^ntct; on ^,>(/(7y(r (edition of !SS!») — employ the
form •• wananish." So does .Mr. .\rtiiur Uuies in his work on the
SanMienay. The Mn^-lish in-oinuuMation <d this orth(\i>'raphy resoiiible.s
somewhat closely that id' the Imlian nanu' of the tish but not so lu-arly
us does the spelliui;' already u;iven i'rom Mw Crein'hton's article in Jmrri-
C((ii (t'liine Fishes. A still closer approaidi to the pro|ier sound is found
in the Kn<^lish [ironnnciation of • w annanishe ' \vhi(di ap[iears upon the
])ermits to tish in his private watei's in hi (jriimle i/('c/i(ir(/c liy ^Fi'. W. A.
Grirtiths. one of the earliest Kn^'lish-speakin;.;- fre(|uenti'rs of these watei's.
Kit Clarke ha.s adopted the name • wininnisb.'" which is to be found both
in T/w, I^rdi'ticdl A>n//cr and in 'W/icrc f/ic Trout Hidi'. as wt'll as in the
many cliarmin<i- contrilnitions of their author to the columns of con-
tein])orarv periodical literature. •• AVannanish '" apjieared alx 'i' the
signatuiv of yVv. S. Webber in Forest awl Streom on .Marcdi ITIh. IS'.t-l.
"Wenanishe" is found in a reimrt of a Ji'overnmunt ex))loratory survey
of the Sai^'uenay. prepari'd by Mr. Xixon of the (Kit h Reii'iuient. about
tlie year 182!t. and 15ou(dietti'. in his Topixiraphlccfl DictioiKiry of Canada
calls tlu' tish •• awenanish." declaring; tiiat •• the awenanish is said to be
the most delicious fresji water tish in the world." I'on'crs. in his Stada-
riitni Drpie.tif. follows the spidling of Houchette. In his Sportsmatis
(^r^/^efto'/' Mr. Chai'les Ifalb ck yives us "ouiniunish." and in the Canadian
Sportsman, of July 11th. lS!tO. I find ••ouinini(die." while exactly a week
later the .same ] taper s]»ells it "owaninacdi.' (Quebec ilealers in the tish
have employed t lie names Mjuenaueshe " and -ouinenish." One of the

6 85"

Ukrtiy

[CUAMBHRS]

THE PHILOLOGY OF THE OUANANICHE

133

)

many lorinsof tlu- word tliat can -laini to liavi' Ih'imi usimI l»y autlidfitii's
of vi'spcctahility is • wiiniiiiisli." wliicli a|)]H'ars at ])au;t' 44.") of Di-.
fr()()(K''s Aiiicricdii Fishes and in the scii-ntitic ])a]»or upon llic Fislics
of Oiitario l>v l)i'. Ifanisay Wi"iii;lit. F.R.S.C. prot'ussor in the I'ni-
vcrsity of Toronto, pnldislu'il in 1S!»2. with tiic report of tlic Ontario
Fish and (ramo Conmiission. ()t nioro importance still to oi-thon'rajjl'-
ers is the tact that " winninish " is the spellini!; ado)>ted in [Vcl»<tcr's
J)icti')iiiirij. whi'W tlu- name of thetish Hrsi tly-nred in thee(lilion of LS!t2,
and also in the ('nifurf/. ()i\e. at least, of the proprii'tors of the tii-sl-
inentioni'd of these two eminent philoloijieal anthorities — Mr. A. (J.
Merriam of S)»ringtield — is an aeeomplished angler who has cultivated
the ae(|uaintance of the ouananiche in la ijriiiuh' ilvrluinjc n\' hake St.
John. WVhstei" i!,-ives the derinition of •■ winninish " as follows; "The
hmd-locked variety ol tlu' common salmon (Canada)." It may ap|»ear
presnmptuons to critic isi' the professional work of so justly i-ecognized
sin authority upon his tavourite bramdi of science as Professor A<ldison K.
Vei-rill of Yale I'liiversity. who conducted the revision of the /.oiilogical
terms in the lS!>l! edition of Wfhster : hut I have no hesitation in deidar-
ingthat neither the orthoiiraphy "winninish" nor his detinition of the
name is the best ohtainahlc. Xor yet is either of the other forms for
whose ust' I have thus tai' cited autiiorities. The tish to wliich tliese
various names have heen a]»plied is not a "laud-locked salnnm '" at all.

