USA > New York > Essex County > The military and civil history of the county of Essex, New York : and a general survey of its physical geography, its mines and minerals, and industrial pursuits, embracing an account of the northern wilderness > Part 30
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NATURAL HISTORY.
FISH.
Lake Champlain embraces most of the species of fish, usually found in fresh water lakes. Several varieties, formerly abundant in these waters, are now rarely found or have totally disappeared. My work does not pretend to the dignity of science, and I propose to glance only at the subject of the fishes of the region in a few general ob- servations and in familiar language. Champlain, whose veracity, researches always vindicate, speaks of a remarka- ble fish, which many have supposed to be fabulous. Al- luding to other fish, he continues " among the rest, there is one called by the Indians chaousarou, of divers length. The largest, I was informed by the people, are of eight and ten feet, I saw one of five feet, as thick as a thigh, with a head as big as two fists, with jaws two feet and a half long, and a double set of very long and dangerous teeth. The form of the body resembles that of the pike and is armed with scales, that the thrust of a poniard cannot pierce, and is of a silver grey color. The point of the snout is like that of a hog." Professor Thompson believes the original of this description to have been the Bill-fish (Lepirostrus oxyurus), a fish still existing in the lake, but rarely taken. Prof. Agassiz appears to have found traces of the same fish in the upper lakes. The muskalonge, to which the fish of Champlain bears a slight analogy, and supposed by some naturalists to be an enormous growth of the pick- erel, frequents some sections of the lake and often attains the weight of thirty or forty pounds.
The early settlers of the valley of Lake Champlain, found the streams upon both sides filled with salmon. They were very large, and among the most delicate and luscious of all fish. At that period they were abundant, and so fearless as to be taken with great ease and in im- mense quantities. A record exists of five hundred having been killed in the Boquet in one afternoon,1 and as late as
1 Levi Higby, Esq.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
1823 about fifteen hundred pounds of salmon were taken by a single haul of a seine, near Port Kendall. They have been occasionally found within the last twenty years, in some of the most rapid streams, buthave now totally disappeared. The secluded haunts they loved, have been invaded ; dams have impeded their wonted routes ; the filth of occupied streams has disturbed their cleanly habits, or the clangor of steam boats and machinery has alarmed their fears. Each of these causes is assigned as a circumstance that has deprived the country of an important article of food and a choice luxury. The subject is not unworthy the in- quiry and investigation of the philosopher of nature.1
The LAKE SHAD (Coregonus Albus). In the absence of the salmon the shad will be classed as the choicest and most valuable fish belonging to the waters of Lake Cham- plain. Owing to its shyness and the peculiarity of its habits, its natural history is little understood. It appears not to resort promiscuously to every section of the lake, but only frequents or abides in chosen haunts. It delights- in clean, sandy or gravelly bottoms. In the early spring, it is taken in considerable quantities, lying at night along the shores. Practical fishermen state that as the water grows warmer and recedes, the shad retires into the deeper channels of the lake. This fish abounds chiefly in the lower parts of the lake, and in particular localities is taken by the seine in great abundance throughout the sea- son, and in some years and at favorable sites sufficient for barrelling. When its haunts and habits are better under- stood its pursuit may become an important branch of indus- try. It rarely takes the spoon or bait in trolling. The elam, used as a bait, an amateur sportsman informs me, some- times attracts it. It is occasionally caught by dropping the hook in deep water, so that it lies on the bottom. It is supposed that the fish is usually hooked while playing with the bait in that position, rather than in attempting to swallow it. The spawning season of the shad is be-
1 Documentary History.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
lieved to be in autumn or winter. The ground it selects is uncertain, but observers of its habits incline to the opinion, that it seeks for the purpose, the deepest and coolest pools. After the most careful inquiry, I can obtain no information or facts in reference to the fry of this fish. No person with whom I have conversed has ever seen them. The appearance of young shad eight or ten inches long is not uncommon. They are most difficult to be obtained, and from the singular delicacy of their organization would hardly bear transportation.
