1 ii 1 \ ■ mm ^S.cf ^^. ■^<- aV" ;''"v>t-:.-^^^^^°\/^^-/% c.^^- \>'' '^^,i> '^^'^'r. .<^' •«/>'\> .-'i^'^ -^" .^'^^"^/■., ^-- "^^ v^^ , . 'C. ' , X - ^o ^V .#■ ^O ;/. ^..^"^ A.^ ^• :*"#^^^^^^ '^^. .' A^ , N c^ -/^ ^■^ --ct. *^. •. .^•Wi^ y ^^.^SLv.^ <. ^0, X* ,.\ .-N^^ xO^^. ^. '^ t- - ''f- s° Ox> 1 « fi <; -.^ '>^, % i 1 M ' Av)' 's* .^'^ ,#' •f^ ^- /^ •c«^ ^«^ V .^^ * " "''^^ ^"*^\^^ .A "^.. V* '^^ .^>^ V-^^' >^^ « / X^^^ * 9 . '' -V-.s--,, o^ <- ' r '<.^' A^' '^>. '^^ 'o V" ^'^^' -^-^ A z .^^^ « « -^^ . V " ' / , ,. . O"^ ^^ v^ j>^ ^^ * K O ^^ .V- r. "''^5' 7* ^ ^ ^ FRANK FOllESTER'SV FISH aSS- "fishing- OP THE U ]Sr I T E 13 STATES BRITISH PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA ILTISTRATED FROM NATUR BY JEIEIsTRY ^W^ILLlJ^jyE HERBERT, I • AUTUOB OF PRAJJK FOKESTEK'S " HORSE AND HORSEMANSHIP," "FIELD SPORTS," "THE COMPLETB MANUAL FOR YuUNG SPORTSMEN," ETO. NEW EDITION, KE VISED AND CORRECTED, WITH AN AMPLE SUPPLEMENT BY THE AUTHOR, TOGETHER WITH A TREATISE ON FLY-FISHING B Y " D I N K S ." \ , C^. . , . A „ NEW YORK: GEO. E. WOODWARD, 191 BROADWAY. sW*^^ ^$^ Entered according to the Ac* of Congress, in the year 1859, BT W. A. TOWNSEND & COMPANY, In the Clerk's Ofl&ce of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. JUN 6 >«** I To JF R J^ N C Z S STJRGI^ET, Esq., OP NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI, THIS WORK, ON THE J'i^ly aitb Jisfeiitg of ^orflj g^merua, IS DEDICATED, BOTH AS TO AN ARDENT AND INTELLIGENT SPORTSMAN, AND A FIRM FRIEND, BY HIS FEIEND AND SERVANT, FRANK FORESTER TO THE PUBLIC. The Publisliers have the pleasure of stating that the present re- vised edition of Frank Forester's " Fish and Fishing," contains an entirely new treatise on "Fly-Fishing," prepared by "Dinks," and arranged for this work by Mr. Herbert before his death, as will be seen by the subjoined announcement. They have to express their obligations to the Messrs. J. & J. Conroy, for providing them with the finest specimen of Flies and improved Angling Implements, from which the illustrations have been engraved ; also their indebtedness to Mr. Francis P. Allen, for aiding the artist in preparing the drawings. ANNOUNCEMENT. I am very happy to have it in my power to add to the new edition of my "Fish and Fishing," the following admirable and most entirely practical treatise on every thing connected with the science of tying and the science of using the artificial fly, by my friend "Dinks," by whom it has been originally prepared for this edition, and who is well known as one of the most accomplished and thorough practical fly- fishers in this country. For the favor, I return him my sincere and earnest thanks ; and prognosticate for him, from our readers, general and most enviable distinction. Henry William Herbert. The Cedars. ADVERTISEMENT. In offering this work to the public, I have little to say, as its charac- ter speaks for itself, but to indicate the sources of the information which it contains, and to give credit to those who, by their works, let- ters or conversation, have aided me in its execution. And first, I must express my sincere gratitude to my friend, Pro- fessor Agassiz, who kindly afforded mc every assistance in his power, with free access to his fine library, and unrivalled collection of fishes, from which most of my drawings are taken To my friend Mr. Perley, of St. Johns, I am indebted for much valuable and interesting information in regard to the fish and fisheries of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia ; and to Mr. DeBlois, of Port- land, for a communication respecting the great Trout of Sebago Lake, in Maine, which was probably a distinct variety, though the fact can not be easily now ascertained — the noble fish being, alas ! extinct. To Mr. YarrePs fine work on British Fishes, to Hofland's British Angler's Manual, to Richardson's Fauna Boreali Americana, to De- Kay's Fishes of New York, to Soyer's Cooking Book, J thankfully record my indebtedness for extracts more or less copious. All the cuts were drawn by myself, on wood, either from the dead fishes themselves, or from original drawings in the possession of Pro- fessor Agassiz, lent to me for this purpose, with the exception of the True Salmon — ^which is copied from his beautiful work on the Fresh- Water Fishes of Europe — of the Arctic Charr, or Masamacush, and the Arctic Grayling — ^which are taken from Richardson's Boreali Ame- yl[\ ADVERTlSEiMENT ricana— of the Salmon Trout— taken from Yarrel— and of the Lake Trout and Pike Pearch, from DeKay's Fauna of the State of New York. For the fidelity and excellence of the engraving, I am indebted to Messrs. Bobbett & Edmonds, and Brotherhead, by whom, with one or two trifling exceptions, all the cuts have been executed. To the Messrs. Conroy I have to record obligation for preparations of the fine specimens of various Trout, Lake and Salmon Flies, which are eugraved in this work ; and I take this opportunity of strongly and cordially recommending them to all my friends and readers, as deci- dedly, in my opinion, the best rod and tackle makers in the United States. Another edition of this work having been already called for, I have taken the opportunity carefully to revise it, and correct the unavoida- ble errors, so far as I have discovered them, which must occur in a book treating of a subject so comprehensive as mine. A tour through the north-western lakes, during the past summ.^r and autumn, has given me opportunity to observe the habits and cha- racteristics of many fish which previously I had known only by report of others — to collect information relative to the mode of taking them — and, hence, to verify or correct opinions heretofore expressed. A work of this nature must necessarily be more or less compiled, as no man can be expected to have fished in every State of the Union, or to be personally acquainted with the fishes of each and all. To relate personal experiences, where they exist — to collect the best au- thorities, where there are authorities ; and otherwise to be silent, rather than give character to vulgar rumors — I deem the writer's duty. This, to the best of my ability, I have endeavored to do ; and I can ADVERTISEMENT. IX only add, that, as it is not delightful to err, I shall be too much obliged to those who will kindly convince me of error, and enable me to cor- rect it. In addition to those, my obligations to whom I have heretofore gratefully recorded, I have pleasure in referring to Mr. King, of Charleston, South Carolina; Messrs. Mandeville and Cobleigh of Geneva ; and Mr. Gregory, of Adirondack, N. Y., for information and specimens from various parts of the country. Several kind correspondents, and some ingenious critics, have poini ed out errors, and suggested emendations, of which I have thankfully availed myself. All the matter thus collected will be found embodied in a copious Supplement to this new edition, provided with a separate Index, under the head of the fishes to which it relates ; and including some authentic information relative to Southern Fishing, obtained from Mr. King. A few pages on Deep-sea Fishing will also be found in the Supple- ment ; as it is a subject to which — myself considering it very inferior as a sport — I perhaps gave scarce " verge enough " in my first edi- tion. I am happy once again to express my gratitude to the public in general, for a kind reception and favorable hearing ; and to my critics, on the whole, for kindness and candor. Their Friend and Servant, Frank Forester. LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS. PAOE FRONTISPIECE— TEIE MASCALONGE. OUTLINE OF LAKE TROUT, 37 HEAD OF THE SILVER TROUT, ....... 45 GILL-COVERS AND DENTAL SYSTEM OF TROUT, .... 46 THE TRUE SALMON, 54 SALMON PINKS, 54 SALMON SMOLT, 61 THE BROOK TROUT, • - - 86 BROOK TROUT FRY, 86 THE MACKINAW SALMON, 104 VARIETY TRUITE DE GREVE, 104 THE SISKAWITZ, 112 THE LAKE TROUT, 116 THE SALMON TROUT, 120 THE MASAMACUSH, 126 BACK'S GRAYLING, - - 131 THE AMERICAN SMELT, 136 THE WHITE FISH, - - - - 141 THE OTSEGO BASS, 145 HEAD OF THE NORTHERN PICKEREL, 149 HEAD OF THE MASCALONGE, 151 THE GREAT NORTHERN PICKEREL, 154 THE COMMON PICKEREL, 157 THE LONG ISLAND PICKEREL, 161 THE COMMON CARP, 164 THE AMERICAN ROACH, 170 THE NEW YORK SHINER, • 172 THE AMERICAN BREAM, 174 MINNOWS, "^ • 176 THE HERRING, 178 THE SHAD, 180 THE CAT-FISH, 182 THE EEL, 185 THE AMERICAN YELLOW PERCH, 187 THE STRIPED SEA BASS, 189 THE YELLOW PIKE PERCH, 192 THE BLACK BASS, ........ 195 THE ROCK BASS, 198 THE COMMON POND-FISH, ^300 Xll EMBELLISHMENTS. PAGB THE COD, THE AMERICAN WHITING, SALMON-FLIES, 222 THE AMERICAN HADDOCK, 223 224 225 TROIJTFLIES, .... 253 VIGNETTES. RUSTIC BRIDGE, ^^^ FALLS OF THE MONTMORENCI, 53 MILL AND TROUT STREAM, 85 BROOK TROUT, - - - 103 RIVER VIEW, 115 LAKE INCAPAPCO, • • 119 TROLLLNG UNDER SAIL, 125 STRIKING A GRAYLING, 135 NETS DRYING, 148 THE FERRY, • - " • ^^ GORGE HOOK AND BAIT, 156 SKIFF AND WATER FENCE, 171 TROUT-DAM, LONG ISLAND, 173 SILVER LAKE, 175 WATEE MILL, - " 17T TROUT, PERCH, AND BAIT KETTLE, 179 NETTING FROM BOATS, 184 THE EEL, - 186 LITTLE WHITE BASS, 191 CLICK REEL, 194 ROCK-BASS FISHING, 199 FOOT BRIDGE AND TROUT STREAM, 201 FISHING BOATS, 906 A MACKEREL BREEZE, 209 CREEL AND RODS, 214 SQUIDDING UNDER SAIL, 219 HAULING THE NET, 221 THE COMMON SALMON, 252 MAY FLIES AND STONE FLIES, 273 T.'IOLIJNG WITH SCARLET IBIS FLY, 280 THE COMMON PICKEREL, 289 RIVER PERCH, 293 THE UPPER DELAWARE, 296 NETS AND BUOYS, - - 300 RIVER VIEW - 307 FISHING BOATS, - - 311 GOLDEN PHEASANT, WOODCOCK W^ING, AND HACKLE, ... 329 BAIT KETTLE, . - 331 FINIS, aaa TABLE OF CONTENTS FAQU. Introductory Remarks 11 The Game Fish of North America 17 SALMONIDiE, OR THE SaLMON FaMILY .34 The True Salmon 64 The Brook Trout 86 The Greatest Lake Trout 104 The Siskawitz 112 The Lake Trout 116 The Salmon Trout 120 The Masamacush 126 Back's Grayling 131 The American Smelt 136 The Capelin 139 The White-Fish 141 The Otsego Bass 145 ESOCID-S:, OR THE PlKE FaMILY 149 The Mascalonge 151 The Great Northern Pickerel 154 The Common Pickerel 157 The Long Island Pickerel 161 CypRiNiDiE, OR THE Carp FaMILY' 164 The Common Carp 164 The American Roach 170 The New York Shiner 172 The American Bream 174 Minnows 176 Cjajtydje, or THE Herring Family 178 The Herring ... . . i . . . 180 The Shad 180 StLURm^, or THE Cat-Fish Faimly 182 The Cat-Fish 182 ANGTHLLIDiE, OR THE EeL FaMILY 185 The Eel 185 PERcmjE, OR THE Pearch Famh^y 187 The American Yellow Pearch 187 The Striped Sea-Bass 189 The Yellow Pike Pearch .... . 192 xiv CONTENTS. FAOB. The Black Bass . . 195 The Growler 197 The Rock Bass 198 The Common Pond-Fish 200 The Lake Sheep's-Head 202 The Malasheganay 203 Shoal-Water Fishes 204 Tlie Sea Bass 206 The Lafayette 207 TheWeak-Fish 208 The King-Fish 209 The Silvery Corvina 211 The Branded Corvina 212 The Big Drum and Banded Drum 213 The Sheep's-Head 216 The Big Porgec 217 The Blue-Fish 218 TheTautog 220 Deep-Sea Fishes 222 The Cod 222 The American Haddock 223 The American Whiting 224 Salmon Fisheng 225 The Implements of Salmon Fishing 239 Trout Fishing 253 Lake Trout Fishing 274 Salmon Trout Fishing 277 Pickerel Fishing 281 Pearch Fishing 290 Carp Fishing 294 Striped Bass Fishing 297 Black Bass Fishing 301 Eel Fishing and Trimmers 308 Shoal- Water Sea Fishing 310 The Weak-Fish 312 The Barb or King-Fish 313 The Sea Bass .... 316 The Tautog .... ... 316 The Sheep's-Head ... 319 The Drum 320. Deep-Sea Fishing 322 Blue-Fish Fishing 320 Appendix A. 328 Appendix B. 330 Appendix C 332 CONTENTS TO SUPPLEMENT, PART I, PAOH Introdtjctort Remarks 357 The Game Fishes of America 359 The Salmon 361 The Brook Trout 365 The Greatest Lake Trout 367 The Siskawitz 369 The Lake Trout 371 The Salmon Trout 377 The Salmon op the Paoifio ■Waters 379 The Quinnat ... 383 Gairdner's Salmon 386 The Weak-toothed Sahnon . . . • • . . 388 The Ekewan 889 The Tsuppitch 391 Clarke's Salmon ■••••• 392 The North-west Capelin 394 The White Fish 397 Le Suour's Herring Salmon ' 398 The Lake Huron Herring Salmon 400 The Pike Pearch 403 Southern Sea Fishes 405 PART II. The Fishing op North America 407 Salmon FiSHiNa - . 409 The Rod and Tackle 40? The Casting-Line 411 Trout-Fishing ^ . . . . 413 The Rod .413 The Use of the Rod . - 416 XVI CONSENTS. PAGB Of TROLLiNa FOR Lake Trout 418 The Rod 418 The Reel 419 The Line 420 The Leader and Train of Hooks 420 The Bait and Flies 421 The Bait Kettle 421 The Boat and Oarsman, or Guide 421 The Manner of Striking 422 Set Lines for Lake Fishing ... 425 Artificial Flies . • 426 Salmon and Lake Trout Flies 434 Lake Trout Flies 434 Trout Flies 435 Sea Fishing. Table of Depths, Baits, how to Strike and Kill 436 Table of Tackle and Average Weight 43 1 Table of Spring, Summer, and Autumn Baits, Times of Tide and Day . 433 CONTENTS TREATISE ON FLY-FISHING. PAGE Fly-Fishing 441 Different Habits of Fish .... . . 441 Articles for Fly-Tying ..... 442 Fishing Case 445 Book for Feathers , . 444 Variety of Feathers requisite .... . 445 Hooks 44b The Kendal, Limerick, O'Shaughnessey, and Carlisle Hooks . 446 Gut 446 Tying-Silks * , 44*7 A Vice to hold the Hook while Dressing ....... 441 How to dress a Fly .... 44T . Plate of Diagrams and Explanation 448,450 p]xamples of the Process . 452 Palmers .,,. 453 Example No. Ill 453 Lines, Receipt for preparing 455 Reels 456 Rods .457 Length of Rod 458 Landing-Net Hoop 460 Fish-Basket ,-^ 461 Salmon-Bag 461 Example for a Salmon-Fly Book 462 Example for a Trout-Fly Book 463 Trout-Flies , , 463 Palmers • . . 46t Receipts , , 468 2 XVIU CONTENTS. Flies, continued 469 Sea-Trout Flies . . ' 4=70 Salmon-Flies 470 Handling the Rod 478 Trout-Fishing 480 Throwing the Line 482 Haunts of Salmon 484 Trolling 486 Implements for Trolling 487 Natural Bait 490 Natural Bait Tackle 49] Bottom-Fishing 492 KOTB BY THE EDITOR. American Tackle ' . . . 495 Rods .... 495 Lines . - 496 Reels 4^6 Hooks 497 Miscellaneoiis . . . 497 Floats, eta . • • .491 INTEODUOTORY REMARKS, To DEAL with a subject so wide as the Fish and Fishing of tta extent of country greater than the whole of Europe, stretching almost from the Arctic circle to the Tropics, from the waters of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific Ocean, may seem, and indeed is, in some respects, a bold and presumptuous undertaking. It were so altogether, did I pretend to enter into the natural history of all, or even of one- hundredth part, of the fish peculiar to this continent and its adjacent Such, however, is by no means my aim or intention. I write for the sportsman, and it is therefore with the sporting-fish only that I propose to deal ; as, in a recent work on the Field Sports of the same regions, it was with the game animals only that I had to do. In the prefatory observations of that work, I endeavored to make myself understood as to what constitutes game, in my humble opinion, as regards animals of fur and feather. I did not, it is ti-ue, expect, or even hope, to suit the views and notions of everybody, particularly when I looked to the great variety of soils, regions, and climates, for the inhabitants of which I was wi'iting ; and to the extreme latitude and laxity of ideas concerning sportsmanship which prevail in this country. One would suppose it was sufficiently evident, that a work of the XX INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. magnitude of the Universal Encyclopaedia, and liotiiing short of that, would suffice to give an elaborate essay and disquisition on every sepa- rate sort of sport, which every separate individual, of every separate State in the Union, may think proper to practice for his own pleasure or profit. 1 therefore determined to confine myself, in the first place, to those sports only which are truly Field Sports in the highest acceptation of the term, and which are established as such by the consent of genuine sportsmen. In the second place, I restricted myself to those sports which are purely and peculiarly American, and which, as such, are not treated of at all, or, if at all, understandingly, by European writers. The natural history, the generic distinctions, the migrations, habits, haunts, seasons, and the mode of pursuing and taking, in the most artistical and sportsmanlike manner, of such animals as are peculiar to this continent, which have never been a subject of investigation to the sporting naturalist, seemed to me to afibrd a topic interesting and agreeable to the writer, and not devoid of some pretension toward entertaining, and perhaps instructing, the general reader. At the same time, neither pretending nor hoping to make my work perfect, I thought proper to exercise my own judgment in deciding what species of sports are to be regarded as Field Sports at all, what as American Field Sports, and what as requiring description, analysis, or explanation. Some men consider the shooting of migratory thrushes, and golden- winged woodpeckers — ^which it pleases them to call robins and high- holders — as well as small song-birds in general, as a field sport ; I do not. Many men — I might say, of the rural parts of the Eastern and Middle States, most men — consider squirrels, raccoons, opossums, ground-hogs. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. XXI and such like vermin, as being game ; I do not. Therefore I dealt not with any of these, nor apologise for not dealing with them. Again. Fox-hunting on horseback, in a well-fenced, arable, or pasture country, is the finest of all field sports, beyond a question. But the facts, that one pack of foxhounds is now kept at Montreal, that another was kept a few years since by the members of the British legation at Washington, and that a few planters, in two or three Southern States, amuse themselves occasionally and irregularly by fox-hunting, do not constitute fox-hunting an American field sport ; which it is not ; as is demonstrated by the undeniable fact, that there are not above three States out of thirty, more or less, in which the fox is pursued as anything but vermin. There are, moreover, many reasons which render it almost impossible that fox-hunting ever shall become an American field sport. In the Northern and Eastern States, where only, as a general rule, the coun- try is sufficiently cleared of timber to allow of this pursuit in perfec- tion, the severity of the winter, and the jealousy of farmers in regard to trespass on their lands, and the breaking of their fences, combine to render it impracticable. In the Southern States, the woodland character of the country, and the frequency of swamps, bayous, and similar obstacles, destroy all its peculiar excellences, and detract infi- nitely from its excitement, and its scientific character. Yet once more. Had fox-hunting been, what it is not, an American field sport, I should still have dismissed it in a few pages. Because, being a sport thoroughly understood, and carried to the utmost perfec- tion in the Old World ; a sport, so far as it is one here at all, per- fectly identical on the two sides of the Atlantic, and as such, having no peculiarities, and requiring no new precepts here ; and, above all, being a sport on which more able and excellent treatises have been written than on any other in the whole range of sporting subjects, and XMl INTRODUCTORY REMARKS that by such men as Beckford and Nimrod — names as familiar as household words to all who can sit a horse, or halloo to a hound — it would have been an act, if not of impertinence, at least of total supererogation, to fill up the pages of a work devoted to a new class of subjects, with trite remarks on an old one, or with quotations from books within the reach of every sportsman. All this which I have here set down in relation to my work on Field Sports, and to some strictures which have been made upon it, is simply explanatory of my intentions with regard to this work. These are to furnish what information I can in relation to the classes, migrations, habits, breeding seasons, and the modes of taking, of those which I call and consider sporting or game fishes ; to insist on the generic distinctions, and the true names and definitions of the various species and families ; to show briefly how the various families and classes may be distinguished one from the other, thereby enabling sportsmen to avoid the constant errors and blunders into which they are now falling in the confusion of distinct varieties and orders ; and putting it in their power, by the accurate observance, and correct recording, of a few simple signs, to render invaluable service to the cause of science, in one of the most important, and the least under- stood of its branches And, before I proceed farther, I shall beg gentlemen from remote sections of the North, East, West and South, not to wax wrathful and patriotically indignant, nor to reclaim fiercely against the author of this work, because they fail to find therein described some singular local mode of capturing some singular specimen of the piscine race known in their own districts, and there regarded as a sporting-fish, but unknown as such to the world at large. Some gentlemen doubtless regard bobbing for eels, and bait-fishing through holes cut in the ice — others, hauling up sharks with ox-chains INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. XMU and tenter-hooks — and others yet, harpooning garpikes, as excellent sport, and as scientific fishing, as many more will probably deem of hauling the seine, or fishing with the set-line, or the deep-sea line. None of these things come under my ideas of fair or sporting fishing ; and the gentlemen who admire these and similar practices, I beg leave to premonish that they will be surely disappointed if they paruse the pages of this work. By omitting to do so, therefore, they will spare themselves a displeasure, and the author an animadversion. Fresh-water-fishing especially is its subject. Lakes, estuaries, rivers, brooks, its scene ; and the Salmon, in all its varieties, the Pike, the Bass, and the Pearch, the fish with which it will principally deal. All game fish will, however, find a place in its pages ; all those, I mean, which can be, and usually are, taken with the rod and reel ; nor will a few pages be denied to deep-sea fishing ; and to the consideration of some of the finny tribe which visit our rivers and shores, and which, from various causes, such as peculiarity of habit, singularity of structure, excellence on the table, or the like, may appear worthy of a passing notice, although not coming strictly within the sportsman's category of game fishes. All the modes of rod-fishing will be treated of in their places ; but fly-fishing, spinning with the live, and trolling with the dead bait, more especially will be discussed ; as, for my own part, I regard these as the only true and sportsmanlike modes of operation. Bottom-fishing, ground-baiting with the float and sinker, and the like, are doubtless all very well in their way ; and will perhaps, in many instances, even with sporting fishes, be found the most killing, as they are clearly the easiest methods ; while, with other varieties, they are the only modes that can be adopted; still they are to fly-fishing, or spinning the minnow, what shooting sitting is to shooting on the wing ; and the fisher who is proud of lugging out of their native element twenty trout XXIV INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. by main force, aided by a lob-worra or roe-bait, stands in the same relation to him who baskets his three or fom- brace with the artificial fly and single-gut artistically cast, as the gunner who pot-hunts his bagful of birds, treeing his ruffed gi'ouse, and butchering his quail in their huddles on the ground, does to the crack shot, who stops his cock in a blind brake, with the eye of faith and the finger of instinct, or cuts down his wild-fowl, skating before the wind at the rate of a mile a minute, deliberately^ rapid and unerring. ;.»