A hriet considei'ation of the onanani(die itself and of its hahits is
necessary to a correct a|)i>reciation of the detinition of its name in
Welistfr's, and this, it is hoi)ed. will not he considered foreign to the
subject matter of the ]ireseut papei". First tiien. a few words as to the
identity o\' tlu' tish whose philoloii'v i^ under consideration. Professor
Samuel (iarman of the Museum of Comparative Zoiilogy. Cambridge.
Ma.ss.. to whom 1 sent speeinu'us for examination in Sei)tember. LSDH.
wrote in reply : " 1 see nothing by which to distinguish the tish of Lake
St. John tVom Suhii'i siihtr as represented by specimens from New
Brunswick and Maim', or other New Kngland States. It may prevent
misunderstan<lingif it is e.\'i)lained tliat I takethe fresh water individuals,
inchuliug of course thosi' truly land-locked as commonly (h'signate<l. to
be the better representatives of tlu' species S. salar." lie further states,
that the fact that some individuals leave fresh water, where propagation
occurs, for a time, being somewhat moditied by so doing, neither gives
rise to a ditjerent species nor even n (liffcrcnt vuricti/. The italics'' tii'e
mine and sliow the result of Professor (farman's e.\amiiuiti(m ot the tish
to be in coutlict with Professor Verrill's <letiuitionof its name. Xot only
is the ouananiche not a distinct variety from the salmon that goes out to
sea but it is not laud-locked either. In all wati'rs ti'il)Utarv to Lake St.
John it has free access to the sea. Of this ojiportunity it is probable
that it sel(h)m avails itself, but individuals have been caught at the

•♦•«• I"

♦,./

184

ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

nioiitli <>rili(' Mjirym'riti' ill tlic lower Sau'iiciiiiy and also lu'iir 'radoiissac
'I'liniisaiids too. may annually ho sron in the vicinity ol'Cliicdutimi Ix'low
all tlui rapids and Tails of 1 lie river, but from tlu'lact that many are
IouikI all wintoi- in Jjako St. John and that the usual colour of the flesh is
Hot so red as that of the salmon that is Unown to visit the sea, due to the
ditterenee in the tood su))|ilies, it may safely he assumed that few if any
of them ren'ularly mis^rute to salt wati-r. This is no move evidence how-
over, that they are land-locUed, than w«'re similar hahits on the part of
the salmon formei-ly so ])leiitiful in LaUe Ontario, or that the tilewives
introduced into the same lake in 1ST3, accoi'diny- to l)r. Heaii. are equally
land-locked Itecause of the jtrevailini^ im|»ressi(m amongst the tishermen
that they are now jiermanent inhabitants of the lake. If they are so. it
is from choice i-ather than necessity, there bcinu; no more obstriicti<m to
their descent to the sea than there is to t hat (d' the ouanani(die from Lake
St. .lohii. The mistake of calliiiii' tlu' latter a " land-lo(d<cd " salmon is a
common one and nearly as old as the literature of the subject. And the
supposition that if they do descend the Sa,ii"uenay, the ouanauiche are
unable to overcome the natural obstacles to their ascent of the discdiarge
of Lake St. .lohn is also erroneous, though recorded as a fact by Mr.
McCarth)^ in 'The Leaping Ouananitdie. " The fact is that the fish over-
comes greater obstacles in its ascent to its spawnii'g grounds in some of
the wild tributary waters of Lake St. John than any encountered by it
in la (jraiule (/echan/e, and in the fall of the year maybe seen in large
numbers successfully leaping up the fifth fall of the Mistassini, the
Salmon river c/iKtc of the Ashuapmoiu houan and ]iarts of the i-lnite an
tlidble and other cataracts of the Peribonca, often after the failure of
many previous ettorts. TI'cA.s^v'.s is therefore untrue to biological science
in defining the tish whose name it spells '■ winninisli ' to be "the land-
locked variety of the common salmon (Canada)." And the erroneous
statement occurring in the detinitiun of the word stamj)s the blunder a
philologicalas well as a biological one. " The fresh water salmon of
Canada ' would have been a more correct derinition of the name, though
not likely to be nearly com])rehensive enough for the wider range to be
covered in the near future by the original form of the word " ouanauiche."
Of Canadian origin, there is jiromise of its general adoption, ere long, as
the name of the fresh water salmon of the I'nited States as well as for
that of the Canadian tish. The two tish, though ditlering slightly in
their habits, owing to the dirt'erence in the temperature of the water of
their respective habitats are known to be identical in family classitication ;
and American writers on icthyological subjects are coming to see that
there is no necessity for a ditfei-ent name in the United States for the
ouanauiche when it occurs in American watei's, and the more so that the
name "land-locked salmon" by which it has hitherto been known is as
inappropriate and misleailing, considering the condition of its habitat, as