The PICKEREL (Esox reticularis). This fish is a favorite object of pursuit in both trolling and spearing. In the spring, directly after the dissolution of the ice, when the rising water of the lake sets back upon the marshes and low lands, it is taken in those places, at night, by the jack light, in great numbers. During the day in pleasant weather it is prone to lie near the surface, basking in the warm vernal sun, and is then shot with great facility. The pickerel. does not rank among the best fish in the lake for the table. To many it seems infected by an unpleasant odor, and its taste is sometimes strong with a muddy taint, and yet its great size and beauty, its extreme eagerness at the bait, and its powerful and determined resistance in the taking, renders it very desirable sport and attractive trophy. The pick- erel is often and with uniform success transferred to other waters. When introduced into the lakes and ponds of the interior all its qualities are transformed. The cold and clear waters of the mountain springs, and the novel and abund- ant food it rejoices in, seem to remove its objectionable properties; it becomes hard-fleshed, pleasant and high fla- vored, and almost approaches the exquisite delicacy of the trout. In these favorable situations it attains a great size, and by its wonderful fecundity and rapid growth, in an incredibly short period throngs the waters into which it has been translated and every contiguous stream which connects with them. By the myriads it soon produces, and its remarkable voracity and pugnacious habits, the pickerel very rapidly extirpates almost every other variety
23
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
of fish. For this reason its introduction into lakes and streams, which have been the abode of the trout, is always deprecated by sportsmen. This fish is distinguished by a peculiarity, which possibly, although I am not aware of the fact, may be common to some other species. It seeks in the spring the shallow waters upon marshes and swamps which at that season are overflowed, and deposits its spawn not upon the bottom, but on the small bushes and rushes then submerged, and to these plants the spawn is made to adhere by the glutinous substance that enfolds it. If the water, as frequently happens, subsides before the eggs are hatched, they of course must perish. Fishermen recount marvelous tales of the discovery of the spawn of the picke- rel in this condition, and estimate the quantity by measure, instead of any infinity of numbers. The incalculable pro- lificness of the fish is evinced by the myriads of the fry, which will be observed in the summer thronging the small brooks, that are usually discharged from the places fre- quented by it in the spawning season. Instinct, doubtless, retains them in shallow water, which affords a protection from indiscriminate destruction by their voracious parents. The pickerel is an example of the changes which are con- stantly observed among the fishes of the lake; a frequent increase of one species, and a diminution of another. A few years since, the pickerel was the prevailing large fish, and the pike was rare in the waters of Champlain. At this time the former has perceptibly decreased, while the latter has become abundant.
The STURGEON. Two species are found in Lake Cham- plain. One, the acipenser rubicandus, Mr. Thompson states, is of a large size frequently reaching six feet in length and a hundred pounds in weight. The other species is smaller. The flesh, although not highly esteemed, is palatable. It is not, however, pursued for its edible qualities and is only captured incidentally in drawing the seine. In some parts of the lake it is said to be very abundant. It runs in schools and often in vast numbers. We hear sometimes remarkable tales of the foremost files of those schools being
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NATURAL HISTORY.
projected on a beach or shoal and stranded by the momen- tum of the enormous masses pressing in their rear.
The YELLOW PERCH is the most abundant of the smaller class of fish. It often reaches an unusual size, and is highly valued as a pan fish. The exuberance of the perch is nearly incredible. In a serene sunny afternoon, they often seem to collect in vast shoals near the surface, animating and rippling the water in an area of acres, either by their gambols, or in the pursuit of insects. At such times the skill and industry of the angler have no success.
The BULL POUT is also very common and abundant. It is often taken a foot in length, and although repulsive in its form and general appearance, is an excellent article of food when manipulated by scientific hands.
Several varieties of EELS abound in the lake and its tributaries, and are taken in large quantities, both by the hook and in seines.
The BLUE LAMPREY is a small, odious parasite, often captured in seines, and usually adhering, by its peculiar construction, to the bodies of other fishes. It possesses more of the qualities of the blood-sucker than of the fish. It fastens, by the suction powers of its mouth, upon a larger fish, and thus preys on its living flesh. No effort of the suffering creature can displace its tormentor, which usually adheres to its victim until it dies from pain and exhaustion.