&. PRANK FORESTER'S FISHAN. J) FISHING THE GAMK FISK OF NORTH AMERICA. It is with fishing as a sport, not as a source of national wealth or individual epicureanism, that 1 have to do ; therefore it is of game or sporting fishes only that I propose to treat. Again, it is true that no sportsman captures that, which, captured, is worthless ; and that to be game, whether bird, beast, or fish, is to be eatable. Therefore it is of eatable* fishes alone that I propose to treat. By game fish, I understand those which, being eatable, will take the natural or artificial bait with sufficient avidity, and which when hooked have sufficient viscor, courage and velocitv to ofi^r such resistance, and give such difficulty to the captor, as to render the pursuit exciting. By these qualities of the fish, corresponding qualities of the fisher- man are called forth, and the greater the wariness of the fish before taking the hook, compelling the use of the most delicate tackle, the greater his fury and activity when struck, requiring the nicest skill, temper and judgment, the higher does he stand on the list; and by Note to Revised Edition. — It will be readily seen that the phraseology of this page is altered in this edition. It is so, not that I have taken any new ground, but because it appears my language was not so definite as to enable all persons to under- stand what that ground is. I certainly supposed it unnecessary to state so self-evi- dent a fact as that game is eatable. * Hence my non-mention of that very curious fish, the Garpike or Alligator Gar, 'Esox Osseus. He is no more game than the Shark or Dog-Fish, both of which men catch for fun- 18 THE GAxME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. these qualities, not by the comparative value of his flesh, is his rank decided. • For though of all field sports the motive* and origin is to kill for the table, and not to kill for the sake of killing, still the sport to be derived from them lies in the excitement of pursuit, and difl&culty of capture — not in the number or value of the game. Wanton butchery of useless brutes, and greedy pot-hunting are the Scylla and Charybdis, between which the true sportsman, and he only, steers intermediate. It is the wariness, the subtlety and the caution of the Salmon, ren- dering it necessary to use materials of the slenderest and most delicate nature, and to apply them with the utmost nicety, which makes the triumph over him so far more enthralling to the real fisherman than that over the Pickerel or Mascalonge of equal weight, whose greater voracity and inferior intellect permits the use of a gimp hook-length, and a silken or flaxen line, instead 'of the fine gut, tinctured to the very color of the water, and the casting-line of almost invisible minuteness. The same is the superiority of rod and reel-fishing to the use of the hand-line, whether in trolling or in deep-sea fishing ; because in both these the sport is at an end, so soon as the fish is hooked ; it being a mere question of brute strength whether the victim shall be conquered or not, when once fast at the end of a line capable of pulling in a year- ling bullock. On the contrary, it is not the wariness and cunning, but the vigor, the speed, the fierce courage and determined obstinacy of the true Salmon, the Brook Trout, when of fine size and well-fed, the various kinds of larger Pike or Pickerel, the Bass, and some others, which gives such a zest to their capture, as compared with the smaller and duller fish which may be pulled out as fast as a hook can be baited and thrown in ; or the larger and more torpid fish, such as the Lake Trout, the Carp, and the Pearches, some of which, after a single boring plunge, resign themselves almost without a struggle, and are mastered with no resistance save that occasioned by their own dead weight. I have said, above, that it is upon these qualities of boldness and Note to Revised Edition. — The killing of dangerous carnivora, as a matter of defence, is not iiere considered, because in this country, as in Europe, the practice and the nece ssity haVe long passed away. THE GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 19 fierceness, combined with wariness in biting, and of vigor and determi- nation in resistance, apart from any intrinsic value of the fish, or ex- cellence of his flesh, that his rank for gameness must depaud. It is remarkable, however, that all those fish which are the most game, the boldest, the strongest, the bravest, and the most obstinate, are invariably the finest also for culinary purposes, and the most highly appreciated by the gourmet on the board, as well as by the fisherman in the river or the mere. With very few exceptions, the Game Fish are those which do not confine themselves either to salt or fresh water, throughout the year, but visit the one or the other, as their habits and tastes, but princi- pally the propagation of their species, direct them. These migratory fish are, without any exception, the strongest, the boldest, and, as such, afford the best sport of their tribe ; nor are they, for the most part, to be surpassed by any in excellence, firmness, and flavor, when in their best condition. Those fish which never visit the salt water at all, are unquestion- ably so much inferior to others of their own family which run periodi- cally to the sea, that they are with difficulty recognized as belonging to the same order with their roving brethren ; while of those, none of which are known to leave the fresh-water, but two or three kinds, are worth taking at all ; and even these are not to be compared with the migratory, or the pure sea-fish. All excellence is, of course, in some degree comparative, and I am well aware that in the interior of the country, where sea-fish are unknown, and where the culinary science is merely in a rudimental state, many fish are deemed excellent, and are sought out as dainties, simply because they are better than the ordinary tenants of the same waters ; while in any place, where they could be considered in regard to the commonest sea-fish, they would be entirely disregarded, and sold, if at all, as among the cheapest and most worthless articles of human food. In the same way, many species of game, both of fur and feather, are highly regarded in districts where markets are rare, and well-fed and tender butchers' meat unknown ; and in such places you will find many tasteless and inferior birds and animais nighly valued, which in cities, where a variety of flesh and fowl is daily to be procured, where poultry 20 THE GAaiE FISH OF NORTH AMERICA and butchers' meat can always be had, both fat and tender, no person of ordinary taste or judgment in the art of eating, would allow to come upon his table. These few observations I premise in this place, because I foresee distinctly that my remarks will be animadverted upon, more or less severely, by the inhabitants of those districts in which the varieties of Ssh which I regard as almost worthless prevail; the same thmg having occurred with regard to my work on Field Sports, concerning which gentlemen have waxed unwisely indignant as regards this or that bird, or this or that mode of cooking it, when they have plainly lacked the means of drawing the requisite comparison. But to proceed : the Game Fish of this country may be divided, first, into two general classes of fresh and salt-water fishes ; and these may be again sub-divided, each, into other two, the fresh as migratory and non-migratory ; the salt, as into deep-sea and shoal-water ; although, perhaps, to speak with perfect precision on the subject, no de 'ji s:^a fish should be called a Game Fish. Very many persons are, however, greatly addicted to the sport of making excursions from our larger cities to the various sea-banks, for the purpose, it is true, of enjoying the sea breeze and the excitement of the sail, combined with the attractions of the chowder, or the clam-bake, the champagne and the cotillion, which are wont to complete the day's amusement, but still with the object of fishing likewise ; and these persons, even if their sport be not of the loftiest or most sporting character, will rea- sonably expect to find some account of a favorite pursuit. Nor, in very truth — though I eschew large congregations of huma- nity for sporting purposes, deeming th>ra rather social and convivial in their true character, and holding sociality and conviviality, though excellent things in their way, as utterly averse to the spirit of sports- manship — have I not found it good sport, at times, to sally out from some sequestered fishing hamlet, in the trim schooner or more humble yawl, and try my fortune with the Cod, the Haddock, and the Halibut; or if, pefchance, on the rocky shores of Eastern New England, with the delicate and lively Whiting, too little known, as yet, to the epi- cures of America, although unsurpassed in excellence by few, if any, of his race. With deep-sea fishing I shall deal, therefore, although briefly, as bicomes its rank in proportion with the more exciting and I THE GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 21 scientific branches of the piscatory art; nor will the shoal-water, or bay and estuary fishing, as they are practised on our coasts, be denied so many pages, as will appear proportionate to the number or excel- lence of the species taken in that sport. Many of these are delicious fish on the table ; but the sport of taking them consists, principally, in the frequency of their biting ; and the skill requisite for their cap ture lies mainly in the knowing the most favorable bottomrgrounds, the state of the tides and eddies most propitious to success, and the most killing baits at various seasons. Jn throwing out and drawing in the bait, there is, comparatively speaking, small science ; and taking the fish when once hooked, little skill and small judgment ; temper, and a moderate degree of patience, alone seem needful. It is not, indeed, to be denied that in this, as in all other ground- bait and bottom-fishing, an old experienced angler shall take many times more fish than the tyro sitting alongside of him in the same boat, and working with apparatus precisely similar, and baits identical. This is, however, to be attributed much to practice, and habit — much to watchful observation of minutiae, such as the foulling of the line, the correct depth of the plummet or sinker, and such like — and more to delicacy of hand in feeling, appreciating and humoring the victim, when coquetting and nibbling about the bait. It cannot be likenea to the skill exerted in casting and managing the fly, or the spiuuing- minnow ; much less to the playing, killing and basketing the heaviest kind of fish with the lightest running tackle. It must be acquired by habit and practice, if it be thought worth the trouble of acquisition, but it can scarcely be taught at all by instruction or example; and written precepts to this end would be altogether worthless, as they would be dull and unamusing I shall now proceed to the enumeration of the Game Fishes of the iJnited States and British Provinces of North America, according to my understanding of their game qualities — regarding them, first, under their great divisions of fresh and salt-water fish ; then as migratory or non-migratory, and deep-sea or shoal-water. And here I shall observe that I adopt these grand divisions as para- mount to the natural distinctions of genera, families, and the like, as I condv-i thai such a treatment of my subject will be most condu- 22 THE GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA cive to the pleasure and advantage of sportsmen, for whose benefit 1 especially write ; while the naturalist will find that, subject to these divisions, he will recognise all his old acquaintances, and perhaps encounter some new ones, under the generic and specific divisions and definitions to which he has been accustomed. All the Game Fish of this country belong to a few well-marked families ; and with the sole exception of a few deep-sea fish, are included in two large classes abdominal Malacopterygiij and Acanthopterygii ; the first class being those which have all the fin-rays soft and flexible ; and the second, those which have a part of the fin-rays hard and spiny, as is the case with the Pearch and the Bass, besides some others. The deep-sea fish, to which I have alluded as coming under a third class, are the sub-brachial Mala copter ygii, which have a different arrangement of the fins, although they have the soft and flexible fin- rays in lieu of spines, as in the first class named. To this class belong the Cod, Haddock, Whiting, and such other of the deep-sea fish, especially Fiat-Fish, as can, by any extension of the term, be allowed to figure as Game Fish ; for, under this head, I cannot by any means include the Ray, the Skate, or the Lampreys, which come under the same class with the Sharks, Chondropterygii^ or cartilaginous fishes, the skeletons of which are not, as in the Malacopterygii or Acanthop- terygii, composed of bone, but of cartilaginous or gristlv matter. The Eel, which is not a Game Fish, is of the class Malacopterygii^ but with a different arrangement of fins, which gives him the title of Apodal. He hardly deserves notice at all, unless as an article of food, and if mentioned, will be kept aloof from the others. Of these two great generic divisions, then, are all the fresh-water fishes more or less distinct families ; and all the shoal-water sea-fishes likewise, with which we have to do ; nor is there any line to be drawn as regards the migratory or non-migratory fishes, some of these belong- ing to each of these two great classes. It will be well to observe here, that I consider all those fish which run up rivers and streams into the fresh-water for the purpose of spawning, which pass a considerable portion of the year, and are principally, if not wholly, taken in such water, as frfesh-water fishes ; although a resort to the salt-water is necessary to the reinvigoration THE GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. i^ of their constitutions; and, it is probable, to the excellence of their flesh, and the courage and boldness of their tempers. To this class belong several of the finest and most important of all our fish, both as regards the table, and the sport; for to this are directly referable the Salmon, that king of the piscine world, the Sea Trout, the Striped Bass, the Shad, and the Smelt; both of which, for reasons which 1 shall give, when 1 am to treat of them, under their own proper heads, I admit as Game Fishes. Our fresh-water fishes, then, all belonging to the two classes above named, Malacopterygiij soft-finned, and Acanthopterygii, or spiny- finned, are divided into the following families : — Of the first, Abdominal Malacopterygii, we have The family of Salmonid^, of which the true sea Salmon is the type, and of which there are many varieties and sub-genera, bott migratory and non-migratory ; the principal are Genus Salmo : The True Salmon, Salmo Salar. The Greatest Lake Trout — Mackinaw Salmon — Salmo Amebhystus. The Northern Lake Trout — Siskawitz — Salmo Siskawitz. The Lake Trout — Salmon Trout — Salmo Covfinis. The Sebago Trout, Salmo Sehago. The Arctic Char, Salmo Hoodii. The Sea Trout, White Trout, or Silver Trout — Salmo Trutta Marina. The Brook Trout, Salmo Fontinalis. Genus Osmerus : The Smelt, Osmerus Viridescens. Genus Thymallus : The Arctic Grayling, Thymallus Signifer. Genus Coregonus: The White Fish, Coregonus Alius. The Otsego Bass* — misnomer — Coregonus Otsego. * This very beautiful fish so closely resembles the White-fish, Coregonus Alhus, as to be conceived by many persons to be merely a casual variety. This, however, does not appear to be in truth the case. It is greatly to be regretted that true and distinctive names should not be attached to fishes which, having been absurdly mis' 84 the game fish of north america. 2. Family Siluridje, Containing many species, Cat-Fish, Bull-Heads, &c., unwortliy of notice, except, Genus Silurus: The Great Cat-Fish, Fimelodes Huron. 3. Family Cyprinid^, Containing many varieties. The Chub, Sucker, Shiner, Roach, Dace, Bream, &c., of no account except for bait, unless it be two imported species. The Common Carp, Cyprinus Carpio, and The Golden Carp, Cyprinus Auratus. 5. Family Clupeid^. Genus Alosa : The Shad,* Alosa Prcestabilis. Genus Clupea : The Herring, Clupea Harengus. 6. Family Esocid-e. Genus Estor : The Mascalonge, Esox Estor. The Northern Pickerel, Esox 1/ucioides. The Common Pickerel, Esox Reticulatus. The Long Island Pickerel, Esox Fasciatus. The Garpike, Esox Osseus. Beside two or three other species, found in the Pennsylvanian and Western waters. This brings us to the end of our fresh-water, soft-finned fishes ; or of such, at least, as are in any wise worthy to be accounted Game Fishes ; and we come to the second division, Acantkopterygii, or spiny- named by the ignoraut early settlers, still go by those stupid misnomers — as in the present instance, where a fish having no possible analogy to a Bass, and, indeed, belonging to a different class of fish, " soft-finned," is termed Bass. The analogous fish in England are known a^ Gwyniad, Vendace and Pollan. I would suggest ** Otsego Lavaret" as a very suitable name for this unnamed species. * I sojnewhat doubt this distinction. I have drawings, made from life, of two varieties of Shad taken in New York bay, agreeing precisely with Alosa Finta and Albsa Communis, of Yarrel— the Twaite and Allice Shad of England— to the lat« ter of which I would refer this fish. THE GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 25 finned fishes, which, though it is Baron Cuvier's first di^dsion, I have postponed to the Malacopterygiij or soft-finned fishes, on account of the greater estimation in which they are held, especially the noble Salmon, Pike and Shad families, by both epicure and sportsman. Second, however, to these only are several of the families of the second class, and scarcely inferior even to these is the splendid genus LabraXj unquestionably, next to the Salmon, the most sporting fish in all respects in the world, and in his absence facile princeps. Of the class Acanthopterygii, then, we have The Family Percid^. 1. Genus Perca : The Yellow Pearch, Perca Flavescens. Of this there are three or four very closely-allied varieties. The White Pearch, Perca Pallida. The Common Pearch, Perca FluviatiliSj and others of less note, among which are the genera Corvina and Pomotis. 2. Genus Labrax : The Striped Bass — Rock Fish — Labrax Lineatus. 3. Genus Lucioperca : The Pike Pearch — American Sandre, Ohio Salmon, &c. — lAtcioperca Americana. The Canadian Sandre, Lucioperca Canadensis. 4. Genus Gristes : The Black Bass — Oswego Bass — Chistes Nigricans 5. Genus Centrarchus : The Rock Bass, Centrarchus JEneus 6. Genus Otolithus : The Weak-Fish, vulgo Trout, Otolithus Regalis and Caroli" nensis. Arud with these, unless the reader choose to add the Eel, of the class Apodal Malacopterygii, family A7iguillidce^ the list of the fresh-water sporting fishes of the United States and British Provinces may be said to close. Of these fish, the True Salmon, Salmo Salar, the Sea Trout, Salmo Trutta Marina^ the Brook Trout, Salmo Fontinalis, the Arctic Charr, Salmo Hoodiij and perhaps the Sebago Lake Trout, are migratory, as is also the Arctic Grayling, Thymallus Signifer ; all the other Lake 2o THE GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA Trout, and such of the Brook Trout as are found in small streams above impracticable falls, or in spring ponds, or lakes without outlets, are stationary, or non-migratory ; and the consequences of their habit may be very readily discovered in the inferiority of their flesh, both in color and firmness of muscle, and in their comparatively lazy gait, and want of game qualities, vigor and endurance. Of other soft-finned fishes, the Smelt, Osmerus Viridescens^ the Shad, Alosa Frcestabilis, and the Herring, Clujpea Harengus^ are migratory from salt to fresh-water, and so perhaps is the Weak-Fish, in the Southern waters, there misnamed Trout,* Otolithus Carolinensis.' The White-Fish, Coregonus Albus^ and the Otsego Bass, Coregonus OtsegOj are partially migratory from the deeper waters of the lakes which they inhabit. All the SUuridcE^ CyprinidcBj and Esocidce, are stationary fish. Three or four of the above species and varieties I have admitted with no small doubt ; and fii-st of these, in the family Salmonida^ the Common Lake Trout,! Salmo Con/inisj of DeKay ; because I can see no sufficient cause for distinguishing this fish from the Greatest Lake Trout, or Mackinaw Salmon, with which it appears to me to be iden- tical, except in size ; whereas size alone is a very insufficient cause of separation. Secondly, the Sebago Lake Trout, which is to be found, as a distinct variety, in no work on American Icthyology ; and yet I have thought it best to insert it, on the authority of several distin- guished sportsmen, who have had frequent opportunities of comparing it with the ordinary Lake Trout, and who pronounce it to be a new and nondescript fish, unless it be the True Salmon degenerated. This last hypothesis I am unwilling to listen to, as I disbelieve in the dege- neration of animals, in peculiar localities, unless confined under unna- tural circumstances, as a sea-running fish in fresh-water, without means » This fish I have never seen ; but I greatly doubt that the fish called " Trout," in the South, is identical with the Northern Weak-Fish. From Professor Agassiz, I understand it to be a peculiar variety of the Weak-Fish, Otolithus, being spotted rather than striped, and thus differing somewhat from it, and frequenting fresh streams, which the others do not. * Note to Revised Edition. — With regard to this fish, I am satif-fied that it ia distinct from Amethystus, though closely allied to it. It is a deeper arid shorter fish. See Supplement. THE GAME FISH OF KORTH AMERICA. 27 of egress. I undarstand that this Sebago Trout has access to the sea there is no reason, therefore, why, if originally a true Salmon, it should have lost its true characteristics in waters havino; their exit throuo-h the Saco, more than in those which discharge via. the Kennebec, or why it shjuld continue to run up a smaller river, when it has deserted all the larger rivers westward of the Penobscot, with tlie exception of a very few which are, perhaps, still taken in the Androscoggin and the Kennebec, where, a few years ago, they absolutely swarmed. With regard to this fish, however, I hope, before concluding this work, to receive more decided information from some of my obliging correspondents in that quarter ; and perhaps even a specimen by which to compare with the other varieties of this genus. Again, of the Sea Trout, or White Trout, I have my doubts, whether it be not a grilse, or Salmon of the third year. It is as yet, so far as I know, unfigured and undescribed ; but my information con- cerning it from excellent fishermen on the waters where it abounds, Ifche rivers, mainly, which fall into the Bay of Gaspe and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is so clear and strong, that I prefer noting it as a ques- tionable variety, in the hopes of calling to it the attention of older naturalists than myself, and of those who have better opportunities of obtaining and examining specimens. Lastly, the Red-bellied Trout, Salmo Erythrogaster^ of Dr. DeKay, I decline to insert on his authority, being entirely unconvinced as to its being anything more than a mere accidental variety. The whole of that region of lakes and rivers, in the Northeastern angle of New York, in which this variety is said to exist, teems with accidental varieties of the Brook Trout, of almost every size, as well as shade and color, both of flesh and external tints. The Trout of no two of these lakes or rivers are precisely identical. The same may be said of Brook Trout from various waters in Long Island. These differences, however, are not deemed sufiicient, consisting, mainly, in variations of hue, not of form, bony configuration, scales, or fins, whereon to found generic distinctions. The same remarks apply to a small fish, which Dr. DeKay has described at length, and figured under a new name, as the Troutlet, in his fauna of New York ; and which is unquestionably nothing more than the young fry of the common Brook Trout, while it is so small as 28 THE GAME FISH OF r;ORTH AMERICA. to retain the lateral transverse bars, or clouded bands, which have lately been discovered to belong to the fry of every known variety of the family of the Salmon, and which have caused all the confusion, and given rise to all the various theories, concerning the Parr of Great Britain. Into all these points I shall enter more fully under their appropriate heads, when treating of the separate fish to which they relate. The Smelt, Osmerus ViridescenSj I have mentioned, though not pro- perly a Game Fish — for it is probable that the statements of its being taken with the hook refer to the Atherine or Sand Smelt — because there are some errors to be refuted, connected with him and the young of the true Salmon, which would not so easily be dealt with otherwise ; and the Shad, Alosa FrcestabiLis, I have elevated to the rank of a Game Fish, not merely on account of the excellence of his flesh in a culinary point of view, but because I am well satisfied by indisputable proofs, that although it is not usual to attempt the capture of this fish sports- manlike, the fault rests not with the Shad, but with the angler. He will not only take the fly, and on some occasions very freely, but runs strongly away with the line, and fights hard before he is subdued- I regard him a very decided addition to the list of Amercian sporting- fishes. The common Herring can be taken very readily in the same manner, and I have had very considerable amusement in killing them with a gaudy peacock-tail fly, in New York harbor, in the vicinity of Fort Diamond, at the Narrows. With these exceptions, and the two varieties of White-fish, one of which is absurdly misnamed Otsego Bass, having about as much rela- tion to a Bass as it has to a Flounder, all that I have named are admitted to be game by all fishermen; and these I have mentioned, because I have little or no doubt that they also, like their Eui'opean congeners, the Gwyniad of Wales and the Pollan of Ireland, may be occasionally taken with the artificial fly. All these fish are Coregoni^ and are very nearly analogous to one another, forming a sort of intermediate link between the families of Salmonid,t and Clupeida. or Salmon and Shad, although they are included for many gatisfaotory reasons among the former — the common THE GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 29 people in Great Britain calling them fresh -water Herring, while in the United States they not unfrequently pass by the name of Shad-salmon. The flesh of all the varieties is delicate and highly-flavored. The djsire of comparing these American Coregoni with the British varie- ties, and of bringing them somewhat more into general notice, has induced me to notice them, rather than their game nature. I now proceed to the salt water fishes, both those taken in deep, and those in shoal water, of the various families above-named ; and there- after shall arrange them accordinn; to their haunts and habits. Of those salt-water fish of the Atlantic coasts which afl"ord