[CHAMDBRS]

THE PIIILOLOGY OF THE OUANANICHE

18B

when iippliiMl to Iho .Ciiiiiidiiin tish. Ono ol" the loa<lin<jj Am«'rican
iiuthoritics on tho snhjcct, Mr. A. N. ( 'lijMicy of (rlcn Falls, N.Y.. State
Fiish Cnlturist of New York, expresses his intention of hereafter writing
of the tVesii-waler salmon as the ouaiuvnieho. no matter in wiiat water it
may l»e foiiml. .Vnd it will be ol)sei've<l that he does not etnpltiy the
form of the word t^iven in Wcbffter'K.

To Dr. Klliott Coues — a most eminent autliority — was entrusted the
supervision of the zoiilotjieal terms in the Ccntiir//. iu\{\ Ik^ was assisted
in ichtin'olog-y liy the very capable Professor Theodore N". (rill. Yet in
their U8e of the word • winninish "' there would seem to be no justirication
for eitlier the orthography or their detinition of it. They term the ■ win-
ninish " — •• the Sehoodie trout." and upon turning up the word •■ trout "
with its various fiualifying terms, the Sehoodie trout is (k>clare(l. l»y the
same authorities, to be identical with -the great lake trout." Now the
great lake trout (litters widely from the ouananiehe, and is not a .salmon
of any kind, either landlocked or otherwise. It is /<(drelinns rKtnuijicnnh
or (tiih tlujsfiis. — the Mackinaw trout of the gi'eat lakes. — the '/iirue
fniirrltef of French Canada, — the togue and salmon trout of certain parts
of the Xorthern States. — the l.o/coniesh oi' tha Montagnais Indians and the
toiilaili of the country of the Micmacs and Al>enaqui.s.

