as accessible to the light-draught ships of the
British fleet.

CHAR (_Salvelinus_), a fish of the family Salmonidae, represented in
Europe, Asia and North America. The best known and most widely
distributed species, the one represented in British and Irish lakes, is
_S. alpinus_, a graceful and delicious fish, covered with very minute
scales and usually dark olive, bluish or purplish black above, with or
without round orange or red spots, pinkish white or yellowish pink to
scarlet or claret red below. When the char go to sea, they assume a more
silvery coloration, similar to that of the salmon and sea trout; the red
spots become very indistinct and the lower parts are almost white. The
very young are also silvery on the sides and white below, and bear 11 to
15 bars, or parr-marks, on the side. This fish varies much according to
localities; and the difference in colour, together with a few points of
doubtful constancy, have given rise to the establishment of a great
number of untenable so-called species, as many as seven having been
ascribed to the British and Irish fauna, viz. _S. alpinus, nivalis,
killinensis, willoughbyi, perisii, colii_ and _grayi_, the last from
Lough Melvin, Ireland, being the most distinct. _S. alpinus_ varies much
in size according to the waters it inhabits, remaining dwarfed in some
English lakes, and growing to 2 ft. or more in other localities. In
other parts of Europe, also, various local forms have been
distinguished, such as the "omble chevalier" of the lakes of Switzerland
and Savoy (_S. umbla_), the "Sabling" of the lakes of South Germany and
Austria (_S. salvelinus_), the "kullmund" of Norway (_S. carbonarius_),
&c., while the North American _S. parkei, alipes, stagnalis, arcturus,
areolus, oquassa_ and _marstoni_ may also be regarded as varieties.
Taken in this wide sense, _S. alpinus_ has a very extensive
distribution. In central Europe, in the British islands and in the
greater part of Scandinavia it is confined to mountain lakes, but
farther to the north, in both the Old World and the New, it lives in the
sea and ascends rivers to spawn. In Lapland, Iceland, Greenland and
other parts of the arctic regions, it ranks among the commonest fishes.
The extreme northern point at which char have been obtained is 82 deg.
34' N. (Victoria lake and Floeberg Beach, Arctic America). It reaches an
altitude of 2600 ft. in the Alps and 6000 ft. in the Carpathians.

The American brook char, _