the most real sport to the angler, and which are alone taken with the rod and reel, all the families belong to the class of the Acanthopterygii^ or spiny-finned fishes, none of the soft-finned fishes of the abdominal division being taken in the shoal waters of the bays and estuaries ; while the deep-sea fish are all of the sub-braohid Malo.copterygii^ unless we may consider as such the Sea Bass and Porgee, which are, however, as often or oftener caught in shallow water. Salt-water fish, taken in shoal water, river mouths, and the like, Acantkopterygii, spiny-finned, we have of the family Percid^, whereof the Pearch is the type. Genus Labrax : The Striped Bass, Lahrax Lineatus. Mentioned above as a fresh-water fish, being frequently caught in rivers far above tide-water, as well as in the estuaries, and even in the surfs on the ocean borders. Genus Centropristes : The Sea Bass, Centropristes Nigricans. Scienid-s:. Genus Leiostomus : The Sea Chub — Lafayette Fish — Leiostomus Obliquus, Genus Otolithus : The Weak-Fish, Otolithus Regalis. The Southern Trout, Otolithus Carolinensis. Genus Umbrina : The King-Fish, Umbrina Nebulosa. Genus Pogonias: •; The Drum-Fish, Pogonias Chromia. ■ » • 30 the game fish of north america. Sparid-e. Genus Sargus; The Sheep's-Head, Sargus Ovis, Genus Pagrus: The Porgee, Pagrus Argyrops. scombrid^. Genus Temnodon: The Blue-Fish — Skip-Jack — Temnodon Saltator. Labrid^. Genus Tautoga : The Tautog — Black Fish — Tautoga Americana. These complete the list of those salt-water fish which are of any repute as affording sport to the angler in shoal water ; they may all be taken with the rod and reel, in the bays, mouths of rivers, and shallow inlets along the greater portion of our coast, especially in the vicinity of reefs, the piles of old docks, or the hulls of sunken vessels, iround which they are often found in so large shoals, and bite so freely and rapidly, as to afford a very high degree of amusement. Many persons are extremely fond of this kind of fishing, though it cannot sustain a moment's comparison with Trouting, much less with Salmon fishing, or indeed with trolling or spinning for the Pike and the Black fiass. Several of the above-mentioned fishes are of rare excellence ; the Weak Fish and Blue Fish, when quite fresh out of the water, are not easily surpassed ; but the King Fish and the Sheep's-head, the latter a migratory fish, visiting us during the summer months only, are in far greater esteem, being regarded by epicures as inferior to none which are taken in our waters. The most extraordinary day's sport I have seen recorded in this line, fell to the lot of a gentleman of New York, well known as an enthusiastical amateur and a most skilful proficient in the gentle art, and was thus recorded at the time in the Commercial Advertiser of 1827, I note the circumstance, and quote the following lines from a very useful, unpretending, and not therefore less agreeable compen- dium, "The American Angler's Guide," published, I believe, by Mr. Brown, well known as the proprietor of the Angler's depot, where he keeps an excellent assortment of tackle of all kinds, in Fnlt-^n street i THE GAME FISH OF N\>KTH AMERICA 31 I have often derived both information and entertainment from this good little manual, which is succinct and portable, and I strongly recom- mend it to my readers. The feat to which I have alluded is thus recorded in its pages :^ " On Friday last, a gentleman of this city went out fishing from Rockaway into Jamaica Bay, with his son, a lad of twelve years of ao-e. They commenced fishing at half-past seven in the morning, spent half an hour in dining at noon, and quit fishing at half-past one, having taken with their rods, in six hours, four hundred and seventy- two King-Fish. Their guide was Joseph Bannister; none of these fish were taken by him, as he was diligently employed the whole time in preparing bait." The writer adds that he admits this to have been " an extraordi- nary performance;" but he goes on to say "that he has many times taken above one hundred in a tide, though of late years these fish have become scarce in those waters, it being supposed that their enemy, the Blue-Fish, by preying on their young, have caused the scarcity." It is scarcely necessary, I presume, to remark that no such feats are to be performed now-a-days ; and he is a happy and an envied man, who succeeds, at present, in capturing a few brace of this delicious game fish. I now come to the last section of my work, the deep-sea fishes, very few of which are worthy of remark in connexion with the angler's sport, although they are all of superior excellence, as dainties. These are all soft-finned fishes, but they form a separate class of the Malacopterygiiy owing to a peculiar arrangement of their fins, the bones supporting the ventrals being attached to the bones of the shoul- ders which support the pectorals, whence they have obtained the term sub-brachial. To this class of sub-brachial Malacopterygii belong the two families of Gadidce and Pleuronectida, Cod and Fiat-Fish, to one or other of which pertain all the species which are taken by the drop-line on our coast ; a sport which is almost too dirty, as well as too laborious, to be in very truth a sport. Of the family Gadida, of which the Cod is the type, we have The Common Cod, Morrhua Vulgaris. The Haddock, Morrhua jEglefinis. 32 THE GAME FISH Or NORTH AMERICA. The W HiTiNGj Merlangtts Americanus. And although there are several other species of more or less esti- mation for the table, as the Torsk or Tusk, BrGsmius Vulgaris, the Hake, Mer Lucius Vulgaris, and some others, none but these are such as to requu*e enumeration in a work of this description. Of the second family, Pleiironedidce, I shall think it enough to men- tion. The Halibut, Hippo glossus Vulgaris, which is the largest species of this family, as well as the best that is taken in American waters ; for the species of Turbot, Rhomhus, which is found on the coasts of Massachusetts bay, and that neighborhood, is greatly inferior, both in size and quality to the celebrated European fish of the same name. The Flounder, of New York, Fleuronectes Dentatus, which is also frequently taken, though more commonly by accident, while in pursuit of finer fish, than as the angler's prime object, is rather a delicate fish, and often bites freely. With this brief enumeration of sea-fish I shall content myself, as the description and habits of others, though curious, and full of interest to the icthyologist and student of nature, belong rather to the depart- ment of science, than to the craft of the angler. I may, however, mention, not as objects but accessories of the sport, the Atherine, Atherina Menidia, a variety of the fish known in England as the Sand Smelt, here commonly called the Spearling or Sparling, and much used as a bait, for which its bright silvery colors particu- larly adapt it. The British variety is frequently taken with the hook ; and on the Southern coasts, where the true Smelt is unknown, it is commonly known and sold as that fish, to which it bears some degree of similarity in flavor, as well as in the cucumber smell common to both when freshly taken from the water. I am not aware that the American fish is ever eaten, though it is very abundant on the coasts; in appearance, it so closely resembles the European species, that on a slight inspection it would be taken for it. The Sand Launce, Ammodytes Lancea, is also held in high estima- tion as a bait for sea and hand lines, owing to its silvery brightness. It is for the former of these little fish that the Blue-Fish, Temnodon I THE GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 33 SaltatoTj and the Striped Bass, Labrax Lineatus, strike at the polished bone, pearl, or metal squid, as it is termed, of the fisher- man, when it is made to play with a rotatory motion, glancing through the water, in the wake of a swift-sailing boat, or in the surf upon the outer beaches. Having now accomplished the dry work of enumerating and classi- fying those of the fish of America, whether fresh or salt-water, which I consider worthy of the sportsman's notice, I shall proceed to describe them more or less briefly, according to the degree of interest attach- ing to their habits, migrations, growth, and breeding; and thereafter to the best and most improved mode of taking them ; best, 1 mean, as regards art, piscatorial science, and sport, not looking to the mere amount of slaughter, but considering in this instance the suaviter in modo, long before the merQ fortiter in re. And here I will venture to request my reader, who may have pro- ceeded thus far in this volume without finding very much to interest or enlighten him, not to lay by its pages in disgust ; as this portion, necessarily partaking much of the character of a catalogue, can hardly be expected to be very amusing, while I think I can promise that he will find something to awaken his interest, whether he be a scientific naturalist, or a mere sportsman, before he has advanced many pages farther; inasmuch, as thanks especially to the assistance of my good friend Professor Agassiz, and other correspondents, I believe I shall have the pleasure of laying before him something that is not only new, but curious and highly interesting concerning the growth, the breed- ing, and the varieties, several of them hitherto undescribed, of the family of Salmon, Salmonidcs, of North America, to the consideration of which I come without farther delay. AMERICAN FISHES. salmonidj:, THE SALMON FAMILY It must not be supposed, although, for want of reflection on the subject, many persons probably may expect it, that the closest observer and most accurate discriminator of the facts on which the science of the naturalist is founded, can lay down the law with regard to the habits, the food, the haunts, the appetites, or even the distinct species, of that portion of the animal creation which dwell for the most part unseen in the bosom of the waters, with the same certainty as he can those of domestic animals, or even of birds and beasts, fera tiaturd. Of the latter even, especially of wild birds, which emigrate from clime to clime with the change of seasons, there has been much diffi- culty in ascertaining the growth, the age, and the changes of plumage, from the immature to the adult animal, or from the winter to the sum- mer dress — so much so, that out of individuals differing in age, sex, or season, of the same family, and belonging to a single species, in many instances, two, three or more distinct varieties have been created by naturalists. Much has been effected, indeed, of late, in these particulars, owing to tb'> greater science and experience of modern naturalists — who now SALMONIDiS 35 prefer the investigation of facts to the building up plausible theories — to the greater diffusion of knowledge and love of scientific inquiry among the masses, and, in no slight degree, to the able and laborious system of experiments which have been set on foot and carried out by country gentlemen and sportsmen, to many of whom the world of letters is indebted for very interesting and remarkable discoveries. It is but a few years, comparatively speaking, since that accurate observer and delightful writer, Gilbert White, of Selborne, the most charming rural naturalist whom England — perhaps the world — has produced, thought it not unworthy of his time or talents to enter into a long train of investigation and argument, in order to prove that the Swallow — as then appears to have been largely, if not generally believed — did not pass the winter months in a torpid state, either in the hollows of decayed trees and caverns, or beneath the waters of stagnant pools and morasses. In like manner Mr. Audubon has been peculiarly minute in describ- ing the migrations of the Sora Rail, as witnessed by himself, for the purpose of counteracting the notion, which I myself still know to be prevalent among the vulgar and ignorant where these birds abound, that they burrow in the mud during the cold season, hybernating like the Marmot or the Bear. If, then, errors so gross were commonly in vogue concerning animals, the greater portion of whose life is spent before our very eyes ; which make their nests, rear their young, come and go visibly, and in such manner that their presence and absence, nay, the periods of their departure and return, must be observed even by the careless and inat- tentive looker-on ; much more is it to be expected that the habits, nay, the sexes, ages, and distinct species of fish, which rarely present themselves to the eyes even of the most curious inquirers, which come and go unseen and unsuspected, whose mysteries of generation and reproduction are all performed in a medium the least penetrable to the eyes of science, whose changes of size and color, from infancy to matu- rity, pass utterly beyond our ken, should have been misconceived, mis- interpreted, and misdescribed. Within the last few years more has been done to elucidate these oiysteries, and to bring us to an accurate knowledge of this interesting 36 AMERICAN FISHES. portion of the animal creation, than in many previous centuries ; and althouf'h much yet remains, infinitely more, doubtless, than has been done, still we have very recently attained mucli certain knowledge regarding several of the most interesting families ; we have arrived at results which, by simple deduction, show us how we may hope to arrive at more, having now obtained data wherefrom to advance and discover the process by which to do so. The means by which thus much has been accomplished, may be described briefly, as the taking nothing for granted, assuming nothing on hearsay beyond facts, and on investigating everything carefully and painfully, not following too readily preconceived opinions, nor being misled by mere external and superficial resemblances, but being guided by comparison and experiment, as founded in a great degree on ana- tomy and osteology. In the examination and comparison of fishes, the clear understand- ing of a few simple facts, which it is necessary to observe and record, will enable any sportsman to describe any supposed new variety or species, with such accuracy as to render his description of the highest value for scientific purposes ; to make it, in short, such that a naturalist shall be justified in pronouncing positively thereupon as to the genus, species, sex, and perhaps age, of the variety described or discovered. The first point to be observed is the nature of the fins, as hard-rayed and spiny, as in the Pearch, the Bass, and others which it is needless here to enumerate; or soft-rayed and flexible, as in the Pike, the Salmon, the Carp, and many more. The second, is the 'position of the fins; and to elucidate this point to the unscientific reader, I here subjoin an outline with references, to render this method of examina- tion comprehensible and easy of acquisition to anybody. The subject of this outline is the young of the Lake Trout, Salmo Trutta Lin. of the European continent. This figure, which is taken by permission from Mr. Agassiz' fine work, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons d^Eau douce de UEurope Centrah^ represents a young Sal- mon Trout, taken in the lake of Neufchatel, at the end of summer, less than a year old. The lower figure gives the outline of the same fish, as seen from above. Other cuts of the same simple description will show the formation of the head, the gill-covers and the dental SALMONIDJE. 37 Bystem, from whicli after the fins, and the number jf vertebrae, the specific distinctions are most easily ascertained. It will be seen clearly, at the slightest inspection of the beautiful little fish which has been selected as the subject of this cut, and which is a species of Lake Trout from the continent of Europe, that it has eight fins in all, including the tail, six of which are displayed in the lateral view, two being on the farther side ; and seven in the view of the back taken from above ; the eighth, which is indicated by a dotted line, being on the under part of the fish. Of these appendages, by which the motion, position in the water and direction of the animal are regulated ; the two nearest the head, one on either side, a a, are the pectorals; the two somewhat farther back, one on either side, bb, are the ventrals; the one on the under side, yet farther back, c, the anal; the tail, d, the caudal; and the two on the ridge of the back, ee, the dorsal ; f is the lateral line. These are all the denominations of fins possessed by any fish, although the number and size, as well as the structure, vary in the various species, which are thus easily distinguished. Of thes3 fins, all the classes offish, concerning which this book will treat, with one exception, the apodal Malaccptery gii^ one species of s^rhich will be slightly mentioned, all possess the following: — 38 AMERICAN FISHES. f- Two pectorals. Two ventrals. One anal. One caudal One dorsal. No fish has more than two pectorals, or two ventrals ; many have several anals, and several dorsals ; none, unless deformed or monstrous, has more than one caudal. The apodal Malacopierygiij of which I have spoken, lack the ven- trals entirely; wherefore their name apodal^ footless; the ventral being assumed as performing the function of feet in the quadruped, although somewhat fancifully. Now, on the texture of these fins is founded the distinction between the two first orders of fishes, as instituted by Baron Cuvier ; the first order, Acanthoptery gii^ having the rays, by which the filamentous part of the fins is supported and extended, in part hard, spinous, and in some species, sharp and prickly; whence the designation; ''' acan- thoSj^'' signifying a thorn ; while the second order, Malacoptery gii^ have these rays invariably soft and flexible, as the term, derived from " malacoSj^^ soft, sufiiciently indicates. This distinction is so easily drawn, that when once mentioned it cannot be missed or overlooked by the most superficial observer ; and as to one or other of these orders belongs every fish, without an excep- tion, of which the sportsman takes cognizance — I do not of course include shell-fish — its importance is self-evident. Of the spiny-finned fishes, though there are many families, and many species of each family, there are no great subordinate divisions. Of the flexible-finned fishes, on the contrary, there are three strongly-defined divisions, of which the largest is that containing The abdominal Malacopierygii ; in all of which the two ventral fins, BB, are situate on the belly, attached to the walls of the stomach, and deriving no support from the bones of the shoulder. To this divi- sion belongs, among many others, the subject of the outline cut on page 37, the European Lake Trout ; and, as a consequence, all the family of the Salmonida. The fishes of this division can be readily distinguished, on a mere external examination, by the fact that the SALMONID^. 39 ventral fins, bb, are situated much farther back than in those of the next division, occupying a position nearly longitudinally posterior to the pectorals, a a ; while in. those to which I next proceed, they are nearly vertically below them. The second grand division of the flexible-finned fishes consists of the Sub-brachial Malacopierygii; in all of which the ventral fins, bb, are placed very near to the pectorals, a a, the bones supporting the former being attached to the bones of the shoulder which support the latter. The term sub-brachial briefly expresses this formation, signi- fying " having lower arms " — to which human limb the reference is pointed by the connexion of the fin, in this division, to the shoulder. The third division of the flexible-finned fishes, to which I allude rather to complete the subject, than that they fall regularly into the angler's way, consists of those designated by Baron Cuvier as the Apodal Malacopterygii ; in all of which the ventrals are entirely wanting. To this division belong the families of MurcenidcBy and An- guillidcej Congers, Eels, and their congeners. First then, havinor noted whether the fish we desire to know more minutely has hard or flexible fin-rays, and then, having ascertained by the position of his ventral fins, if soft-finned, to which division he belongs, by examining the number and position, as well as the texture of the dorsal and anal fins, we shall speedily discover his family ; or if we have no book at hand to which we can refer, we can easily so describe him by letter to some competent person, as will enable him readily to enlighten us on the subject. To show the importance of possessing even the small degree of knowledge conveyed in these last few pages, I will merely observe that if the settlers of the shores of the Otsego had been even so far advanced in the science, they had not committed the blunder of mis- naming the excellent fish of their waters, the Otsego Bass ; when it is in truth one of the Salmon family — the former being a spiny, the latter a soft-finned family. A few steps more would have prevented our Southern friends from the commission of the absurdity of designating a variety of Weak- Fish as Trout — two fish which have not the most remote connexion ; and so on ad infinitum. 40 AMERICAN FISHES. All the family of SalmonidcE^ or Salmons, have two dorsal fins, as will be observed in the outline figure on page 37 ; the hinder one of which has no rays, but is merely a fleshy or fatty appendage. Had the Otsegoites known this simple fact, they would at once have per- ceived that their fish not only was not a Bass, but was a Salmon. And this same degree of attainment would have prevented the application of the misnomer Trout to the Weak-Fish. I have observed this very day, in the columns of a distinguished weekly journal, an offer on the part of a correspondent to describe the habits, &c., of the Susque- Hannah Salmon ! There being notoriously no Salmon in that or any Southern stream, although the Brook Trout abound in its upper waters, I venture at once to predict that this Salmon will turn out to be the fish described by DeKay as Lucioperca Americana, and vari- ously called Ohio Salmon and Ohio Pickerel ; being neither, but a species of the Pearch family, with one spiny dorsal fin. I hope these brief facts will induce sportsmen to give a little atten- tion to this subject ; and that they will not be alarmed by the harsh- ness or apparent difficulty of a few foreign terms, nor suffer themselves fo be deterred by a mere show of trouble from acquiring, in a few minutes, that which will surely give them years of gratification. More direct instruction in regard to the mode of observation, and the point to be observed, will be given under the head of each par- ticular fish, in the body of the work ; but I will here point out that it is very well to note down the number of rays severally contained in the pectoral, ventral, anal, caudal, and dorsal fins of any fish which is suspected of being an undescribed or distinct variety ; as on this, as well as on the shape of these appendages, much depends in distin- guishing individual species of the same family. I will here, in corroboration of the last remark, state in two words, that next to the arrangement of the gill-covers, of which more anon, the fact on which Yarrel relies most strongly for distinguishing the Bull-Trout, Salmo Eriox, from the true Salmon, Salmo Salar, is this, that the caudal fin of the former is convex, while that of the latter is more or less concave, or forked, in proportion to the age of the individual fish. I shall now pass to the consideration of the gill-covers, the appa SALMONIDJE. 