The LING or METHY (Lota maculosa), occupies one of the lowest positions in the scale of animated nature. Its form is loathsome, and its habits so sluggish and inert, that it seems to crawl along the bottom, as it slowly moves up the little brook it has selected for its migration. Notwithstanding this appearance, Mr. Thompson, in his Natural History, states it to be remarkable for voracity, and that he found its stomach gorged with small fish, to the utmost capacity of its huge abdomen. These it must have seized by art rather than dexterity. Its annual mi- gration is performed in the winter, when the ling, in
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
greatest profusion ascends its favorite stream in long pro- cession. Although tough, tasteless, and disagreeable, it is taken in immense numbers, and salted by the poorer classes, for winter food. Holes are cut in the ice, and as the fish passes beneath it is pierced by a fork or any pointed implement, and is even seized by the hand. Bushels of lings are often thus thrown out in an incredible short time. At night, which is the most favorable time, a brilliant fire is enkindled on the ice at the opening, and the fish is thus taken in great abundance, and with ease.
The SMELT, a small but very fine fish, of marine origin and migratory habits, have recently appeared in the lake and are taken through the ice in large quantities. Varie- ties of the bass and pike are among the most valuable and delicious of the lake fish and are taken in great num- bers. Many of the lake fish are highly esteemed, and secured in ice, are exported by rail roads to the southern cities and watering places, where they command exorbitant prices.
In early spring, when the rising water has formed an open space between the shore and the ice, the shad and indeed most of the larger fish of the lake are pursued with keen avidity, by the spear and with torch-light. This very exciting and pleasant sport also occurs at the season in which the fish seek the estuaries and the lower grounds covered by the shallow water which have over- flowed from the lake. In a calm night (and if dark more certain the success), the boat impelled by a single paddle glides silently through the water, bearing an iron jack at the bow, loaded with light wood, which emits a bright flame, shedding an illumination far in advance. The spearsman, with poised weapon, stands behind the light, with full opportunity of seeing the fish, that sleeping quietly or attracted by the gleaming of the fire, lies uncon- scious of danger, and is easily approached and killed. Every part of the lake adapted to this sport, presents at the season a brilliant and animated aspect and glowing with hundreds of these fires.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
Trolling is a favorite and highly exciting sport of the amateur fisherman upon these waters. This mode is adapted to deep water, and is conducted by towing the line some distance behind the boat, in a sea somewhat agitated. Fish, of extraordinary dimensions, are thus frequently taken in large numbers. Fishing by seines and nets is much and successfully used in the lakes and more import- ant streams. Several varieties of the most choice trout occur in great profusion, in most of the innumerable streams, ponds and lakes which are scattered among the forests and mountains of the interior. The salmon trout is peculiarly distinguished for the great size it attains, and the superior delicacy and excellence of its qualities.
Two distinct species of the trout, in popular language designated the lake and the brook trout, prevail in the lakes and streams of the interior. These are supposed to ramify into a number of varieties. They differ very per- ceptibly in color and appearance, and the distinctions which science detects, are very clear and marked. The color of the flesh, which is either red or white in both species, is not characteristic of either, but seems to be an individual peculiarity. The lake trout, fierce and vora- cious in its habits, is the tyrant of the waters. It attains a very great size, and specimens have occasionally been taken, which weighed fifty pounds. These are rare, and fish of ten to twenty pounds are deemed choice sport. The brook trout seldom exceeds three pounds. The former spawn from the 15th to the 25th of October, and the brook trout about ten days earlier. The two species run in separate schools, and although found asso- ciated, they appear not to amalgamate. The brook trout frequents the streams, and near the entrances and outlets of the lakes. The fry of both remain on the spawning ground until the ensuing spring. Notwithstanding the avidity with which these fish are pursued, their marvel- ous fecundity preserves them from apparent diminution in these lakes. The acquaintance with men, however, renders them shy, and thus is enhanced the pleasure and
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
excitement of the sport, by exacting additional skill and perseverance for their capture. The procreative habits of these fish are peculiar and interesting. The female pre- pares the bed, and entering upon it for a brief period each day, gradually deposits the spawn, ejecting a part on every visit, through the entire spawning season. In her absence, the male daily occupies the bed, and for a short time remains upon it in the performance of his functions. It is believed that a large proportion of the spawn is not fertilized.