Thi're are many reasons for ])referring • ouananiehe" to all the other
forms of the tish's name. It is true that its orthography is F'^rench, but
French was the original spelling of the written word. The name of the
tish is Indian, but the various sounds of the spoken language of the
Montagnais and Xascapee tribes were unrepresented in writing until the
arrival of the French missionaries in ('anada. These latter employed
written characters for the use of their Indian converts and also reduced
the spoken language of the Indians to writing, using for the purpose
their own Frenidi alphabet and system of orthography. They trans-
ferred to paper their i>tymology of the sound of this tish's name, and their
pictorial re[>resentation of the spoken Indian word remains to this day a
pertect ]»hilological reflex of the musical vibrations produced by its ))ro-
nunciation. Kngiish observers would probably have depicted the sound
on paper by writing • whananishe " or ■ wannahnishe." The French-
having no •• w ' emi>lov • ou " to represent the sound, as in mii. For the
sake of brevity an<l simplicity, the early French missionaries in Canada
used the numeral •• S " to represent not only huff or <'i(//it. but also the
Indian sound ordinarily represented by the French oid or <ni. no matter
in what part of a word it occurred. Hence the origin of '■ Suuaniche." —
the first of the many forms of the word given in the commencement of
the present paper. Xo English spelling represents the sound of the
Indian name as well as does the orginal French form " ouananiehe '' or
••Hananiche.' It stands, too, the test of ]>riority. being found printed in
the olck'st existing book of thi; Montagnais mission, which, according to-

136

ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

Eev. Father Laca.sse. (J. M. I., is IVoin tl)i' ikm\ of tlio Rov. Kalhcr Massd.
the eminent Jesuit missionary, who accompanit'd (.'haniphiin on hisniturn
to ('ana(hi in lOli:!. and died in 1(1 Kl. ai'tei- labt>uring earnestly amonijst
the aborigines and transhitinjj; tlic A])0stles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer. iS:c.,
into the Montagnais dialeet.

•• Ouananii he " is the ortiiograidiy em)»loved by the pri'sent French
tmd Indian gni(U's of lialve St. .lolin. It is found in tlie best lit(!rature
produced in the jtrovince of (Quebec where tlie nanu' originated, whether
English or Freneh. as well as in the otticial reports of the Crown Jiands
Dejtartment of the Provincial (Jovernment. in the officially ]»romulgated
game laws of the province, and in the voluminous mass of literature per-
taining to the sporting resorts of this northern country, issued l>y llic
(Quebec and Lake St. .lohn l{ailway Company. Vandal linguists who
have attemi)ted to anglicize the appropriate and original orthography ot
the Indian sound, have only succeiMled in cn-ating confusion, as we have
already si'cn. by evectinga Bai)ci conipo.sed of a score or moi-e of different
sjH'llings of the same word. Uniformity in the matter may nevei- be
h)oki'(l tor upon the basis of any one of tiie many anglicized forms of the
name. In French-Canadian literature, as well as in the Proviiu-ial
Government reports, "ouananitdie" it is and • ouanani( he'' it will ivmain.
The same is true of much of the best literary work done in recent years
by thoise P^nglish-speaking sportsmen who have devoted any consideral)le
attention to llu rish and to the sport which it affords the angler ; as for
instance of the article in the .May. IS'.i:}. BiirkwoixL by Lt.-Col. .Andrew
C. P. Ilagii'ard. I). S. ().. brother of the well-known novelist, of that in
Outirti/ for October. 1S!»3. by Fugenc .McCarthy of Syracuse, and of the
isame author's LcapiiKj Ouanau(r/i<\ of papers in Hliontimj and Fishiin/. in
the Aiiirririiri Fichl anil in /•'nrcst dud Strriiin, by K. . I. Myers of New
York, and of fre(|uent contributions by Dr. (u'orge Stewart. F.R.S.C..
.F.R.CS.. and others to recent jieriodical literature.

The form of si)elling adopted in IIV/as^t'* Di'tionarij iu\d the ('cntury,
'has nothing whatever to recommend it Itevond the fact that in recent
years it has been occasionally used In' writers upon ichthyological
subjects, just as a number of others have been. Xeither the English nor
the French jtronunciation of ■ winninish " conveys anything like tiie
sound of the Indian name, as all will readily testify who have heard tlie
melodious • wha-na'-nish " glide like a note of natures music from the
lips of a Montagnais hunter. Of all the anglicized forms of the word
" vpannanishe " comes nearest in pronunciation to the Indian sound, and
yet I have never met witli it but once. And even were it possible to
secure for its use uniformity, there is certainly no warrant for substituting
it for the original "ominaniche " and nothing to be gained by the change.