41 ratus by means of which the fish breathes ; in other words, by which the oxygen is separated from the water, in which the animal exists, as it enters by the mouth and passes out at the aperture of the gills, con- veying its influence to the blood in its passage. This apparatus being of course of the highest degree of importance 10 the animal, varies in form and structure according to the various exigencies of the di|Eerent species to which it is attached ; and it is therefore of great value to the observer in distinguishing one family, and even one species of the same family, from another. With regard to the family of which we are now treating, the Sal- monidcRj beyond all question the most important and most interesting to the sportsman, as being the gamest, boldest, and strongest of all the fish with which he has to do, and to the epicure likewise, as afibrd- ing the greatest varieties of the most delicious food, the remarks I am about to make have especial application. Of no other family known to the sportsman, are the species so numerous, and so dijfficult of definition ; and not only the truly distinct species, but the subordinate varieties, produced in the same species by difference of food, of water, of bottom-ground in the lakes or rivers haunted by each, and even by the degrees of light or shadow which affects the localities which they haunt. These varieties, often differ- ing by many pounds' weight, colors in the broadest sense of the word, not tints or shades of hue, quality of flesh, and shape, are by no means to be set down as distinct and permanent species ; for it will be found that a transposition of these from one place to another, and even the regular course of reproduction, will bring them back to the original or normal type. What strikes us, moreover, at first sight, as in no small degree singular, is the fact, that different varieties of one species will very frequently differ more widely from one another, and from the original type, so far as those externals which strike the mere superficial obser rer, than entirely distinct and immutable species. This it is which so often leads common and vulgar-minded persons, who are in the habit of boasting that they believe their own eyes only, and resorting to other absurdities of that kind, and who will not take the trouble of connecting causes and effects, or considering logical 4 42 AMERICAN FISHES. consequences, to disregard, and even to hold in contempt, the teach- ings of scientific men, as mere theoretical dreamers, useless coiners of hard terms, and founders of distinctions, founded upon no difference. Such, I am sorry to say, is too often the habit of sportsmen ; who will frequently give ear to the superstitious and absurd garrulity of some rustic ignoramus, who pronounces his absolute yea or nay upon some fact about which he is utterly ignorant, an^ who has no earthly qualification for judging on the qualities of the bird, beast, or fish in question, t lan that of having seen it so often that he ought to know something about it, which he does not ; while they turn away contemp- tuously, or listen coldly to the teachings of the man, whose arguments are founded upon facts that cannot err, upon deductions drawn from difierences of anatomical structure, permanent from generation to gene- ration, and liable to no modification by the change of external circum- stances. This it is which renders the structure of the fins, the shape of the gills, the system of the teeth, and other matters of the same kind, which pass wholly unnoticed by the clod-hopping hunter, of all import- ance in distinguishing one species from another ; while the size, the weight, the color and number of the spots, things to which he will point as decisive with all the pig-headed presumption of self-conceited ignorance, are of little, if any weight, as varying in individuals, and not transmitted, like to like, through generations. Almost all the really distinct species of the Sahnonidce are distin- guished principally one from another by the form of the head and the structure of the gills in the first degree, and by the dental system in the second. Any permanent and unvarying difi'erence in these, coupled to other variations of color, form, habit, or the like, which might otherwise be deemed casual, being held sufficient to constitute a distinct species. Many discoveries have been made through these means of late years , many varieties, which were formerly supposed to be truly distinct, having been proved to be identical ; and many new species discovered — the tendency of the whole having been to simplify, and to diminish the number of species, in the upshot, and thereby to decrease th3 labors of the student, and to facilitate the acquisition of science. SALMONID^. 43 Mucli, however, yet remains to be done, as will be rendered evident by tbe consideration that, even in so circumscribed a territory as Great Britain, every water of which has been explored, and, it may be pre- sumed, almost every fish submitted to the examination of scientific men, great doubts yet exist concerning many forms, especially of this family of SalmonidcBy whether they are absolutely distinct, or merely casual varieties, incapable of reproduction. In this country, with its boundless lakes and gigantic rivers — all those to the northward and eastward, and all those feeding the tribu- taries, or lying in the vast basin, of the St. Lawrence, as well as all those on the western or Pacific coast, flowing down through the Sacra- mento and Columbia, or wasting in the arid sands or wet morasses of the Great Central Basin, all teeming with varieties, perhaps distinct species of the Salmon — what a vast, what an unexplored field for the sportsman, the naturalist ; and how doubly charming for him who unites in one individual both capacities. But two distinct varieties of the American Lake Trout, or at the most three, are as yet made out — for I think it doubtful whether there be any positive grounds on which to establish a distinction between the Salmo Confinis of DeKay, known in the Eastern States and New York as the common Lake Trout, and the Salmo Ameihystus of Mitchil, known as the Mackinaw Salmon. The Salmo Siskawitz of Agassiz, discovered in the course of the past summer in lakes Superior and Huron, is clearly a marked and perma- nent species. That there is yet one other distinct species, the Sebago Lake Trout, I fully believe, but only having heard, of it by oral description, I dare not take upon myself, without examination and comparison, to decide the question. Again ; another huge fish is constantly mentioned as taken at times in the lakes of Hamilton county, in New York, which, if it be not, as [ believe it is, a gigantic casual variety of the common Brook Trout, Salmo Fontinalisy is certainly a distinct fish. A slight examination of the gills, teeth, and fins, will at once settle this point. Of the common Trout, but one species is as yet firmly ascertained, unless the Red-bellied Trout, Salmo Erytkrogaster^ of DeKay, prove to be a distinct form ; which I, for one, do not at all believe. The Troutlet of that author is merely the young of the common Trout. 44 AMERICAN FISHES. Whether th 3re exists a Salmon Trout or Silver Trout, Salmo Trutta Marina^ at all in American waters, apart from the Salmon-peal, Grilse and common Trout, having access to salt-water, likewise remains to be proved, by the aid of those easy methods of examination, the use of which I so earnestly desire to impress upon my friends and fellow- sportsmen, not merely as an aid to science, but as an immense addition to their own individual gratification, when in pursuit of their finny prey by the wild margin of some far woodland lake, or on the rocky borders of some lone torrent of the wilderness. That many new species, entirely unsuspected and undescibed, still remain to be found and recorded in our waters, I hold to be undoubted ; when they will be discovered, or by whom, is another question ; for I regret to say it, as yet the spirit of science, and the desire to facili- tate and assist the inquiries of the man of letters, has scarcely pene- trated the breast of the American sportsman ; and while, in England and on the European Continent, many the most distinguished corres- pondents of the literary and scientific institutions of those lands are sportsmen, who have contributed most highly to the advancement of knowledge by their investigations, experiments and contributions, we can, on this side, alas ! point to but two or three of the sporting frater- nity who have cared to record themselves as anything more than killers of animals ; of the habits, characteristics, and even names of which they are but too often grossly ignorant. A few there are, it is true, who aspire to higher things, and who are actuated by something more than the mere love of killing, the mere ambition of boasting of bag; and among these, may their num- ber increase daily it will not, 1 hope, be deemed impertinent to specify the author of " The Birds of Long Island," who, from a sports- man of no secondary skill or energy, has successfully aspired to the honors of a naturalist; and has most deservedly acquired, as such, no small degree of celebrity and favor. From this short excursion, into which I have been naturally led in the course of my subject, I return to the description of the gill- covers of fish, and thereafter to the dental system, the method of com- paring which I shall lay down briefly for the use of the learner, and then proceed at once to the history of sporting-fishes. SALMONID^. 45 The subject, which 1 now present, is the head of the Silver Trout of Europe, Salmo Lacustris, a species found in the large lakes of that continent. The figure is copied, by permiBsion, from Professor Agassiz' great work on the " Fresh-water Fishes of Central Eui'ope." The gill-covers of all the fishes of the three first divisions, with which alone we have to do, consist of four principal parts, and their use is to close the aperture behind the gills, which in all these three divisions is so formed, and so freely or loosely suspended, that the water bathes in its passage every part of their surface. These parts are, the pre-operculum, or fore-gill-cover. No. 1 ; the operculum, or gill-cover proper. No. 2 ; the sub-operculum, or under- gill-cover. No. 3 ; and the inter -operculum, or intermediate gill-cover, No. 4. The branchiostegous rays, as they are termed, are indicated by No. 5; and the fixed plates, forming the posterior immovable mar- gin of the gill-covers, by No. 6. N. 7. indicates the pectoral fin. How widely these parts differ in form, in different species of the Salmon tribe, will become at once apparent by a comparison between the gill-covers in the figure above, and those of the true Salmon, Sal- mo Salar, and the Bull-Trout, Salmo Eriox, Nos. 2 and 3, on the following cut, which, with these, presents a view of the interior of the mouth and the dental system of the common Trout, Salmo Fario, of Great Britain. 46 AMERICAN FISHES. D C J3SiS/L In figure 2 of this cut, representing tlie gill-cover of the true Salmon, it will strike any casual observer that the hinder margin of the whole covering forms nearly a semicircle, while that of No. 3, the Bull Trout, approaches more nearly to a rectangular figure. In the former, the ^re-ojperculum^ fore-gill-cover, a, difi"ers from the same part, similarly marked, in No. 3, it being more rectilinear; while the operculum^ gill-cover proper, b, of the former slopes hindward and backward; the same portion, b, in No. 3, cutting in a horizontal line upon the joints of the sub-operculum and inter -ojierculum. And in all respects both differ entirely from the arrangement of the same parts in the head of the Silver Trout, exhibited in the cut last preceding at page 45. The most striking consequence of these differences is, that a straight line, drawn backward from the front teeth of the upper jaw, the mouth being closed, to the longest posterior projection of the gill- cover, will, in the three fish, run at a totally different angle to the horizontal line of the body ; and will occupy an entirely different situ- ation in respect to the eye ; such a line in the head of the Salmon. Salmo Salar, and in the Silver Trout, Salmo Lacustris^ passing close below the orbit of the eye ; while in that of the Bull Trout, Salmo ErioXy it will run obliquely very far below it. This distinction is very easy of observation, and is extremely im- portant in the definition of species ; as indeed is everything connected SALMONID.E. 47 with tlie form and peculiarities of the head, not forgetting its relative proportion to the entire length of the body. Of no less value is the arrangement of the teeth in the different classes, families and species of fish ; there being, on this point, infinitely greater variety than can be imagined by persons who have given their attention only to the structure of quadrupeds. " The teeth," says Mr. Yarrel, in the introduction to his fine work on British Fishes — from which I have taken the liberty of borrowing the last cut, descriptive of the gill-covers and dental system of the Salmon, Bull-Trout, and common Trout — " of fishes are so constant, as well as permanent in their characters, as to be worthy of particular attention. In the opinion of the best icthyologists, they are second only to the fins, which in their number, situation, size and form, are admitted to be of first-rate importance. " Some fishes have teeth attached to all the bones that assist in form- ing the cavity of the mouth and pharynx, to the intermaxillary, the maxillary, and palatine bones, the vomer, the tongue, the branchial arches supporting the gills, and the pharyngeal bones. Sometimes the teeth are uniform in shape on the various bones, at others difiering. One or more of these bones are sometimes without teeth of any sort ; and there are fishes that have no teeth whatever on any of them. The teeth are named according to the bones upon which they are placed ; and are referred to, as maxillary, intermaxillary, palatine, vomerine, &c. — depending upon their position. " A reference to page 46, will show the situation of the teeth in the Trout, with five rows on the upper surface of the mouth, and foui rows below; the particular bones upon which these rows are placed, are also referred to." Mr. Yarrel then proceeds to descant, somewhat too largely for extraction in a work of this description, on the form, position and uses of the various teeth in different families of fishes ; but the gist of his remarks I prefer combining under the heads of the various ' fishes to which they belong; and I shall only add here, that in some species the teeth are arranged as in the Salmonidce, in duplicate or triplicate rows of single teeth; in others in dsnse patches^ occupying sometimes the greater part of the palate, set like the bristles on a shoe-brush, as in the Esocidm or Pike family ; and again in others, as the species 48 AMERICAN FISHES. Labrax^ of the family Percidce^ to whicli belongs our own noble Skriped Bass, they cover the whole tongue, besides being thickly set on the palate The position and shape of these teeth indicate as clearly the habits, mode of feeding, and the food, of the various families to which they belong, as do the teeth of the carnivorous, ruminating, or gnawing quadrupeds inform the naturalist whether the creature, of which the jaw-bone only lies before him, fed on animal substances, on grass, on grain, or on the bark and hard-shelled nuts of trees ; or as the beaks and bills of birds tell the experienced looker-on whether the owner was a bird of prey, an insect-eating warbler, or a grain-cracker. The distinction, therefore, which is founded upon the difference of the teeth in different fishes, is by no means fanciful, or resorted to merely to enable naturalists to display their ingenuity in making definitions, and multiplying species, as many people stolidly imagine; but is real and permanent, as representing the great sub-divisions of the dwellers of the waters, as those which feed on living, those which feed on dead animals of their own species, as insect-eaters, or mas- ticators of hard shell-fish, and so forth, unto the end. Differences, which even the most bigotted enemy of scientific distinctions must admit to be as real, and true in nature, as those between the tiger and the wolf, the ox that chews his cud, and the horse which fattens at the manger. I have known a sage coroner in England, who was wont to indulge in sapient ridicule of the learned professions, and to sneer at anatomi- cal and physiological distinctions, who gravely sat in inquest over some exhumed bones, and solemnly recorded a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown, the skeleton, when examined, taming out to be that of a defunct cow. Such instances are becoming, I am happy to say, rare, as regards men in general, and those sciences which regard the human race, and domestic animals. Why it should not be so with the sports- man, I know not ; but too true it is, that most of that fraternity obsti- nately adhere to ancient error, even when it is clearly pointed out ; and attempt to ridicule the man of letters as a mere theorist^ and unpractical, for attempting to correct them in their blunders of nomenclature, whereby they confuse all the tribes of the earth, the SALMONID^. 49 air, and the water, and all the things that have life, whether animax or vegetable, therein. Little are they aware how fantastic are the tricks which they play, " like angry apes before high heaven," in the eyes of all those, whether naturalists or sportsmen, who do not confound conceit with knowledge, or wit with impertinent vulgarity. I shall now proceed to a few observations with regard to the figure No. 1, in the last wood-cut, on page 46, which represents the inte- rior of the mouth, opened to the utmost, of the common Trout olf Great Britain and the European continent, Salmo Fario ; which is selected by Mr. Yarrel as "showing" — to borrow his own words — "the most complete series of teeth among the Salmonidce ; and the value of the arrangement, as instruments for seizure and prehension, arising from the interposition of the different rows, the four lines of teeth on the lower surface alternating, when the mouth is closed, with the five rows on the upper surface, those on the vomer shutting in between the two rows on the tongue," &c. In this cut, letter a represents the situation of the row of teeth that is fixed on the central bone of the roof of the mouth, called the vomer, from some fancied resemblance to the share of a plough, for which the word used is the Latin term ; bb, refer to the teeth on the right and left palatine bones; c, to the row of hooked teeth on each side of the tongue; dd, to the row of teeth outside the palatine bones, on the upper jaw, which are those of the superior maxillary bones; and ee, to the outside row on the maxillary bones of the lower jaw. Now it will readily be understood what is the importance of exam- ining carefully this system of teeth, in the different varieties of the salmon family, whether called Salmon, Salmon Trout, Lake Trout, Brook Trout, or any other local name whatsoever ; when it is stated that the distinct species are very strongly and permanently indicated by the number of teeth found in each upon the vomer, central bone of the roof the mouth. In the true Salmon, the teeth on the vomer very rarely exceed two ; and sometimes there is but one. In the Bull-Trout, the teeth are longer and stronger than those of the true Salmon ; but, like that fish, he has but two, or at most three teeth on the vomer ; he is distinguished, according to the authorities, 60 AMERICAN FISHES. by the different formation of his gill-covers, and the convex forn? of his caudal fin, whence he is said to be termed the Round-tail in the river Annan, in Scotland. This fish is unknown in America, and is merely mentioned for the sake of example and illustration. In the Salmon Trout of Great Britain, Salmo Trutta Lin., a mi- gratory fish, growing to a very large size, the teeth extend nearly the whole length of the vomer, thereby establishing a distinction between this and the two aforenamed species. Of the common Trout, we have already seen the dental arrange- ment. In the two distinct varieties of Lake Trout, recognised by authorities in Great Britain, which are non-migratory, and analogous to our Lake Trout ; viz — In the Great Gray Trout, or Loch Awe Trout, Salmo Ferox, which is common to most of the large Scottish and Irish inland waters, and which is pronounced by Mr. Agassiz to be distinct from any of the continental Lake Trout, — these teeth extend along the whole length of the vomer. And in the Lochleven Trout, Salmo Levenensis^ sive Ccecifer, Walk- er and Palmer, if it be a distinct species from the common Trout, Salmo Fario^ as appears to be conceded — although I must say I doubt it, as I do the Gillaroo, which, however, is more doubtful — there are thirteen teeth on the vomer, extending through its whole length. It would be well, indeed, if American anglers would take a little pains about the examination of these points, and would note them down in their tablets — in which, doubtless, they insert the weight of their captives — together with the relative proportion of the length of the head to that of the entire body ; the form of the gill-covers ; and rela- tive position of the eye to a line drawn from the front teeth to the lower posterior angle of the operculum or suboperculum, as it may be ; the number of rays in each of the several fins ; and especially the form of the caudal fin-tail — whether forked, concave, square, or convex. A very few memoranda on such points as these, accurately recorded, and assisted, where practicable, by the roughest sketch, would be of greater utility to the cause of science, than can be readily imagined ; and we should undoubtedly soon arrive at facts of great importance, and perhaps discover some new and interesting species of this most interesting family SALMONID^. 51 At all events, we should not be tantalized by information so vague and indefinite as that conveyed in a note to the appendix, contributed by the members of the Piseco club to Dr. Bethune, for the beautiful and valuable edition of Walton's Angler recently given to the Ameri- can world — ^with notes on American fishing, the only fault of which is their brevity — by that accomplished fisherman and erudite scholar, who takes no shame to be held a follower of the gentle art, and to possess the finest piscatorial library owned in the United States, whether by private individual or collective body. " In June of this year," says the nota to which I have reference, '^ the president of this club killed a red-Jleshed Lake Trout of 24 lbs. weight !" And no more ! Information of the same kind has been given to me by Mr. C. Web BER, the author of some pleasant letters on Hamilton County Fishing, published during the past year in the columns of the New York Courier and Enquirer ; but, unfortunately, none of the fortunate takers have noted any points relative to this fish, on which any deliberate opinion can be formed. The flesh of the ordinary Lake Trouts of America, Conftms, Ame- tkystusy and Siskawitz, are all pale, dingy, yellowish buff, tasteless, coarse, muddy, and flaccid. It seems to be admitted that the red-fleshed Lake Trout is of more brilliant external coloring than the common variety. This is the fish of which I have spoken at page 43, as being un questionably a distinct species, if not an overgrown and gigantic variety of the Brook Trout, Sahno Fontinalis. This latter, I believe to be the case ; though it is impossible to pronounce positively, without seeing the fish, and instituting careful comparison. The fishermen of that district, on the lake, assert, I understand, positively that this is not the case ; but of course their opinion is utterly valueless, being founded on some such admirable reason as that the Brook Trout never grows to be above five or six pounds ; meaning only that they have never seen what they take to be one over that average. Just in the same manner, a person used to take fish only in the small mountain brooks of Maine, New Hampshire, or Vermont, might tell you quite as plausibly, quite as positively, and quite as truthfully — so far as his miserable experience of truth goes — that the 62 AMERICAN FISHES. Brook Trout never grows to be above half a pound — nor does it in his waters. The common Trout of England, Salmo Fario^ which is so closely connected with our Brook Trout, Salvia Fontinalis, as to be constantly mistaken for it by casual observers, is continually taken in the larger rivers, especially the Thames, and in some of the Irish waters, from ten to fifteen pounds in weight. Mr. Yarrel, when preparing his British Fishes, had a minute before him of six Trout taken in the Thames, above Oxford, by minnow-spinning, which weighed together fifty-four pounds, the largest weighing thirteen pounds ; and one is recorded in the transactions of the Linnsean Society as having been taken on the 1st of January, 1822, in a little stream ten feet wide, branching from the Avon at the back of Castle-street, Salisbury, which on being taken out of the water was found to weigh twenty-five pounds. These instances, which are beyond dispute, in relation to a species so closely related to our fish as the Salmo Fario, render it anything but improbable that it too, in favorable situations, should grow to an equal size ; nor is there any reason for doubting it, since it is known to grow to the weight of five or six pounds, within a few ounces of which latter weight I have myself seen it •, and there is no natural or phy- sical analogy by which we should set that weight as the limit to its increase. Should these remarks call the attention of sportsmen to a matter of deep interest, and elicit from them occasional records of examina- tions, which none can institute so well as they, their end will be fully answered, and these pages will not have been thrown away. We now come at once to the history of this family, and first, as best, to that of the true Salmon. This being the noblest and most game in its character of all fishes, as I have observed before, once abounding in all waters eastward of the Hudson, and still, though it has now ceased to exist in numbers, west of the Penobscot, and even there can be rarely taken with the fly, is still the choicest pursuit of the American angler, although he may be now compelled to seek it in the difficult and uncleared basins of the Nova Scotian rivers; in the Northern tributaries of the huge St. Lawrence ; or yet farther to the Westward, in the streams of the Columbia and the cold torrents of Oregon, all of which contain the SALMONID.E. 53 true Salmon, with many other noble and distinct varieties, in un- equalled numbers. Of this glorious fish, of its generation, migrations, growth, and habits, no much has been discovered within, comparatively speaking, a few years, that I am enabled to present a considerable number of facts, which will be doubtless new to many of my readers, and which may be received as ascertained and authenticated beyond the possibility of doubt. 