My attention has been called by gentlemen peculiarly familiar with the fish of these lakes, to another trout, which, although I have no specimen to examine, I am inclined to regard as a distinct species, or certainly a different variety. This fish appears late in the fall, in great abundance, but long after the other species have left the fishing grounds. It is rounder in its form, longer and more slim than either the lake or brook trout, in pro- portion to its weight. It is distinguished by a brighter and more silvery coloring ; has brilliant spots on its sides, indiscriminately red or yellow ; seldom reaches a pound and a half in weight ; is taken by any kind of bait or fly, and either by trolling or still line. Unlike the other species it spawns in the spring. In its edible qualities, it is equal to either of the others.
These waters are singularly deficient in other classes of fish. Few are found in them except the perch and the coarser kinds, as the bull pout or sun-fish, except one of remarkable habits and appearance, and known to the sportsman as the white or frost fish. This fish usually appears about the 1st of November, near the outlets of the lakes, or in shallows, in immense shoals, at times, and in places, literally thronging the waters in myriads. They are small, weighing about four to the pound, and are light colored, with large scales that cleave from the body at the slightest pressure. They persistently refuse the hook, and every contrivance of bait, but are taken in great quantities by the grapple and nets, and afford, in the
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NATURAL HISTORY.
absence of the trout, excellent sport to the angler. They supply a good article of food. These fish appear in num- bers at no other season, and are supposed to resort to the deep waters of the lakes, from whence they are expelled by the periodical return of the trout.
No country offers to the sportsman more delightful and diversified attractions, than this region of lakes and ponds. It is deeply to be deplored, that the same barbarous and ruthless improvidence that formerly depopulated with such rapidity the forests of deer, has hastened in some districts the extinction of the trout. They have been not only pur- sued in utter wantonness, and in the passion of destruction at the legitimate seasons, but they were mercilessly fol- lowed by the net, the fly and the spear, to their spawning bed, where, in the extinction of one life, the embryo of thousands is annihilated. Laws are plenary in their strin- gency and severity, but have not been adequately enforced. Even now in many lakes the most exposed to such ravages, these fish are nearly extirpated. Happily these remarks are more applicable to the recent past than the present. As I have before stated these practices are now becoming generally restrained.
A striking and very curious difference occurs in the character of the fish occupying lakes which lie in close proximity. One body of water in its normal condition is filled to exuberance with the choicest trout ; whilst another situated in the same lofty valley, fed by the same mountain springs, and mingling its waters in the same stream with the former, is destitute of every variety of fish, except the hardier and coarser kinds. At periods when these latter lakes are extremely low, numbers of the dead bodies of the fish which occupy them, are found floating upon the sur- face of the water. These facts, well established, attracted my attention as interesting in the physiology of these creatures, and an important feature in natural history. The result of my examinations of the subject was conclusive to my mind, that this effect is produced by foreign and noxious substances impregnating the waters. On inspec-
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tion I discovered in every instance, where the phenomenon occurred, the presence of native copperas, other sulphates, and incidentally arsenic largely developed in deposits within the surging of the water, or in its immediate vicinity.
REPTILES.
The rattle-snake formerly infested several localities in this county in horrid profusion. In the early settlement of the region, they were seen in vast numbers basking in the sun, near their dens. A mountain, in the vicinity of Lake George, is pointed out, where the legend says eight hundred were killed in a single season. These reptiles are now almost exterminated. No other snake of a venomous character is found in the county. The other reptiles, birds, insects, and bugs, which prevail, are familiar to the popular mind, to science, and the practical farmer and gardener.
WILD BEES.