The popular translation of the ^fontagnais '• ouananiche " is " little
salmon." It is true that ichi' or ishe is a Montagnais diminutive, but the

[chamherh]

TIfK I'HILOF.OGY OF THK OUANANICHE

137

Montagiiai.s imim' for salnioii — the siilmon of 1 lit- sou — is not oiittnan at all
biit inii'li(iili(iiiiiiiir or uii-slia-fihti nuil:^ aii<l this iianu' is still often applit'd
by tho Indians to particularly dai-k-coloiiri'd and »'Xtra larjjfo s|»o('inu'ns of
tho ouananiclic found in cortain northorn laUos. To tlicir ordinary frt'sli
water salmon they a|i|»liod a apeci tic name, calling it '• ouanans " or the
abbrcviatcfl -unans" — each pronounced '-wannan " or • whonnan."

Originally. • ouanans." oddly enough, signified locality, especially
the place whci-o tisli are Ibuml. according to some aujhoi'itics. According
to others i( is a corruption of mien- a f (pronounced • when-nu'') — a
Montagnais interrogative. Used in tho sense of " What is that ? " it is not
difficult to inuigine how unrn-a .' or nuan-ii ! uttered by .Montagnais
tishermen as they pointed to large fish seen feeding upon the flies on the
Hcum-coverc(| pools, came in time to be employed for the name of that
l)artieular variety which, more than any other in the territory in which
it is found, is fund of dis|)orting itself u|»on the surface of the water. The
JJev, Pere Arnaud. the missiomny to the Montagnais. suggests further to
me that the particular locality known as •' ounans " or ■ umms." to the
Montagnais, is the eddying water in the pools at the foot of rapid
currents. Jn Just such water as this the ouananidie are often seen sailing
around with theii- dor.sal fins protruding above their native element. It
retiuires no stretch of imagination on the ])art of those acquainted witli
the Indians and their manners and the evolutions of their language, to
admit the possibility of either ouanans or idians having bei'u'the original
r. ot of ouananiche. ,

Kither is much more nrobable than the sugiicstion of Mr. Creigliton
at page 82 of Shield's Aiiterican (iame Fishes, that the name of tlie
tish •• is probably derived from the Cree i-oot -wan.' to lose or mistake,
applied either to the tish having lost itself or being taken for a salmon.'

The diminutive form of the word •ouanans" is now almost univers-
ally employed in speaking of the tish, perhaps because the latter offers no
exception to the angler's general experiences that the big tish are few
and far between. Or can it be that there is tin element of truth in tho
Indian reports of the deterioration in .size of their fresh-water salmon,
anil that in former ages these tish were so much larger, that all their
descendants of the present <lay must be classed as little (luanans .' Frenidi-
Canadian tishermen. settlers and guides in the land of the ouaiumiche
call it le saainon (tho salmon) ])erhaps oftener than they employ the
Indian name, and from their j)etit saiiinun (little salmon), and the know-
ledge that the Montagnais attix ichc is a diminutive, may have originated
the fashionable error of jumping to the conclusion that '• ouananiche " is
an Indian equivalent for •' little salmon."' Were it indeed so, the con-
structors of the word would simply have builded better than they knew.

And now that the original fonn. after an existence in French-
Canadian literature of over two and a half centuries, has obtained such

138

ROY A L so( • 1 i<:t Y O ]■• ( ' a N a I ) a

widesprcnd iiccoplarn'o in Kiii;'lisli letters, does it not siivoiif of literary
l»arl)urisin to seelv liir a |iliiiiietic I'lni^lisli s|K>lliiii;, by suhstitiitiii;.; for a
poi'tically const riietcd wont, a iuoiii>i'el orthography, sueh as is found
inclosed lietween |iarentlicses in the pronouneitii^ dictionaries? And the
alisiirdily of the seeUiny is found in the variety of the i;rotes(|ue results
already indicated. As woll, it weins o ine, iniyhl we ()lijcct to the
French form of our Hn^lish word • chainpai^ne." and insist upon writiui;
it •shampain" or '-^ihanipane.'' as to persist in the anu'lici/ation of
oiiananlclir.