54 AMERICAN FISHES. ABDOMINAL MALACOPTERTGII. SALMONIDiB. jSi^^c Salmon Pinks, npto six months old. THE SALMON. THE COMMON SALMON, THE TRUE SALMON, Pink, first year, Smolt, second year. Peal or Grilsbc, second autumn. — Salmo Salar, Auctorum, British Fishes,, vol. ii. p. 1. DeKay, vol. iv. Although this noble fish has never been made the subject, so far as I know, of any of the strange and monstrous fables which have obtained concerning many others of the inhabitants of the waters — as for instance the Pike, of which old Izaak tells us, " it is not to be doubted, but that they are bred, some by generation, and some not, as namely, of a weed called pickerel-weed, unless learned Gessner be much mistaken ; for he says, this weed and other glutinous matter, with the help of the sun's heat, in some particular months, and some ponds adapted for it by nature, do become Pikes" — still, until within the last few years, very little has been known with certainty concerning him in his infancy, and during the earlier stages of his growth. " The Salmon," says Izaak Walton, " is accounted the king of fresh-water fish, and is ever bred in rivers relating to the sea, yet so high or far from it as to admit no tincture of salt or brackishness. He is said to breed or cast his spawn, in most rivers, in the month of <::i ^ > r— m m GO ^ > -n 1 — :a3 m S oo Cl3 IE 2 ^ 33 • ^ (z: ^ 2: CO > -rn r- ^ >D S to 2 ^ -H Q/i IL > m > CO :3o SALMONIDiE 55 August ; some say that then they dig a hole or grave in a safe place in the gravel, and there place their eggs or spawn, after the melter has done his natural office, and then hide it most cunningly, and cover it over with gravel and stones ; and there leave it to their Creator's protection, who, by a gentle heat which he infuses in that cold element, makes it brood and beget life in the spawn, and to become Samlets early in the next spring following." This passage I have quoted because in several respects it approaches very nearly the truth, as it has been proved by the result of a series of well-con'^ucted experiments, to which I shall again allude. The true Salmon is caught in the estuaries of our large northern and north-eastern rivers, on his way up to deposit his spawn in the last months of spring and the early part of the summer. It has been observed in Europe, that those rivers which flow from large lakes aflford the earliest Salmon, the waters having been purifiad by deposition in the lakes, while those which are swollen by melting snows are later in season. It is also observed that the northern rivers are the earliest ; and it is stated by Artedi, that in Sweden, Salmon spawn in the middle of the summer. The causes influencing these facts are not yet decided nor are they easy of solution, says Sir William Jardine, especially where the time varies much in the neighboring rivers of the same district. I am not aware that any difference of this kind has been remarked m this country ; and the great lack of residents on the remote Salmon rivers who will trouble themselves to observe and record such facts as daily occur under their eyes, renders it very difficult to obtain such information as might assist one in coming to any conclusion. So far as I can judge, however, this difference does not occur on this part of this continent at least ; nor do I believe that the Salmon are earlier in their appearance in the St. Lawrence, which flows through the largest chain of fresh-water lakes in the world, than the St. John's, or the Penobscot, which lie farther to the south, and have no lakes of any magnitude on their waters. It must be mentioned, however, here, that all these rivers are equally swollen by melting snows ; and that, being frozen solidly until late in the spring, the period of their open« ing naturally connects itself with the appearance of the fish. 56 AMERICAN FISHES. The Connecticut fiver, whicli has no large lake on its course, and is the southernmost of all the rivers which have furnished Salmon for many years past, has ceased to be a Salmon river ; or some facts might have been ascertained through observation of its waters. The Kennebec also, though formerly an unrivalled Salmon river, is becom- ing yearly less productive of this fine fish. I am inclined to think, however, that it is the earliest Salmon river on this side of the Ameri- can continent ; with the Arctic rivers I have of course nothing to do ; and of the rivers or natural productions of California, Oregon, and the Pacific coast, we shall know nothing on which reliance can be placed, until the gold-hunting hordes are replaced by a stationary and organ- ised population. The mouth of the Kennebec is about one degree to the southward and westward of the Penobscot, and flows out of a large sheet of water, Moosehead lake, which abounds in the common Lake Trout, growing to a very large size, the Salmo Confinis of DeKay. I presume that the true Salmon no longer has the power of making his way up to the head-waters of this beautiful and limpid stream, in consequence of the numerous and lofty dams which bar its course ; but of this I am not certain. The Salmon enters our rivers, then, rarely before the middle of May, and is taken in their estuaries so late as the end of July ; and during the early part of the season, nearly indeed until the latter date, does not ascend far- above tide-water, generally going up with the flood, and returning with the ebb. At this time they are taken by thousands in stake-nets, on the Penobscot and other eastern rivers, and sent thence, packed in ice, to the markets of all the larger cities of the United States. At the time of their first entering the fresh-water, when they are in the highest possible condition, in the greatest perfection of flesh and flavor, and at the height of external beauty, they are of a rich trans- parent blueish-black, varied with greenish reflections along the back, these colors gradually dying away as they approach and pass the lateral line, below which the belly is of the most b3autiful glistening silvery whiteness. The dorsal, caudal, and pectoral fins, are dusky black, the small fatty second dorsal fin bluish -black, the central fins white on the outer side, but somewhat darker within, and the anal fin silvery white, like the belly. SALMONID^ 57 There are generally a few dark spots dispersed along the body abont the lateral line ; and in the female fish these are more numerous and conspicuous than in the males. The accompanying cut, facing page 54, is of a female, fresh run from the sea, and is copied, by permission, from the figure by Son- rel, in Mr. Agassiz's great work alluded to above. The individual from which the figure is taken, was caught in the neighborhood of Havre-de-Grace, in France ; but the Salmon of the two continents are identical. 1 will here observe, en passant, that whenever it has been in my power to obtain specimens, either living or in spirits, I have myself drawn the figures from nature on the wood ; but where, from the season of the year, or other causes, I have been unable to obtain that advantage, I have copied my illustrations from the best authorities, where I could find plates or drawings which I deemed satisfactory. In the absence of either, I have left the fish unrepresented, in prefer- ence to giving incorrect caricatures of the animal — such as disgrace too many works of natural history, and, I am sorry to say, among others, the great Natural History lately published by the State of New York, the illustrations of which are below contempt as works of art, and, in a scientific view, utterly useless, and uncharacteristic. After they have gained the upper and shallow parts of the rivers, preparatory to the deposition of their spawn, the colors of the Salmon are materially altered; the male becomes marked on the cheek with orange-colored stripes, the lower jaw acquires a peculiar projection, and turns upward at the point in a hard, hooked, cartilaginous excres- cence, which, when the mouth is closed, occupies a hollow between the mtermaxillary bones. The body of the fish becomes greenish above, with the sides of an orange hue, fading into yellowish-green on the belly, and the spots assume a sanguine hue, the dorsal and caudal fins being more or less spotted. The females at this season are even darker than on their arrival in fresh water. The males are at this period termed Red-fish in Great Britain, and the females Black-fish ; and they are so designated in the very salutary enactments which, in that country, by protecting the fish during their 5 58 AMERICAN FISHES. season of breeding, have preserved them from extirpation ; enactments which, as cannot be too much regretted or too strongly reprobated, the recalcitrative and over-independent spirit of our people will not tolerate, much less obey. The time will come, when the population at large will deplore this foolish and discreditable spirit ; when, like him who slew the goose which laid the golden eggs, they find that by their own ultra-demo- cratic spirit, they are deprived entirely and forever of a great source of national pleasure, as well as national profit and wealth — for such are the fisheries of a country. During the winter the fish go through the process of spawning, which is thus described by Mr. Ellis, in his " Natural History of the Salmon," as quoted by Yarrel in his " British Fishes: " " A pair of fish are seen to make a furrow, by working up the gravel with their noses, rather against the stream, as a Salmon cannot work with his head down stream, for the water then going into his gills the wrong way, drowns him. When the furrow is made, the male and female retire to a little distance, one to the one side, and the other to the other side of the furrow; they then throw themselves on their sides, again come together, and rubbing against each other, both shed their spawn into the furrow at the same time. This process is not completed at once ; it requires from eight to twelve days for them to lay all their spawn, and when they have done they betake them to the pools, and descend to the sea, to refresh themselves." "At this time they are lean, out of condition, and unfit for food. Meanwhile, the female has acquired a grayish color on the back, with bright yellow sides. She is covered above the lateral line, including the dorsal and caudal fins, with alternate dusky and ruddy spots. Her pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are of a bluish gray color. She is now a long, lank, big-headed, flat-sided fish, as unlike as possible to the beautifully-formed glistening creature which ran up the stream in the preceding autumn. She is now termed properly a baggit, and the male a kipper ; and the two, generally, kelts. Before entering the salt-water, they linger awhile in the brackish water of the tide-ways, as they did on ascending the rivers, obtaining. SALMONID^. 59 it is said, thereby a release from certain parasitical animals, gene- rated, these by the fresh, those by the salt water, at each change of waters. In Great Britain, the period of the Salmon's spawning varies from November to the end of January. They have been carefully watched during the whole process, as have the eggs after their deposition, so that the length of time which it takes them to attain to maturity is accurately known. This time has been ascertained by Mr. Shaw, in a series of experiments, of which I shall have occasion to speak more fully hereafter, to be about 114 days, when the temperature of the water is - - 36° 101 days, ------ 43° 90 days, - - - - - - 45° These experiments were performed in the open air, and in natural streams, liable to the ordinary influences of the atmosphere and weather. Dr. Knox, however, as is recorded in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, observed a pair of Salmon which completed their spawning, and covered up their ova with gravel, in the usual way, on the 2d of November. This was in one of the northern tribu- taries of the Tweed. On the 25th of February, or at the end of one hundred and sixteen days, the ova were dug up, and found unchanged. On being removed, however, at this stage, and placed in bottles of water in warm rooms, the eggs were matured almost immediately, and the young fry hatched. In this state they can be preserved in the bottles, with the water un- changed, for about ten days, as during that time they are supported on the yolk of the egg which adheres to the under part of their bodies, as exhibited in figure 1 on the cut at the head of this article. On the 23d of March, according to Dr. Knox, the ova began to change, and* it was not until the 1st of April that the fry were found to have quitted the beds. Mr. Shaw's experiments were, however, so conducted as to furnish data on which more reliance may be placed ; and as these are of the greatest interest, and as from experiments similarly conducted, farther results of a different kind might be attained, of surpassing importance^ I shall state them somewhat at length. 60 AMERICAN FISHES. A full account will be found, by tbose who desire to investigate the subject more thoroughly, in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for July, 1836, and January, 1838. Mr. Shaw, it seems, caused three ponds to be made, of different size, at about fifty yards distance from a Salmon river, the Erith, the ponda being supplied by a stream of spring-water, well furnished with the larvae of insects. The average temperature of the water in the rivulet was rather higher and less variable than of that in the river ; other- wise the circumstances of the ova contained in the ponds, and of the young fry produced therefrom, were precisely similar to those of the spawn and fry in the river. These ponds were all two feet deep, with well-gravelled bottoms, the highest pond eighteen feet by twenty-two, the second eighteen by twenty-five, the third thirty by fifty. Observing two Salmon, male and female, in the river preparing to deposit their spawn, Mr. Shaw prepared in the shingle, by the stream's edge, a small trench, through which he directed a stream of water from the river, and at the lower extremity of the trench, placed a large earthenware basin to receive the ova. This done, by means of a hoop- net he secured the two fish which he had observed ; and placing the female, while alive, in the trench, forced her, by gentle pressure of her body, to deposit her ova in the trench. The male fish was then placed in the same position, and a quantity of the milt being pressed from his body, passed down the stream, and thoroughly impregnated the ova, which were then transferred to the basin, and thence to the small stream which fed the upper pond, where they were covered up in the gravel as usual. The temperature of the stream was 40°, that of the river 36°. The skins of the Salmon were preserved, in order to prevent the possibility of doubt or cavilling concerning the species The male fish, when taken, weighed sixteen, the female eight pounds The result was, that the young fish were hatched, as I have stated in the scale above given . When first emerging from the membrane in which it had been enclosed, with the yolk adhering to the abdomen, the young fry is as it is shown in No. 1, of the cut referred to above. The yolk is absorbed in twenty-seven days, after which the young fish require nourishment. At the end of two months, the young fish has attained the length of an inch and a quarter, as represented at SALMONID^. 61 Ino. 2 ; and at the age of six months, he has grown to the size of three inches and a quarter, and, except in dimensions, is exactly rendered in No. 3 of the above cut. From these facts we arrive at two consequences. First, that the growth of the young Salmon has been greatly overrated ; and, secondly, that at a certain period of its life the Salmon is a Parr. The extent to which the growth of the Salmon has been overrated, will be per- ceived at once, when it is shown that Dr. Knox, in the paper from which I have already quoted, states that the fry which emerged from their capsules on the 1st of April, were taken, on the 22d of the same month, in the same year, as Smolts, with the fly, of the size of the little finger. It was also generally believed that the fry of the year descended to the sea that very spring, and returned, in the autumn, grilse, varying from two to seven pounds weight. ft is distinctly shown, however, by Mr. Shaw, that the young Sal- mon, which is called a Pink while in the state represented above, having perpendicular lateral bars or markings of a dusky gray color, which were once supposed to be peculiar to the Parr, does not become a Smolt, or go down to the sea until the second spring, tarrying a whole year in the fresh water. Salmon Smolt, one year old. The fish here represented measured seven inches and a half ir length, and three inches and one-eighth in circumference. Its gill-covers were silvery, marked with a dark spot ; belly and sides, up to the lateral line of the same, silvery color ; back and sides, 62 AMERICAN FISHKS down to the lateral line, dusky, inclining to green ; sides above the lateral line marked with dusky spots ; along the lateral line, and both a little above and a little below it, several dull obscure red spots. The dorsal fin has twelve rays, marked with several dusky spots ; the pec- toral fin has twelve rays of a dusky olive color ; the ventral fin eight rays of a silvery white ; and the anal fin ten rays of the same color. When the scales were carefully taken oj6f with a knife, the obscure red spots became of a fine vermillion, and were nineteen in number ; and ten obscure oval bars of a dusky bluish color appeared, which crossed the lateral line. In a young fry which has not acquired the scales, these bars are very distinct. The above cut and description are both borrowed from Yarrel's " British Fishes," the latter as quoted from Dr. Heysham's catalogue. To render these facts yet more certain, in the autumn of 1835, Thomas Upton, Esq., of Ingmere Hall, near Kendal, began to en- large a natural lake on his property, and in the spring of 1836, some pinks from the Lune, a Salmon river in that vicinity, were put into it. This lake, which is called Lilymere, has no communication with any other water, by which the fish once introduced can get out, or any fry, from other waters, get in. The pinks, when put in, were certainly not above two or three ounces each in weight. Sixteen months afterward, a friend of Mr. Upton's being on a visit to him, caught with a red palmer fly two Salmon Peal, in excellent condition, silvery bright in color, measuring fourteen inches in length, and weighing fourteen ounces ; one was cooked and eaten, the flesh pink in color, but not so red as those of the river, well-flavored, and like that of a Peal. In the month of July, 1838, eleven months after, another small Salmon was caught, equal to the first in condition and color, about two inches longer, and three ounces heavier. No doubt was enter- tained that these were two of the pinks transferred to the lake in the spring of 1836, the first of which had been retained sixteen months, and the latter twenty-seven months, in fresh-water Farther than this, it was found that, in the river Hodder, the pinks in April are rather more than three inches long, and that at the same time smolts of six and a half are also taken, with the colors altered as above, and ready to migrate. In July, the pink measures five in«;hes, and the smolts have then left the river. SALMONIDJE. 63 Dr. Knox seema to have erred merely in supposing that the pinks, the size of the little finger, were from the ova hatched in April, when they were probably from an earlier hatching of fish, which spawned at a more remote date. It seems, however, to be clearly and certainly established by these experiments, that the smolt, or laspring, as they are sometimes called, which descend the rivers every spring toward the middle of May, are a whole year older than the pinks, which are taken in the same waters, at the same time, and by the same fly. With regard to the later growth of the Salmon, I am not of opinion that the lake experiments prove much, if anything, either j^ro or con ; since it is a known and established fact, that salt-water has a recupe- rative influence upon the mature fish which run down the rivers ex- hausted by spawning, and also a certain tendency to increase the growth of the young fish which descend the streams, smolts, as it now appears, in their second year, of six or seven inches length, and about as many ounces weight, and return peal or grilse, varying from two to eight pounds. It must be observed here, that grilse is the correct name of the fish on its return from the sea in its second season, and that feal is merely a fishmonger's term for a small grilse not exceeding two pounds' weight. That the identical smolt of six or seven ounces do return, after two or three months' absence in the sea, as grilse of as many pounds' weight, is proved beyond all dispute ; smolts innumerable having been taken, marked with numbered tickets of zinc attached to the rays of their dorsal fins, sot at liberty, and recaptured grilse^ varying from two to eight pounds, in the autumn of the same year. The same experiment, with the labels unremoved, shows that the same grilse, descending the stream of unincreased magnitude in the spring of his third year, returns in that third autumn a fish of sixteen, and upward to twenty-five, pounds' weight. I hold, therefore, that the argument is conclusive, so long as it is founded on a comparison between fish which, whether they be con- fined or at large, never visits the sea. Beyond that the analogy ceases. It remains to be seen whether the Salmon confined to fresh- water will ever attain the size of those which run to and fro, from the . fresh to the salt ; I greatly doubt it ; and, with Mr. Yarrel, I thinl' 64 AMERICAN FISHES. more than a dubious point, whether the fish, so stopped from migra- tion to the sea, will ever acquire power to reproduce their own species. It is a singular fact, that the Salmon propagates its kind before it is adult — the grilse, on its return from the sea in its second year, having the roe and milt far advanced, and spawning that same autumn. The ova in the grilse differ not in size, but in number only, from those of the adult Salmon of a year's later growth, and there is no known difference between the fry of the young and full-grown fish. It will prove to be the fact, I have no doubt, that in this country these fish spawn earlier in the season than in Great Britain ; indeed, thej must do so, for in the month of January the head-waters of the rivers which they frequent are masses of solid ice ; and I presume it will be found that the ova are deposited and covered with gravel in the months of September and October, and in all probability that the parent fish return to the salt-water the same autumn, or early in the winter, before the closing of the rivers. This is, however, little important. I now come to the second point, proved beyond all doubt by these experiments ; videlicet^ that the Salmon, in the first stage of his exist- ence, is, to all intents and purposes, what is commonly called a Parr. Most, if not all, of my readers, are probably aware that, in some particular streams of Great Britain, there has been found invariably a small fish of the Salmon family, never attaining to any considerable size or weight, and distinguishable from Trout only by the presence of the bluish gray, or olive, transverse bands alluded to above, and figured in the cut of Pinks, at the head of this article ; as also again in the plate at the head of that on the Brook Trout, Salmo Fontinalis^ next following. Concerning this little fish, there has been a continual doubt, and a dispute of many years' standing, some persons maintaining that it was a distinct, and reproductive species of the Salmo7iid(2j which they termed variously Parr, Samlet, Brandling, and so forth. Others, from its never being taken of any size, have believed it to be an unproduc- tive cross, or mule, between the Salmon and the common Trout, the sea Trout and common Trout, &c., &c. ; and others yet again, that it was neither more nor less than a young Salmon. In proof of this, it was adduced that Parr had been marked and retaken as Grilse SALMONID^. 