The hunting of wild bees has been, in parts of Essex county, a pursuit of considerable importance, and as excit- ing and amusing, as it often is profitable. It is still con- tinued to a limited extent. The wild bee, although similar in appearance and habits to the domestic bee, is undoubt- edly a native of the forest, and indigenous to the country. It appears to be adverse to the vicinage of man, and recedes into the deeper wilderness as cultivation approaches its secluded and hidden haunts. The hives of the wild bee are found far in the solitudes of unoccupied tracts, removed from the habitations of men, and occupying the most seques- tered retreats. It selects, for the location of its hive, an elevated position, far up some retired and shady ravine, in the midst of hills or mountains, and in the vicinity of a body of water. If the country is flat, the bees establish their domicile upon the margin of a lake or stream, in as much seclusion as possible. They appropriate usually, for this purpose, the hollow of a tree, generally selecting one of great magnitude; but occasionally they construct their hives in the crevices of rocks. They enter the opening in
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NATURAL HISTORY.
the tree by a small orifice, which very essentially protects them from observation and discovery. Here they remain for years, in possession of the same abode, models of labo- rious and untiring industry, accumulating hoards of their luscious treasures, and annually casting off new colonies. These retreats are found with difficulty, and by the exer- cise of much skill by the hunter; and when found, are often very difficult of access. They are exposed, not only to the merciless ravages of man, but insects and animals, particu- larly the bears, commit great depredations upon them.
The professional bee hunter, when engaged in this pur- suit, provides himself with a quantity of honey comb, strained honey, and a small light box, about six or eight inches long, and four inches deep and four wide. This box has two slides, one at the top, and the other in the centre. The slides move in grooves. In the upper lid he arranges a piece of glass; the lower compartment contains comb filled with honey. Thus equipped, the hunter pro- ceeds, late in autumn, to a district, which by previous observation, he has ascertained is frequented by the bees, in pursuing their labors. Two modes are adopted by the hunter for procuring the bees, which he uses to discover the position of the hive. By the first, and this is the most common, when he detects a bee upon a flower, which is generally a wild plant, known to the hunter as the frost blow, that blooms late in October, he places the box beneath the insect with the upper lid drawn, and by a quick and dexterous movement thrusts it into the first compartment, and the lid being closed, the bee is seen through the glass. The lower lid is then drawn and the glass darkened, when the bee immediately settles upon the honey and commences its feast. It is now left undis- turbed, with both lids open. After having supplied itself, the bee leaves the box, and, rising above it, seems to take a particular note of its locality, flying around in circles, which grow wider at every gyration; the bee constantly ascending, until at length it takes an air line for its hive. This crisis tests the skill and vigilance of the hunter.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
The course of the bee is carefully watched and the dis- tance of the hive is computed by the length of its absence. The hunter estimates this by allowing three miles to the minute, for its flight and return. The bee is allowed to make the journey several times, when it is again secured and the hunter proceeds in the direction of the hive, as indicated by the course of the bee's flight. It seems to communicate its discovery to the hive; as frequently on its return it is accompanied by others. The hunter often finds it necessary to catch and mark an individual bee, so as to identify it in his operations.
After advancing as far as he deems it expedient, the hunter opens the box, a second time, and allows the bee to escape. It repeats the same reconnaissance as before, and then takes its line for the hive. If this, as often occurs, has been passed, the fact is indicated by the bee returning on the hunter's track. It frequently becomes necessary, when the position of the hive has been dis- guised, with more than usual adroitness and success, for the hunter to make several lines in this manner, when he determines the locality of the hive, by ascertaining the point where the different lines intercept. A number of bees from the hive are often in the box together, and occasionally those from different hives, as appears from their making distinct lines, on rising from the box.
The other mode pursued by the hunter is this : Upon a cleared spot in an elevated situation, he builds a fire and heats some flat stones ; on these, some of the comb is burned; the odor of the burning comb will attract the bee; fresh comb, containing honey, is then placed on the stone, upon which the bee is allowed to feed. When it leaves, the comb is removed from the stone and the box substituted in the same place ; the bee, on its return, alights upon the honey in the box and is thus secured ; afterwards the hunter proceeds by the same process as before. The tree, which contains the hive, is then felled and the whole family of bees are exterminated, usually by burning straw. This ruthless work, the hunter considers necessary, as
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