Tho laki' trout, — f(»rl<cd tail. — luntfc or fniihtdi is fortunato ii' the
svlnioat univerHal maintenance for the name of its variety, of the original
Fronch ortliojfra|diical illustration of the Indian souud I'cprosontcd hy
the pronunciation of nuinai/rns/i. Hut in the case of another North
America fish, — cso.r nobiUor, — whose jiopular title in its original form,
like thalof tlu^ oiiananicheand namaycush. comes down to us, as correct 1}'
<laiiwed hy Mr. Fred. .Mather, from its Indian nomenclature, an ajiparcnt
dcsii-e to get away from French ortliograjdiy has produced a somewhat
similar coufusion of language to that already dcscrihed in the case of the
ouananiche. The original spelling ol' the Indian name was untlouhtedly
•• maskinongt'." and sueh it is still called in tlie Statutes of Canada.
According to .Mgr. Latlcchc. • iMasUinonge " is derived \'vo\\\ iiiaslih do-
forined, and liiiumijv. a pike, and was a])plied to tiie r&ox nohilior hy the
Indians because it apjteared to them u dcfoi-med or ditt'cicnt kind
of pike from that to which they had been accustomed. Tho river of the
same name that flows into Lake St. Peter, which nanu' was subseciuently
extended to the town since built at its mouth and to the county of which
it is the f/iet' lien, was doubtless so called from the uumlicr 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 orthog-
raphy •• maskinonge," that no less an authority than Dr. .lames A.
Ilenshall, the author of the paper on this fish in Ariurican (lame
FIskc.s, foHowing the nomenclature of Dr. Mit(diil, and of DeKay in
Fishes of JVew Yuri:, suljstilutes for nohilior, as the scientific name of
this particular species. — inasqit.iii<in</ij. — which is about as near as it is
possible foi' FiUglish orthography to go in representing the correct
jtronunciation of 'maskinonge." Yet Dr. lienshall claims that by
common consent and custom the name is • mascalonge " amongst the
majority of anglers and that nuiscalonge it will be for generations to
come ! Nor does this mongrel naiui". whicdi Dr. Ilenshall himself
employs foi- the title of his monograph on l.ie Hsh, represent the 'full
extent of the de|)artui'e from the original luime. lie gives us himself
amongst the various other forms, — nuiscalonge, muskellunge and mus-
kallonge, — tlie second of which is the name employed to designate the
s|)ecies by Dr. C. Brown floocU' in his American Fishe-'i, and which is

[iHAMiiEua] TIIK I'III»X)IA)GY OF Tin: OUANANICHE 130

aliiiosi as Till' I't'inovi'd tVniii tin- nriniiutl iiiiiiii' iis /r//t/(//i/,x7/ is t'nuii
ouananir/if.

Tln' revered autlioi- of The Coiniilt'tr Angler claims oui- admiration
and respect liy t lut |)ui'ity (d liis laiiu;iia!:;i' no less tliaii liy liis intimacy
with fish and tishinu; ; und from the retinint!,' inflnences nf the "fciitlo
art and even fVoin the refinement nf niiture that inspires the love ol'it. F
am pei'suadod that one lias oidy to jioint ont to tiie aiii;'liiii^ eommnnity
and to those who contriliuli' to its literature, the claims of the ori.i:;inal
name — ouananiehe, — lociisure,at the ha. '....." . cultureda consiitiunty,
a dne recoi^nition of what |)r. Ilenshall s'o admiraldy tern-.s. in discnssini;
a cognate snliject.— ■• the intlexihlc law of priority.''