65 But in reply, it was slated that Parr had also been marked and retaken as Bull Trout, Salmo Eriox^ and Salmon Trout, Salmo Trvbttcb ; whence it was argued that the fish marked had been so marked carelessly and injudiciously, and were not Parr at all, but Smolts, or fry of some of the other Salmonidce. Mr. Yarrel admits that he has seen these vertical marks in the young fry of the Salmon, Bull Trout, Parr, common Trout, and Welch Charr ; but still maintains the existence of the Parr as distinct, principally on the ground that the Parrs are taken abundantly even in autumn, not exceeding five inches in length, long after the fry of the larger migra- tory species have gone down to the sea. This is in the body of the work, written previous to the experiments made by Mr. Shaw ; and this Mr. Yarrel there considers to be a sufficiently obvious proof that the Parr is not the young of the Salmon, or indeed of any other of the larger Salmonidce. The reason is of course annihilated by the proven fact, that the Pinks, which remain in fresh- water all the first year, are young Sal- mon, Parr-marked ; whereas the young Salmon-fry, Smolts^ formerly supposed to be the young fish of that year, all of which have gone down the river to the sea, are in truth the fish of the preceding year. Similarly is the question settled with regard to the existence of Parrs in streams of the Western isles which are never visited by Salmon, these being, in all probability, the Brook Trout in the Parr stage of its existence. And so again the fact that there are lakes in the same islands fre- quented by the Salmon and sea Trout, in which Parrs are never found — because the young fry, while in the Parr, or transversely banded, form, keep in the swift cold streams, and do not descend to the lakes. It now appears to be certain, or as nearly certain as anything can be, which is not positively proved, that every species of the Salmonidce is at one period a banded fish, or Parr. This is known as an authenticated fact of the Salmon, Salmon Trout, Bull Trout, and common English Trout, as well as of the Welch Charr, as admitted by Yarrel. Mr. Agassiz has figured the Hucho, Salmo Hucho^ and the conti- nental Charr, which he esteems identical with the northern Charr of England, Salmo Umhla^ in the same stage — the other characteristics 66 AMERICAN FISHES of the different fish being unmistakable and evident — with the trans- verse bars. The same distinguished naturalist has taken the Great Lake Trout, or Mackinaw Salmon, Salmo Amethystus, and the Brook Trout, Salmo Fontinalis^ which abounds in all small streams, wherein it is bred, in this same form. There only remain to be accounted for some two or three species, the Great Gray Trout, of Britain, the Sea Trout, Salmo Trutta^ and the Silver Trout, Salmo Lacustris, of Continental Europe, and on this continent, the Siskawitz, Salmo Siskawitz, and the Lake Trout, Salmo Confinis^ of Dekay. No especial search has been instituted for the fry of any of these fish last named ; so that the non-discovery goes no way to prove their non-existence ; on the contrary, all analogy goes to show that they will be discovered in time. As it now stands, of fourteen, the most strongly-marked, Salmonid(2y nine have been clearly traced to this form ; and the five missing species are either analogous, as the three European species, or closely con- generous, as the two American LakeTrout, to one species AmethystuSy which is shown to be no exception to the rule. Every migratory species of Salmo is found in this stage ; and one of the five or six, non-migratory. All analogy^ therefore, goes to show that these species will be found, on research, not to deviate from the rule of their order. Mr. Shaw goes farther, and argues that no such perfect fish as the Parr exists ; and that all the fish so named by different observers are in truth the young of different species of the Salmon family. Against this fact, Mr. Yarrel reclaims ; and justly remarks that " this is not conclusive evidence of the non-existence of a distinct small fish, to which the name of Parr ought to be exclusively applied ; it rather shows the want of power among general observers to distinguish between the young of closely-allied species, three or four of which are indiscriminately called Parrs." This is certainly true logic. The fact that all the young of all the Salmonidce are what have been called Parrs, is no proof that all Parrs are young and immatui-e fish. This matter, though, as it now stands, cleared of all the absurd SALMONID^. 67 theories concerning cross-breeding between Salmon, Sea Trout, Gray- ling, and Common Trout, being set aside, is of easy proof. It only rests to show the male and female Parrs full of ova, ready for spawning, and the question is settled. In connection with this, it is fair to state, that Dr. Heysham, of Carlisle, in England, who is said to have devoted particular attention to this fish, which is there called Brandling or Samlet, observes that " The old Samlets begin to deposit their spawn in December, and continue spawning the whole of that month, and perhaps some part of January. As this season of the year is not favorable for angling, few or no observations are made during these months. As soon as they have spawned they retire, like the Salmon, to the sea, where they remain till the autumn, when they again return to the rivers." After a number of farther observations concerning the young fry of the supposed Parr, their sizes, seasons, &c., he concludes by these words — " In short, we see Samlets of various sizes — we see them with milt and roe, in all the various stages, and we see them perfectly empty ; all which circumstances clearly prove that they are a distinct species." Clearly, indeed ; if it appears that these circumstances can be authenticated ; but this I, for the present, doubt — first, because if there had been visible facts, the theory never could have been started of their being unproductive mules. Second, because Sir William Jardine, after examination of the Parr of the Tweed, speaks of it as still uncertain whether it may not be the young of the common Trout, Salmo Fario ; and for this reason, that though he has found males full of milt, he never has seen females with the roe in an advanced state ; and, farthermore, distinctly avers, that " they have not been discovered spawning in any of the shallow streams or lesser rivulets, like the Trout." Sir Wilb'am, however, still leans to the opinion that there is a distinct species, in which the transverse markings are permanent, which reproduces its own kind, and never grows to a greater size than eight or nine inches ; and this ho would retain under the title given to it by Ray, of Salmo Sahiulus. Mr. Yarrel is of the same opinion ; and has certainly shown decidedly that it is not a hybrid, or a species of which there are 68 AMERICAN FISHES. no females, as had been surmised ; since of three hundred and ninety- fivo Parrs, or Samlets, examined by Dr. Heysham, one hundred and ninety-nine were males, and one hundred and ninety-six females. The great point, however, is this, which is now, I think, perfectly clear, and which at once dispels all the mystery of the question — namely — that the young of all the Salmonidce — not several only, as Sir William Jardine and Mr. Yarrel state, but all — have, in their extreme youth, transverse bluish, or olive-colored markings ; that they have all been confounded with one another, and — if there be such a fish — with the Parr proper ; and that from this confusion, and the want of discrimination on the part of the observers, have arisen all the contradictory accounts of Salmon, Salmon Trout, Bull Trout, and Common Trout, raised from the veritable Parr. Whether there do or do not exist a very small, distinct species of SalmOj in Great Britain, which retains these marks to maturity, is a matter of little comparative moment, though interesting to the naturalist. The first question was of the greatest importance, as involving the whole subject of reproduction of species ; inasmuch as the facts, as asserted and formerly believed, were dh-ectly analogous to this, that from the eggs of a barn-door fowl, of one laying, were hatched bantams, quail, guinea-hens, pea-fowl, and any other gallinaceous fowl you please. On this continent, assuredly, there is no distinct Parr, although undoubtedly it will appear hereafter, that like the young of every one of the family, like the true Salmon, the greater Lake Trout, and the Brook Trout, the other species without exception, have the Parr markings. On this topic I have dwelt somewhat at length, yet I trust not so long as to weary my readers, the great interest of the point at issue, and the almost interminable discussion which has been maintained on the subject, rendering me peculiarly anxious to adduce something new and to the point ; which, thanks to the kind assistance of my friend, Mr. Agassiz, I trust I have succeeded in doing. I may here venture to add that the distinguished gentleman I have just named, is inclined to incredulity as regards the existence of a distinct species of Parr. I shall now recur to the experiments on the ova of Salmon ; first SALMONIDiE. 69 for the purpose of shomng how they may be brought into direct practical utility, and rendered subservient to the pleasure of the angler, as a method of stocking inland waters ; and, secondly, of pointing out how easily experiments might be made in this mode, as to the hybridization of fishes, and the rearing new species of mules, or ascertaining that they cannot be reared, by the commixture of the milt and roe of various distinct species of the same family in small tanks, fed by running brooklets. It has been shown above, that the impregnated spawn of any two live breeding fishes of the same family, may be artificially hatched and preserved in waters other than those in which the parent species are wont to live ; as even the Salmon in fresh- water. I shall now proceed to show that the same result may be obtained by the commixture of the melt and roe in aerated water, of dead fishes recently taken. It is absolutely necessary that the water should be aerated, or highly supplied with oxygen. F'or it is for the purpose of finding water in this condition, that the Salmon, the Shad, the Bass, the Smelt, and all those fish which resort to fresh-waters, for the purpose of spawning, run to the shallow, pure, and swiftly-flowing brooks, to which their rapidity and frequent falls impart purity and vitality, by mingling them with the atmosphere. In the same manner, the fish of the sea resort for the deposition of their ova to the weedy shoals, where the vegeta- .bles, in process of their growth, under the influence of the sun, distri- bute air through the waters around them. " The science required for this object" — that is to say, the raising foreign fishes for the stocking of home waters — thus speaks Sir Hum- phrey Davy, in his delightful work, " Salmonia" — " is easily attained, and the difficulties are quite imaginary. The impregnation of the ova of fishes is performed out of the body, and it is only necessary to pour the seminal fluid from the melt upon the ova in water. Mr. Jacobi, a German gentleman, who made, many years ago, experiments on the increase of Trout and Salmon, informs us, that the ova and melt of mature fish, recently dead., will produce living off'spring. His plan of raising Trout from the egg was a very simple one. He had a box made with a small wire grating at one end in the cover, for admitting water from a fresh source or stream, and at the other en(? 70 AMERICAN FISHES. of the side of the box, there were a number of holes, to allow the exit of the water ; the bottom of the box was filled with pebbles and gravel of different sizes, which were kept covered with water that was always in motion. In November, or the beginning of December, when the Trout were in full maturity for spawning, and collected in the rivers for this purpose, upon the beds of gravel, he caught the males and females in a net, and by the pressure of his hands received the ova in a basin of water, and suffered the melt, or seminal fluid, to pass into the basin ; and after they had remained a few minutes together, he introduced them upon the gravel in the box, which was placed under a source of fresh, cool, and pure water. In a few weeks the eggs burst, and the box was filled with an immense number of young Trout, which had a small bag attached to the lower part of their body, containing a part of the yolk of the egg, which was still their nourishment. In this state they were easily carried from place to place, in confined portions of fresh-water, for some days, requiring apparently no food ; but after about a week, the nourishment in their bag being exhausted, they began to seek their food in the water, and rapidly increased in size As I have said before, Mr. Jacobi assures us that the experiment succeeded as well with mature fish, that had been killed for the pur- pose of procuring the roe and the melt, these having been mixed together in cold water immediately after they were taken out of the body. I have had this experiment tried twice^^^ continues Sir Hum- phrey, speaking in his own person, " aTid with perfect sticcess ; and it offers a very good mode of increasing to any extent the quantity of Trout in rivers or lakes ; for the young ones are preserved from the attacks of fishes, and other voracious animals or insects, at the time when they are most easily destroyed, and perfectly helpless. The same plan, I have no doubt, would answer equally well with Grayling, and other varieties of the Salmo genus. But in all experiments of this kind, the great principle is to have a constant current of fresh and aerated water running over the eggs." Now it is manifest from this, that any person resident in the near vicinity of any lake or river, abounding in any species of this family, the Common Trout, the True Salmon, the Lake Trout, and probablj/ the Otsego Bass, Coregonus Otsego^ which is one of the same family, likewise, having also the command of the smallest possible source of SALMONID^. 71 i h running water, can raise, in the space of a few weeks or months, ai indsfinite number of young fish, of any of these varieties, which, dv ng the first week or ten days, can be removed to any distance that cai be reached in that time — and, in these days of steam velocity, wh %t distance cannot be reached ? — in any cask, jar, or other vessel, capable of containing a few gallons of water. There would not, in this manner be the smallest difficulty, and very small trouble or expense, in translating the Mackinaw Salmon and the Siskawitz Trout from Lake Huron and Superior, to the inland waters of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — not the smallest diffi- culty in introducing the true Salmon from the Penobscot or the St John, to any lake, river, or stream, in the Middle States ; and, it having been proved by the experiments of Mr. Upton, in Lilymere, as recorded above, that the Salmon will live and preserve its excel- lence in fresh-water, entirely debarred from egress to the sea, would it not be a highly interesting, and, if successful, valuable, experiment, to attempt its introduction into the hundreds of limpid lakelets which gem the inlands and uplands of our Northern States ? Again, as it is well known that all the migratory fish, like the birds of passage, return, whenever it is possible, to the streams wherein they were themselves bred, to breed, it seems to me that it would be well worth the trying whether these streams of ours here, to the southward of Maine, which, within a century or two, teemed with Salmon, but in which one is now never seen, might not be colonized and restocked with the delicious fish. There is no plausible reason why the pinks which should be trans- ported to the upper Hudson, and should there remain till they become smolts, should not return as grilse to the scenes of their childhood. Nor do I see any good reason why they should not continue to breed, and to frequent any river into which they should be so introduced. The cause of their desertion of these rivers is inexplicable. It has been attributed to steamboats, but that is ideal ; for the Tay, the Tweed, and the Clyde, and half-a-dozen other English and Scottish rivers, which still abound in Salmon, are harassed by more steam- boats, hourly, than are the Kennebeck and Penobscot now,* or than were the Hudson and Connecticut at the time when the Salmon for- sook them, daily 72 AMERICAN FISHES. I think it, myself, far more probable that they were poisoned, and driven from the head-waters and tributaries, in which they were wont to spawn, by the sawdust, especially of the hemlock ; and that the stock which were used to run up these estuaries having become extinct, the traditional instinct is lost, and there are no fish left which know the way to our waters. If this be a true reason — and, the known instinct of the animal con- sidered, it is as plausible a conjecture as any other — it is certain that many rivers, whose waters a few years ago ran turbid with sawdust, and whose every tributary resounded to the clack of the saw-mill, now again run as limpid as ever, and are guiltless of saws, as well as of the timber to supply them. I contend, therefore, that there is no analogy against, but much in favor of the possibility of restocking the Southern rivers of the Mid- dle States with Salmon, which should return, and breed in them, year after year. Nor, looking to the vast profit directly arising from such fisheries, can I doubt, particularly when regarding the action of the New York Legislature in regard to a fish so comparatively worthless as the Carp, that, could such a thing be effected as the recolonization of our rivers with Salmon fry, some action of the legislatures would ensue for their protection, until such time as they could be fairly naturalized. Whether this be feasible or not, it is certain, that to every inland spring-lake, from the western line of Pennsylvania to their easternmost and northernmost limits, every variety of Brook Trout and Lake Trout can be introduced with ease, and at a trivial expense ; nor these only, but the true Salmon likewise. And I strongly believe that, when the extreme simplicity of the method, and facility of the means, become generally known, the true Salmon will be introduced, at least, into the lakes of Hamilton County, as well as into many other inland waters. In fact, running as he does now into Ontario, there is no reason why he should not be safely lodged, beyond the power of re- turning, above Niagara, and compelled to fill Erie, Michigan, Huron, and Superior with his noble race. A few. years since, he found his way into Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, and if modern improvements — heavens ! how I loathe that word ! — ha-ye not excluded him, he finds his way there yet, and thence might SALMONID^. 73 be propagated, ad infinitum^ through the whole region of the lesser lakes. The next point of great value to be attained by the use of experi- ments of this nature, is the ascertaining how far fish are capable of hybridization ; and possibly the creation of new and interesting varieties, besides the elucidation of sundry, now mooted, questions concerning the manner in which various species, now distinct, have arisen, and whether in truth they are distinct or no. Now, it is of course just as easy to commingle, in the manner here- tofore described, the melt and roe of two distinct varieties, as of the same species ; and the consequences of such an admixture would excite the attention of the whole scientific world. Anywhere in the northern and north-eastern part of the State of New York, anywhere in the northern parts of New Hampshire, Ver- mont, or Maine, it would be the easiest thing in the world to procure the common Lake Trout, Salmo Conjinis^ if not alive, at least within a few hours after his capture, and the common Brook Trout, dead or alive, in any desirable quantities. There is little if any difference in the spawning period of these two Salmonida^ so that it would require very little pains or attention to procur^he males and females under the circumstances proper for the making of such an experiment, which might be performed precisely as I have described it above ; trying, in different instances, the males and females of the two species alternately. There are thousands and tens of thousands of little tumbling tranS" parent rills, throughout that country — scarcely a farm without a dozen such — ^which have numerous natural basins in their courses, each of which, with the aid of a few hours' work employed in raising a timber dam, and applying a grate at the entrance and egress of the stream, would constitute as perfect a store-pond for the making of such expe- riments as could be erected by the wealth of Croesus ; with the advan- tage, too, of having the fish requisite for the tests existing, in a state of nature, within a few miles, perhaps within a few hundred yards, of the scene of action. One place already made to hand, requiring no improvement or alte- ration, strikes me on the instant ; and one familiar, 1 doubt not, to fery many of my readers. I mean Barhydt's Trout-ponds, near 6 74 AMERICAN FISHES. Saratoga Springs, where the Brook Trout abound, in what perfection all epicures well know ; and where the Lake Trout could be obtained, with small trouble, alive, from the waters of Lake George, and recently dead, without any trouble at all. Whether the latter fish is found in Saratoga Lake or not, I cannot say ; but I should rather suppose it is ; if so, the matter would be yet further simplified. The apparatus described above, which could be made at the cost of a few shillings, might be placed in the runway, between the upper and lower ponds, so as to allow that beautifully clear and sparkling source to bathe the ova constantly, until hatched ; after which the fry should be kept in confined vessels until the yolks of the egg were absorbed, when they should be transferred to one or other of the tanks fed by the streamlet. In the same manner, in many places, especially in Maine, near the west branch of the Penobscot, where it flows within a few miles of Moosehead Lake, the former a favorite spawning station of the true Salmon, the latter abounding in the large Lake Trout weighing some- times up to thirty or forty pounds, it might easily be ascertained whether a hybrid could be obtained between these two fishes ; and so, perhaps, in a greater degree upon the shores of the great lakes, where both these species are taken, eastward at least of Niagara. A similar trial might be made with the ova of the Salmon, and 'of the common Trout ; which could be done with greater facility than the other, from the fact that the two species are constantly found naturally coexistent in the same waters. Should any of these experiments result in the production of hybrids, another interesting question would arise, as to whether the males thus produced should be again capable of reproducing their own species. Should this be the case, it would go very far toward the breaking up the whole theory of distinct species of this family, and proving them to be merely accidental varieties, casually produced at first, and hav- ing become, in process of generations, capable of transmitting their own peculiar type to their progeny — as is the case clearly with the va- rious breeds of dogs, horses, cattle and other domestic animals, which, so long as they are preserved unmixed, will produce their like ; but which, if inter-bred with other closely-kindred races, will produce a mon- grel, but not a hybrid — one, I mean, which is capable of reproduction. SALMONIDJE 75 Thus Shetland ponies breeding together will produce Shetland ponies ; and blood-horses of the Arab stock, blood-horses. Intermix these, and you shall have a cross-bred offspring ; which is not, however, a hybrid, like the produce of a horse and an ass ; for it is capable of breeding again, with its own type, or with either of the parent races, or with any other pure horse. And so of hounds, setters, greyhounds, and all the varieties of domestic dogs, so long as they are interbred among themselves ; but the moment they are associated witli the wolf, fox, jackal, dingo, or any of the congenerous though distinct races, they will breed with them, it is true, but the progeny will be truly hybrid and barren. If, therefore, it should be proved on experiment, that the various distinct species of the Salmonidm^ as they are now held to be, will, when interbred, produce young capable of reproduction, it would go very far to establish the fact that the distinctions are not distinctions, but merely varieties. I must not, however, be understood as saying that the success of experiments, and the establishment of such a result as I have supposed, would go at all to prove that such intermixture of varieties occurred, or such cross-breeds were produced, in a state of nature ; far from it. We know, that in vegetables, hybrids can be, and are, readily pro- duced by artificial means, which will not occur once in a century, per- haps never would occur at all, were the plants left to the operation of nature. Nature abhors monstrosities ; and the proverb that the " cat will follow kind" is of older wisdom than Will Shakspeare's. Man's freaks have raised mongrels between the lion and the tigress; nature's, so far as we know, or can conjecture, never. And always in a wild state a hundred circumstances, such as different size, different habits, haunts, associations, and last, not least, fear — one species of the same family being habitually the devourer of his relatives — will prevent the occurrence of such admixtures between animals. It would require many and strong evidences to make me believe that the Brook Trout of ordinary dimensions would trust itself wil- lingly within such distance of the Salmon, or Lake Trout, as would Dermit their ova to commingle in a single furrow. Nor, indeed, do I believe, myself, that the result of such experi* 76 AMERICAN FISHES. ments as these last-named would be success ; although I gather from a note of Dr. Bethune's, to his beautiful edition of Walton, that he rather leans to the opinion that the various species of this family were more capable of intermixture, and more accustomed to interbreed, than am disposed to credit. At all events, there would be great interest and entertainment in the instituting such a series of experiments ; and the result, whatever it should be, could not fail of importance. That those which I first mentioned are eminently practicable, is not to be doubted ; and there is strong reason for believing that this science was fully understood, and constantly practiced, like many other good things now forgotten, or, as we flatter ourselves, recently discovered, by the monks of old. That Carp were introduced from the continent to England, by the monks, is nearly certain ; this, however, could be accomplished with- out recourse to any artificial modes of producing or raising the young fry. There are, however, many and powerful reasons for believing that the Grayling Thymallus VcxUlifer, the ChsiTT,Salmo JJmbla, the Gwjnivid^Coregonus Fera, and perhaps, also, the Vendace, Coregonus WillughbUjthe Pollan, Coregonus Pollan^ and the Powan, Coregonus Lacepedei, were also introduced by the same agency from foreign coun- tries. This belief is supported by the fact, that these fish exist only in isolated, and often distant waters ; sometimes in only one of two neighboring rivers, whereof that which contains them is apparently the least adapted to their habits ; but always in such waters as had many or distinguished monastic institutions on their banks. While England was Catholic, great attention was paid to the raising and fat- tening the choicest varieties of fresh-water fish ; an art which has sunk into neglect, partly owing, doubtless, to the abolition of fast-days, and partly to the great facility with which the finest sea-fish jare trans- ported throughout the country. ■ i If the fish I have last mentioned were so introduced, it paust have been by some such process as that which I have here described ; for they are all of so sensitive and delicate a nature, that it is with the greatest difficulty they can be kept alive for an hour or two after being captured, and that only by a constant change of fresh spring water; circumstances which would have made it utterly impossibla SALMONID^. 