Note I-9 — Chapter I · ITINERARY: ST. LOUIS TO ST. PAUL, AUGUST 9TH-SEPTEMBER 21ST, 1805.

Polyodon spatula, or Spatularia spatula, the paddlefish, also called spoon-billed cat or duck-billed cat, common in Mississippian waters. It sometimes attains a length of 5 or 6 feet; the shape resembles that of the sturgeon, but the skin is scaleless, like a cat's. One of the Relations ascribed to Hennepin, and pub. 1697, speaks of this fish as the "long-beaked sturgeon," and says it was spawning Apr. 24th. Hennepin doubtless became acquainted with it when he was first on the Mississippi, under Accault, in 1680: see, e. g., Shea's Tr. of Henp., 1880, p. 359.