77 that they should have been transported from the continent, after they had arrived at maturity. Even to this day, in Austria, Illyria, and parts of the Tyrol, the greatest attention is paid to the nurture of the most delicate fresh- water fishes in confined situations ; and Sir Humphrey Davy states in his '' Salmonia," that, " at Admondt, in Styria, attached to the mag- nificent monastery of that name, are abundant ponds and reservoirs for every species of fresh-water fish ; and the Charr, Grayling, and Trout are preserved in difi'erent waters — covered, enclosed, and under lock and key." And now having at length come to the end of this sort of disserta- tion on the breeding, growth, and specific generation of the Salmon, I shall briefly consider his characteristics, distinguishing marks and habits, before passing to his nearest relation, in this country at least, the Brook Trout. The Salmon, Salmo Salar, of Linnjeus and all authors, is, I have observed before, a soft-finned fish of the abdominal division, his ven- tral fins being attached to the parietes of the belly. His head is smooth, his body scaly. His dorsal fins are two in number, the first supported by soft rays, the second adipose or fatty, without rays ; he has teeth on the vomer, both palatine bones, and all the maxillary bones. His branch iostegous rays vary in number, generally, from ten to twelve, but are irregular, and do not always coincide on the two sides of the head. The teeth on the vomer rarely exceed two in number, and there is frequently but one ; a sign which is thought to distinguish him from the Salmon Trout, and other connected species. The length of his head, to the whole length of his body, is as one to five ; the eye small and nearer to the point of the nose than to the pos- terior edge 6f the gill-covci The pectoral fin is two-thirds the length of the head, and has twelve fin-rays. The ventral fin lies in a vertical line under the middle of the dorsal fin, and has nine rays; the anal fin commences about half-way between the origin of the ventral and caudal fins, and has nine rays ; the caudal fin, or tail, has nineteen rays; when the fish is very young, it is much forked, but as it advances in years, the central caudal rays grow up ; and it becomes nearly fequare by the end of the fourth year. Th3 first dorsal fin has thirteen rays, all of which, with the exception of the two first, are branched 78 AMERICAN FISHES. The body is long, and about equally convex above and below ; the lateral line dividing the body nearly equally, and, to a certain degree, parting the dark hue of the back, and silvery whiteness of the belly. The form of the gill-covers, shapes of the fins, and relative propor- tions of the whole fish, will be readily understood by reference to the plate facing page 54, at the head of this article, which will give a more correct idea than any written description. The Salmon is, to all intents, a fish of prey ; and to this end every part of his frame is adapted, in the most perfect manner, by the master- hand of nature. The elongated form of his body tapering forward and aft with the most gradually curvated lines, like the entrance and the run of some swift-sailing barque, enables him to glide through the swift water in which he loves to dwell, displacing its particles with the least resistance ; the powerful muscles and strong branched rays of his broad and vigorous caudal fin serve as a propeller, by which he can command an immense degree of momentum and velocity, and ascend the sharpest rapids. No one who has once felt the arrowy rush of a fifteen-pound Salmon, when struck with the barbed steel, will be inclined to undervalue his strength, his speed, or his agility ; and the numerous and astonishing leaps which he is capable of making, to the height of many feet above the surface, either in attempting to rid himself of the hook, or in sur- mounting obstacles to his upward passage, in the shape of dams, flood- gates or cataracts, prove the exceeding elasticity, vigor and strength of his muscular system. The prodigious power of sinew exhibited in the lythe and springy limbs of the quadrupeds of prey of the feline order, is not superior in its degree to that possessed by this, the veritable monarch of fresh- water fishes ; nor are the curved fangs and retractile talons more efficacious instruments to the lion and the tiger for the seizure of their victims, than are the five rows of sharp hooked teeth, with which the whole mouth of the Salmon is bristled, for the prehension and deten- tion of his slippery and active prey. Nor is he less bold, fierce, and persevering, than he is- well provided with the means of pursuit and the instruments of destruction. As a proof of the strength and courage of this family, it is recorded by Mr. Yarrel, that a Pike and a Trout, put together in a confined SALMONIDiE. 79 place, had several battles for a particular spot, but the Trout was eventually the master. The comparative size of these fish is not men- tioned, but of course there was something approaching to an equality, as the Pike constantly preys on small Trout. It is very certain that, although great havoc is made among Salmon by the Seal and the Otter, there is no fresh-water fish which would venture on attacking them, not even the Pike, at his largest size. The Salmon grows to a very large bulk, though the average run is probably from eight to sixteen pounds ; and as is the case with many kinds of fish, the middle-sized, of twelve or fourteen pounds, are gene- rally considered the best in an epicurean point of view, and afford, commonly speaking, nearly as much sport when hooked, as the mon- sters of the species. " The present London season, 1835," says Mr. Yarrel, speaking on this point, " has been more than usually remarkable for large Salmon. I have seen ten difierent fish, varying from thirty-eight to forty pounds each. A notice appeared in the public papers of one that weighed fifty-five pounds. Salmon, however, of much larger size have been occasionally taken. Mr. Mudie has recorded one of sixty pounds. Tn a note to the history of the Salmon, in several editions of Walton, mention is made of one that weighed seventy pounds ; Pennant has noticed one of seventy-four pounds ; the largest known, as far as I am aware, came into the possession of Mr. Groves, the fishmonger in Bond-street, about the season of 1821. This Salmon, a female, weighed eighty-three pounds ; was a short fish for the weight, but of very unusual thickness and breadth. When cut up, the flesh was fine in color, and proved of excellent quality. " The Salmon of the largest size killed by angling, of which I have been able to collect particulars, are as follows : In the Thames, Octo- ber 3, 1812, at Shepperton Deeps, Mr. G. Marshall, of Brewer-street, London, caught and killed a Salmon that weighed twenty-one pounds four ounces, with a single gut, without a landing-net." Sir Humphrey Davy is recorded as having caught an immense fish, weighing about forty-two pounds, immediately above Yair-bridge, and captured him after a severe struggle. Mr. Lascelles, in his letters on sporting, says : — " The largest 80 AMERICAN FISHES. Salmon I ever knew taken with a fly, was in Scotland ; it weighed fifty- four pounds and a half." In this country, except in Canada, where there are many excellent and enthusiastic Salmon-fishers, this noble sport is but little followed, and there are few records extant of the number or size of fish taken. It will be sufficient to observe, however, that in the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, especially those great streams coming in from the Northward, the Saguenaw particularly, the number and size of the Salmon are at least equal to those in the finest English or Scottish rivers ; an intimate friend of my own having killed within a few years, on the St. Lawrence, near the mouth of the river named above, twenty fish in a single day's fishing, one of which weighed above forty pounds, while the smallest, if I am not greatly mistaken, exceeded sixteen. This was all done with the fly. " It may be stated generally," says Yarrel, " that Salmon pass the summer in the sea, or near the mouth of the estuary ; in autumn they push up the rivers, diverging to their tributary streams ; in winter they inhabit the pure fresh water, and in spring again descend to the sea." These habits of the fish are unquestionably more or less modified by climate and other influences, and it is certain that in America the Salmon enter the rivers, and begin to run up them in June ; by Sep- tember they have arrived at the shallow and gravelly head waters of the streams, and are preparing to spawn ; and I presume that as soon as that operation is finished they return to the salt-water to recruit, and consequently that here they do not pass the winter in fresh-water. It has been supposed by many observers, that the Salmon do not go very far out to sea, but remain constantly within soundings, and not very far distant from their native streams, to which, whenever it is practicable, they return ; this is, however, very questionable. Many are taken on the British coasts, while running along the shore in the summer months, and searching for the mouths of the rivers which they desire to ascend ; but very few are taken here until they have made their way up the estuaries, when they are captured in great numbers by means of stake-nets. They do not, it is true, invariably return to the streams in which they were bred, although they do so, beyond doubt, in a very great SALMONID^a:. 81 majority of instances ; but it would appear from the observations of Dr. Heysham and Sir William Jardine, that if they have roved to a very great distance from the estuary of their own stream, they betake themselves to the mouth of the first river they reach, if its temperature and the condition of its waters suits them. Many Tweed Salmon are occasionally taken in the frith of Forth, and it is even said that in seasons when the Forth fisheries are unusu- ally successful, those of the Tweed are as much the reverse. Sir Hum- phrey Davy is of opinion that the taste of the waters of different rivers, according as they are impregnated with different substances, and the effect produced by them on the bronchiae of the fish in the act of breathing, are the guides by which Salmon are led back to the streams to which they have been accustomed ; and he accounts for their being occasionally mistaken, by the fact that such mistakes frequently occur during great floods, connected with storms, or violent motion in the waters near the shore ; by which the components of the waters are disturbed, and their flavor consequently altered. In confirmation of this view, he relates that he " remembers in this way, owing to a tre- mendous flood, catching with the fly a large Salmon which had mista- ken his stream, having come into the Bush, near the Giant's Cause- way, instead of the Bann. No fish can be more distinct," he proceeds, " in the same species, than the fish of these two rivers, their length to their girth being in a ratio of 20 : 9 and 20 : 13." I am not, however, inclined to adopt this explanation. For it seems to me that in migratory animals of all kinds, and indeed, in some instances, in domestic animals likewise, that there is some sort of sixth sense, or at least some entirely distinct power, not acquired by means of any of the senses of which we are cognizant, nor acting like reason, by means of deduction, which enables them to steer their course through countless leagues of air or water, or over miles of uncidtivated land, to the places where they were bred, or to which their instincts compel them to resort for the purpose of wintering, obtaining food, or the like. And I no more believe that Salmon are guided back to their native rivers by the flavor of the waters, than I do that the swallow, finds his way from Africa to Europe, or from Southern to Northern America, by the scent of the tainted atmosphere. 82 AMERICAN FISHES. I am disposed, therefore, to believe with Yarrel, that this oc- casional variation from their ordinary custom, is caused by their having strayed to such a distance from their native estuaries, that when the time comes for returning, they prefer taking the first suitable river, to making longer delay. The female fish, it is observed, are the first to enter the rivers, and the grilse, or young fish, which have not yet spawned, come in earlier than the full-grown Salmon. They swim with great rapidity, shoot up the most oblique and glancing rapids, with the velocity of an arrow, and frequently leap falls of ten or twelve feet in perpendicular height. It was formerly believed that, in making their prodigious springs, the fish takes its tail in its mouth, and shoots itself like a pliant stick, the ends of which are forcibly brought together and then allowed to spring. This, however, is a fable ; although, in making these leaps, the muscular efforts of the animal do really impart to it a curvilinear form. It is believed that the utmost limit of perpendicular height which they can attain is fourteen feet ; but their perseverance is as remarkable as their strength, and though they fail time after time, and fall back into the stream below, they remain but a few moments quiescent, to recruit their strength, before they renew their efforts ; and they generally succeed in the end, although they are said sometimes to kill themselves by the violence of their own efforts to ascend, and are frequently captured in consequence of falling on the rocks. 1 once watched a Salmon for above an hour endeavoring to pass a mill-dam on the river Wharfe, a Salmon river in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The dam was of great height, thirteen or fourteen feet at least, and was formed with a sort of step midway, on which the water fell, making a double cascade. While I was watching him, this fish, which was, I suppose, of some seven or eight pounds, made above twenty leaps, constantly alighting from his spring about midway the upper shoot of the water, and being constantly swept back into the eddy at its foot. After a pause of about a couple of minutes, he would try it again ; and such was his vigor and endurance, that he at last succeeded in surmounting the formidable obstacle ; and to my SALMONID^. 83 great pleasure — for I had become really interested in his success — went on his way rejoicing. The voracity of the Salmon is excessive ; and yet from the smgular fact, that their stomachs are invariably, or almost invariably, found entirely empty, none of the numerous examiners have been able to satisfy themselves what constitutes its principal support. The stomach of the Salmon is, comparatively speaking, small ; and Sir Humphrey Davy asserts that, out of many which he had opened, he never found anything in their stomachs, but the tape-worms bred there, and some yellow fluid. This peculiarity must, I think, be in a great measure attributed to their rapid digestion. In this they differ greatly from the Salmon Trout, which is constantly found stuffed with food of all sorts, the remains of srdall fish, beetles, insects, and the sand-hopper, Talitris locusta^ which would seem to be their favorite food. Dr. Knox states, that the food of the Salmon, and that on which all its estimable qualities, and in his opinion, its very existence depends, and which the fish can only obtain in the ocean, he has found to be the ova, or eggs of various kinds of echinodermata, and some of the Crustacea. From the richness of the food on which the true Salmon solely subsists, arises, at least to a certain extent, the excellent quality of the fish as an article of food. Something, however, must be ascribed to a specific distinction of the fish itself ; for though he has ascertained that the Salmon Trout lives in some localities on very much the same kind of food as the true Salmon, yet, under no circumstances does this fish ever attain the same exquisite flavor as the true Salmon." Dr. Fleming states that their favorite food is the sand-eel ; " I have myself," says Mr Yarrel, " taken the remains of the sand- launce from their stomach." It is known, moreover, that they are taken in Scotland by lines baited with this brilliant and glittering little fish ; as are the clean-run fish, fresh from the sea, with the common earth-worm. Mr. Yarrel mentions an instance of one being taken in the Wye with a minnow, and Sir Humphrey Davy states, he has fished for them in the Tay with great success, with the Pa.rr, probably their own young fry, on spinning tackle. For what they mistake the lar^e artificial fly, by which they are so 84 AMERICAN FISHES. marvellously allured, taking it greedily, at a very short distance from the sea, we cannot determine. It is like nothing that has any existence in nature ; and some persons have imagined that the Salmon is deceived by the gay colors and the ripple of the water, and so takes them for small fish. This is not credible, however ; and the most plausible suggestion is that of Sir Humphrey Davy, that the fish, on their return from salt water, where, of course, they find nothing analogous to the natural or artificial fly, are actuated " by a sort of imperfect recollection of their early food and habits ; for flies form a great part of the food of the Salmon fry, which for a month or two after they are hatched, feed like young Trouts — and in March and April, the spring flics are their principal nourishment. In going hack to fresh water, they may perhaps have their habits of feeding recalled to them, and naturally search for their food at the surface." While I am on this topic, it may not be uninteresting to quote the relation of an experiment tried with regard to the effect of various kinds of food on the Trout, as it is probable that, in fish so closely allied, the facts would not vary much in relation to the Salmon. Mr. Stoddart relates this, in his " Art of Angling as practised in Scotland ;" but the experiment was made in the South of England. " Fish were placed in three separate tanks ; one which was supplied daily with worms, another with live minnows, and the third with those small dark-colored water flies, which are to be found moving about on the surface, under banks and sheltered places. The Trout fed with worms grew slowly, and had a lean appearance. Those nourished on minnows, which, it was observed, they darted at with great voracity, became much larger ; while such as were fattened upon flies only, attained in a small time, prodigious dimensions, weighing twice as much as both the others together ; although the quantity of food swallowed by them was in no wise so great." I may here observe that, from the fact of the Salmon roe, when preserved secundum arfem, proving a most deadly and infallible bait for Salmon — so much so indeed, that the use of it in England is regarded as unsportsmanlike, and as an act of poaching — there can be little doubt that the ova of fishes of all kinds contribute to their food, and add probably to the richness of their fiesh. I have now gone through, I believe, all that is most remarkable and SALMONIDiE. 85 most interesting in relation to the natural history, tlie form, habits, food and seasons of this noble fish ; but those who wish to study him for themselves, and read concerning him more at large than the space, which can be allotted to a single specimen in this volume, will admit, I refer to YarrePs fine work on British Fishes ; to that delightful work "Salmonia," by Sir Humphrey Davy ; and to Scrope's superb work, entitled, " Days and Nights of Salmon Fishing," which, though I have not enjoyed an opportunity of examining it, I understand to be both the finest and the most complete treatise on this topic. In a future portion of the work, I shall enter at large upon all the minutise of rods, tackle, bait, &c., necessary for the capture of the king of the fresh -waters ; as well as upon the science of taking him with the artificial fly, and all the appliances to that end. Until then, adieu to Salmo Salar. 86 AMERICAxV FISHES, ABDOMINAL MALACOPTEEYGII. SALMONID^ Brook Trout, vert Young Fry. THE BROOK TROUT. THE COMMON TROUT THE TROUTLET. The New York Ciiarr ; Richardson. — Sahno Fontinalis ; DeKay. Like the wild animals of this continent, almost without exception, the Trout of America is a distinct species from the fish of Europe ; although, as in many other instances, the general resemblance is so strong, and the characteristic differences so narrow, that in the eyes of a common observer, judging from memory only, they appear to be identical. Many sportsmen, who have been in the habit of killing this beau- tiful fish, both in this country and in Europe, are under the impression that there is no material difference ; but such is not, in truth, the case ; for as with the snipe, the teal, the widgeon, and many others of the birds of America, the characteristic marks of distinction, though easily overlooked at first, by a p?rsori unacquainteo * This name is applied to the fish while in the state represented in tho cnl above, by Dr. DeKay. '^i ^ ^ DO ^ :j3 ^ Oo c '^ 5> o •^ r— 7^ 1 o H ~n :^ § o o 5^ cz ^■ > !Z ^ C/O o ^ s :x3 s o n: — > ^ r~ ^ :»: * m S JO ^ o g > s * SALMONID^. S7 with them, when once pointed out, cannot be readily mistaken, and, being both permanent and invariable, are quite sufficient to establish diversity of species. It is not in formation, moreover, or appearance oiily, but in very many of its habits, that the Brook Trout, Salmo Fontinalis^ of Ame- rica, differs from his congener, the common Trout, Salmo Fario, Europe. Still, in general, his manners, his haunts, his prey, and his mode of taking it, so closely resemble those of the European Trout, that as a general rule, the instructions given for the taking the one will be found successful as regards the other ; and the flies, baits, and general style of tackle, as well as the science of capturing, with some few excep- tions, which will be noticed hereafter, are nearly identical, on the two sides of the Atlantic. As in Europe, so in America, although there are countless varieties of this most beautiful of fishes, almost indeed a variety for every stream, still, according to the opinions of what I deem the best authorities, there is but one distinct species. Endless attempts have been made in England to distinguish and define fresh species ; but these have, in my judgment, all failed. According to Mr. Agassiz, whose opinion on this subject I consider paramount to all others, the Gillaroo, or Gizzard-trout, as it is some- times erroneously called by the Irish, and some of the Scottish writers, is merely a casual variety of the Salmo Fario. The distinction, which consists principally in the thickness and induration of the stomach, having arisen from feeding on shell-fish, in the first instance, in indi- viduals, has been gradually ingrafted on generations, until, in process of time, it has become a permanent type. Although this variety is not known to exist on this continent, I have a very strong suspicion, from many circumstances which I have heard, on good authority, concerning the Trout of the Marshpee river, in Mas- sachusets, that on examination, it will be found to possess some of the leading peculiarities of this fish, particularly the indurated stomach. I have never had an opportunity of seeing the Trout of this river ; but I know that it has many peculiarities of habit resembling those of the Gillaroo, especially that of feeding on shell-fish, a friend of mine having actually succeeded in taking them with small white crabs, at a time when they would look at no other bait. 88 AMERICAN FISHES. I mention this, merely by way of suggestion, as offering an interesting Bubject of investigation for naturalists. Sir Humphrey Davy, in his Salmonia, rather leans to the idea that the Gillaroo is a distinct species, though he leaves it uncertain whether it may not be a permanent variety ; his principal argument being this, that he has caught small fish, not longer than the finger, with a fly, " which had as perfect a hard stomach as the larger ones, with the coats as thick in proportion, and the same shells within." In external appearance, the Gillaroo is said to differ from the com- mon Trout " very little, except that they have more red spots, and a yellow or golden-colored belly and fins, and are generally a broader and thicker fish." Again, Sir Humphrey admits that " in a clear and cool river, fish that feed much on larvae, and swallow the hard cases, become yellower, and the red spots increase so as to outnumber the black ones ; and these qualities become fixed in the young fishes, and establish a particular variety." This would seem, in plain English, to describe the existence of a fish in the direct process of change, from the ordinary form of the ■^rout to the Gillaroo, the feeding on the larvae of winged insects, in their hard stony cases, being, as it were, a first step toward becoming shell-fish eaters, and the effect being indicated in the gradual change of color, though the causes have not been as yet sufficiently powerful to produce the induration of the stomach. In America, likewise, it has been attempted to draw a distinction ; and Dr. DeKay, a very accomplished and able icthyologist, although perhaps — ^with all deference be it spoken — rather too much of an in- door naturalist, and too much inclined to admit hearsay evidence, has designated a species as Salmo Erythrogaster, the Red-bellied Tr)ut; which I confess I do not believe to be even a permanent variety, but merely a brilliant specimen of the common Brook Trout, in its highest season, taken, probably, from some very bright and sunny water. In this view I am fully sustained by Professor Agassiz, who has made some very curious experiments with regard to the colors of fishes, of the Salmonidce especially ; and who has ascertained, beyond a doubt, not only that the Trout of different neighboring waters are affected by the color and quality of the water, but that the Trout of the same rive? vary in color accordingly as they haunt the shady or the sunny side of SALMONID^. 89 the stream. For it is a well-known fact, that the Salmonidce^ although many of them are migratory at certain seasons, have their own haunts and hunting grounds to which they steadily adhere, moving but a short distanc3 from one spot, in pursuit of their prey, and returning to it when satisfied. Thus, in a mountain-brook, you shall find, perhaps, that the pool between an upper and lower fall or rapid is occupied by two fish ; one of these will lie at the head, the other at the tail, of the pool, the more powerful fish selecting the spot which he chooses, and neither ex- changing places, nor hunting far from his habitual haunts. In still waters, in like manner, you will find that, day after day, the same large Trout will be seen under this bank, by that large stone, or in the cavity formed by the roots of yon ash or alder ; and that he will not stray to any distance from it, but will seek his prey nearly in the same waters, and on the same side of the river, the opposite bank being probably held by a rival fish. That this will at first be deemed far-fetched and improbable, I think likely enough ; but the more we consider it, the more reasonable shall it appear ; for when we weigh the great influence of light in the pro- duction of colors, and then think how much the transmission of light through different media, as, for instance, waters of different degrees of density, purity, and color, affects the light itself, we shall find the theory far less extravagant than it strikes us at a first glance. And here, I shall quote an anecdote, related in Salmonia, for the purpose of elucidating an entirely different point, which yet is so much to the purpose, in the present instance, that it is even more valuable in illustration of this, than of that for which it is quoted. " A manufacturer of carmine," thus runs the story, " who was aware of the superiority of the French color, went to Lyons for the purpose of improving his process, and bargained with the most celebrated man- ufacturer in that capital for the acquisition of his secret, for which he was to pay a thousand pounds. He was shown all the processes, and saw a beautiful color produced, yet he found not the least difference in the French mode of fabrication and that which he had constantly adopted. He appealed to the manufacturer, and insisted that he must have concealed soniething. The manufacturer assured him that he had not, and invited him to see the process a second time. He min- 1 90 AMERICAN FISHES. utely examined the water, and the materials, which were the same as his own, and, very much surprised, said, ' I have lost my labor and my money, for the air of England does not permit us to make good carmine.' ' Stay,' says the Frenchman, ' do not deceive yom'self ; what kind of weather is it now P 'A bright sunny day,' said the Eng- lishman. ' And such are the days,' said the Frenchman, ^ on which 1 make my color. Were I to attempt to manufacture it on a dark or cloudy day, my results would be the same as yours. Let me advise you, my friend, to make your carmine on bright sunny days.' ' I will,' says the Englishman, ' but I fear I shall make very little in London.' " Now this anecdote may be depended upon ; for a person so distin- guished as a chemist and natural philosopher as Sir Humphrey Davy, would not have related a story in regard to the effect of light, which was contrary to truth, or which he did not directly know to be true. And if the effect of sunshine is so great on color, as that the in- crease or decrease of its brilliancy should cause a totally different result to follow from the combination of precisely the same chemical ingredients, it will readily follow that much more effect will be pro- duced by its excess in one case, or almost total exclusion in another, upon hues so changeful as those which glitter on the scales of a fish. That in a pure limpid rapid stream, rushing over a bright gravelly bed, through open fields, where no envious boughs intercept the sun- light, and in a dark turbid pond, the waters of which are saturated with the draining of peat-bogs, or with the juices of decomposed vege- table matter, and overshadowed by thick evergreen umbrage, the light even of the most gorgeous noon will be transmitted in very different degrees, and produce very different effects both of color, heat and radiance, any person can judge, who will observe the sunbeams as they fall through a sheet of pure plate-glass, or a thjck green bull's-eye ; and that the consequences may easily be as they are stated above, he will, I think, be satisfied. Now, in the first place, analogous to this, and in corroboration of this view of the subject, I will remark here, that one of the principal external differences between the American and the European Trout, is precisely as might be expected under the views taken above. The climate here being far more sunny, the atmosphere drier and more transparent, and the weather more constant and lightsome, we find that SALMONIDiE. 91 the Trout of America is a lighter colored, brighter, gayer, and more gorgeous creature than his European kinsman. And, farther yet, we shall find that in the purest and most limpid streams, in the lakes which to the most transparent waters add the sunniest expanse, the brightest and most beautiful Trout are taken ; while in black boggy waters, or in forest-embowered rivers, the colors of the fish are rather dim and dusky. This is not, however, merely a matter of theory and analogy, for experiments have been actually tried on this point, and with perfect success. Mr. Agassiz assures me that he has repeatedly known very brilliant and gaily-colored fish, taken in clear and sunshiny waters, and transferred to neighboring pools or streams of totally different charac- ter, to begin to fade and lose the intensity of their colors, ssnsibly, within a very few hours, and after a few days or weeks, to be entirely undistinguishable from the native fish of the place. This accounts, at once, for the facts so often stated, and seemingly so inexplicable, of two lakes communicating with each other by a com- mon channel, and containing two distinct varieties of Trout, one beau- tiful, and excellent upon the table, the other dark-colored and ill-tasted, the two varieties never being known to intermingle, or to exchange from one to the other water. The explanation of this apparent phenomenon is, that the change pro- duced by passing from the dark and peat-soiled waters of the one lake, to the limpid element of the other, in the fish, is so rapid, that they assimilate themselves almost instantaneously, in outward appearance, to the fish into whose society they have emigrated. The lakelet, known as Stump-pond, on the northern side of Long Island, which, as its name indicates, is filled with thebuttsof dead trees, and saturated with vegetable matter, has been for many years famous, or I should rather say infamous, for the ugliness, want of brilliancy, ar.d indifferent quality in a culinary point of view, of its Trout, as com- pared with those of the bright and transparent mill-ponds and rivulets of the south side. No one, however, has ever thought of erecting them into a species, or. of designating them as Salmo StumppondicuSj seeing clearly the cause and effect ; and lo ! now of late years, as the cause is passing away with the process of time, the effect is also disappearing ; as the vegetable matter is decaying, being absorbed, and swept away, 92 AMERICAN FISHES and as the purifying influences of the springs are gaining upon the cor- rupt and stagnant qualities of the pond, the fishes are likewise becoming brighter and better. In the course of a few more years, it is probable that they will be scarcely distinguishable from the finely-formed and nely-colored fish of Snedecor's or Carman's streams, at Islip and Fire- place. Doubtless, other causes besides the influence of light, have their effect both upon the appearance and the flavor of the Trout ; we have seen that their color is affected by the shell-fish, or even the larvae of flies, on which they feed ; we have also seen that they increase in weight, size, and fatness, according as they are nourished with worms, with small fry, or with water-flies ; and no one in his senses can doubt, I imagine, that if these fish which have obtained scarlet spots, and become golden-finned and golden-belHed by feeding on shell-fish, or crustaceous-cased insects, were confined upon a regimen of dew-worms or May-flies, they would gradually relapse into their original coloring. Nor can it be supposed, I think, judging from all analogy, but that the Gillaroo Trout, kept permanently in situations where it could never find either shell-fish, or any hard edible substances, would gradually lose the distinctive hardness of its stomach, as well as its characteristic coloring. The probability is, that the young fry of a finger's length, spoken of by Sir Humphrey, would lose the distinction individually; and Ido not at all conceive it likely that the characteristic would sur- vive through two generations from the largest adult. While I am writing on this point, I will cite a fact, though it belongs with greater propriety to the history of another fish, the Greatest. Lake Trout, Salmo Amethystus, when describing which, it will be noticed more fully. This is simply that in the same lakes, Huron and Superior, this same fish exists in three different states of color, so totally dissimilar, that it is supposed by the French inhabitants of the shores, to be three distinct fishes, and is known by three distinct names, according to the situations in which it is found, and by which its coloring is evidently aff3cted. Drawings of the fish in two of these stages are now lying before me, and will be presented to my readers under the proper head ; here, it will be sufficient to state that, but for the shape of the head and gill- covers, the form of the fins and the number of the fin-rays, things not SALMONIDiE. 93 examined by the superficial observer, tbey would pass for different fish These three varieties are known as the Truite de Greve, Truite des BatticreSj and Truite du Large ; or, Trout of the muddy bottom, Trout of the rocky shores, and Trout of the open waters ; the first being a dull mud-colored fish, the second briglit and handsomely mottled, and the last bluish and silvery, and resembling more a clean-run Salmon than a Lake Trout. This is so fairly a case in point, that I cannot resist quoting it here, as it is perfectly evident that there is no real distinction whatever ; and if this be so of one variety or species, there is no reason for doubting that like causes will produce like effects, in the congenerous species. Again, it is not only possible, but in the highest degree probable, that the different chemical substances which are held in solution by the waters of various streams and lakes, may not be without their influence on the coloring of their inhabitants. I think I have myself observed, both on this continent and in Europe, that the Trout in streams flow- ing from lime-stone formations are more lustrous, and more strongly spotted than those of duller and less lively waters. That the fish of streams rushing rapidly over pebbly beds, are supe- rior in all respects, both of appearance and quality, to those of ponds or semi-stagnant brooks, is confessedly notorious ; but this may arise not so much from any particular components of the waters themselves, as from the fact that rapidly-moving and falling water is more highly aerated, the atmosphere being more freely intermingled with it, and therefore more conducive to the health and condition of all that in- habit it. Independently of DeKay's Salmo Erythrogaster, I find mention made in the " American Angler's Guide," of the Silver Trout, the Common Trout , the Common Trout of Massachusetts j the Black Trout, the Sea Trout, and the Hucho Trout, although to none of these except the last, is any scientific name attached. I beg, however, to assure my readers, that there are no such distinc- tions existing in nature. The Silver Trout, which is stated to be found in almost all of our clear, swift-running northern streams, and to weigh from one to fifteen pounds, is in no respect a different fish from the common Trout of Long Island ; nor does that fish differ in any, the »4 AMERICAN FISHES. smallest, particular from the Trout of Massachusetts, or of any other place in the United States, where the Trout exists at all. I wish greatly, that the author of the " American Angler's Guide " had given some authority for his statement, that this fish is taken in this country up to fifteen pounds, or even up to half that weight. I have myself some slight suspicion that such is the case rarely, in the northern lakes — I do not mean the great lakes — of New York and New Eno-land ; and that it is there mistaken for some new species, or a variety of the Lake Trout, from which it differs far more, in all respects, than it does from the true Salmon. I have, howevei', never been able to gain any authentic information of any true Brook Trout having ever been taken in Canada, or in the United States, above the weight of ten pounds ; and that size is of so rare occurrence, that when one is taken, it is regarded as a monster, and is heralded from one end of the country to the other, through the public press. I have myself seen a Trout, taken in the winter through the ice, in Orange county. New York, which lacked but a few ounces of six pounds. I know several instances, not exceeding half-a-dozen, of fish varying from four to five pounds, taken, some on Long Island, some in the interior, within twelve or thirteen years, but I have never heard it asserted that a fish of larger size has been taken in America. There is, I am aware, a tale that many years since, a Trout of eleven pounds was taken at Fireplace ; and a rough sketch of the fish is stiJl to be seen on the wall of the tavern bar-room. I know, however, that this fish was considered at the time, by all the true sportsmen who saw it, to be a Salmon, and the sketch is said to bear out that opinion, though I do not myself understand how a mere outline, not filled up, can convey any very distinct idea of the species intended. Suffice it, that it is not only not on record that any Trout of seven pounds or upward has been captured on this continent, but that old fishermen will assert positively, that they never- grow to be above five pounds in weight; and very coolly and civilly imply to you that you are speaking falsely, when you tell them that Trout fiom ten to twenty pounds are no great rarities in England, and that they are taken even of a much greater weight. The fact, on this point, is, that Trout of ten or even fifteen pounds — I mean the common speckled Trout, Salmo ForiOy analogous to our Brook Trout — are more common in SALMONID^. 95 some of the large rivers of England, and large lakes of Ireland, than fish of four pounds are here. There probably rarely passes a season in which ten or a dozen of these large fish, exceeding ten pounds' weight, are not taken in the Thames. I do not think that here, on an average, one four-pound fish is killed annually ; and their rarity is abundantly proved by the fact that their capture is alwaj'S recorded. The Bashe's Kill, in Sullivan county, to which the Silver Trout is assigned, is a pretty Trout stream, but in no wise superior to a thou- sand others throughout the country ; and, like all mountainous streams, is far more celebrated for the number, than for the size of its fish. In both respects, it is surpassed by many of the Pennsylvanian streams of the same neighborhood, falling into the Delaware from the westward ; and in the size and excellence of its Trout, it cannot sus- tain a moment's comparison with the fish of the Long Island streams on the south side. Its fish, it is needless to add, are in no wise dis- tinct. The Trout of Massachusetts are identical with the common Trout of New York ; the figure at the head of this article is from a speciDien taken in Massachusetts. I have caught Brook Trout myself from Maine to Pennsylvania, and can safely pronounce on their identity. The Black Trout is merely an accidental variety ; the colors, taste, and habits of which are afi'ected by the peaty waters, and stagnant flow of the lazy streams in which it is fo-und, and from which it obtains a corresponding dinginess of hue, muddiness of flavor, and laziness of character. With regard to the Sea Trout^ as it is here called, I shall quote a few paragraphs from the pages of '^ Smith's Fishes of Massachu- setts, " although I cannot say that I esteem it a work on which ^nuch reliance can be placed, as the author appears, from some of his statements, to be a writer of more rashness than discrimination, and more ready than qualified to give his opinion decidedly, and without appeal. These qualities are rendered sufliciently apparent by his indulging in a violent tirade against Dr. Mitchil, of New York, whom he accuses of vanity and presumption, in affixing his own name to the Striped Bass, which he. Smith, asserts to be " a common tallejish^ known from time immemorial all over Entro'pe.'*'' 96 AMERICAN FISHES. It is, I presume, at this day entirely unnecessary to state, that Dr. Mitchil was perfectly right as to the distinct character of the American fish, and its being utterly unknown, and non-existent in Europe ; and Smith is wrong in every possible particular ; the fish to which he refers it, the Sea Bass of Europe, Lahrax Lupus of Cuvier, Ferca Labrax of Linnaeus, being altogether a different fish, though of the same family, perfectly distinct both in habits and appearance. Of the Sea Trout, Smith says : — " They are found, as may be inferred from the name, in the salt and brackish waters of tide rivers nnd inland bays, in various parts of this and the adjoining States. When taken from the salt-water early in spring, they are in high perfection, and nothing can exceed their pis- catory symmetry. The general appearance of the skin is of silvery brightness, the back being of a greenish and mackerel complexion ; the spots of a vermillion color, mixed with others of faint yellow, and sometimes slightly tinged with purple, extend the whole length on either side of the lateral line ; the fins are light in color and firm in texture, and, together with the tail, are rather shorter and more rounded than the common Trout. They have a fii'm compactness of form from head to tail, which accounts for the superior sprightliness of their movement ; the head and mouth are very small, and the latter never black inside, like the common or fresh-water Trout; the flesh is even redder, or rather, we would say, more pink-colored than the Salmon, to which, by many, they are preferred as a delicacy, having, •like the Salmon, much of what is called cui'd, or fat between the flakes. " A fish of a pound weight measures about eleven inches in length. Their average size is considerably larger than the fresh-water, or Brook Trout — having been taken in the waters to which we refer — Waquoit bay, upon Cape Cod, and Fireplace, Long Island — of nearly five pounds' weight ; such instances, however, are rare, three pounds being considered a very large fish. We do not remember ever seeing a poor fish of this kind taken. They are invariably in good condition, let the size be what it may," &c., &c. I have quoted this passage, merely for the purpose of warning my readers, in a few words, that there is no such thing ; and that the whole of the above refers merely to the Brook Trout. All the varieties and species of Salmonidce, with the exception of 97 some of the large lacustrine spscies, are migratory whenever it is in their power to be so; and run down to the sea, annually, for the purpose of recruiting themselves after spawning, whence they return, like the Salmon and Salmon Trout, in excellent condition, perfect symmetry, and in the highest stage of external beauty. The non-migratory habit of the large lacustrine species does not depend, in any degree, on their position or situation above impassable cataracts, or in waters without outlets, although they are frequently found under such circumstances, for they do not run down to the sea, even when they have it in their power to do so ; as, for instance, in Lake Ontario, where they are found abundantly; nor, on the other hand, do they proceed far up the rivers, for the purpose of spawning, being content to deposit their ova on the gravel beds of shoal water, at the margins of their lakes, or at the mouths of the brooks which discharge into them. Of the migratory species, the Brook Trout is one ; and when it is in his power, he invariably descends to the sea, and returns to perpetu- ate his species by depositing his spawn in the clearest, coolest, and most limpid waters which he can find. There can be, I think, little doubt that, like the Salmon, he returns to the streams in which he has been bred. There are, doubtless, hundreds of mountain brooks throughout the country, divided by impracticable falls, natural or artificial, from the sea ; and although these teem with hordes of Brook Trout, they never attain, in them, to any size ; the mature adults being scarcely larger than the young fry, while they are still marked with the transverse bandings of the Parr. The flesh of this little fish never attains the rich ch'^erry-colored tint of the Trout, in full season, but is of a pale yellowish flesh-color, and has neither the richness nor the flavor of the sea-run variety. That these swarms do not visit the sea, is not be- cause they lack the will, but because they have not the power ; and it is possible that the habit of running seaward being precluded gene- ration after generation, the instinctive desire for it passes away in the process of time. But that the degeneracy, both in size and flavor, is caused by the inability to recruit their powers in the salt-water, is rendered evident by the facts I have already quoted concerning the fallincr off of Salmon and Salmon Trout, both in size and appearance. 98 AMERICAN FISHES. when intentionally conj&ned in fresh-water lakes; as well as by the enormous rapidity of growth manifested in the Salmon smolts, which, having been a year and a half in fresh water, attaining a length of seven or eight inches, and a weight of about so many ounces, after a visit of a few months to the sea, return not only reinvigorated in con- dition, but increased in bulk to seven or eight pounds weight. This accounts very readily for the superior size of what Mr. Smith designates as a distinct species of Sea Trout, which is, in reality, only the Brook Trout on his return from the sea. The circumstances of its condition speak for themselves. Who ever saw a Salmon fresh-run from the sea, of whatever size or age, otherwise than in excellent condition and of rare beauty ? Who ever took a spent fish, of the same species, that was not ugly, lean, discolored and uneatable ? The silvery whiteness and the bluish back of the Sea Trout, as described above, is peculiar to all fresh-run fish of this family; and in Scotland a skilful Salmon-fisher will tell you, at a glance, how many tides a fish has been in the river, merely from seeing him leap at a fly or a minnow. All the other marks, cited by Smith as characteristics, are merely signs of condition, as the brilliancy of the coloring, the breadth and thickness of the fish, and the comparative smallness of the head, which is produced by no alteration whatever of that portion of the body, but by the increase and development of the body itself, which at this sea- son and stage of the animal, is equal in its circumference to one-half its length. It is well known and undisputed in Long Island, that the Pond-fish and Creek-fish, as they are termed, pass to and fro between the fresh and the salt-water ; and although the Creek-fish are occasionally there called Sea Trout, it is by no means as implying that they are of a diflferent species, but merely indicating the water in which they are taken. The fish to which I referred above in my introductory remarks on the Salmonida^ as being perhaps a distinct kind, analogous to the Salmo Trutta of Linnaeus, is by no means this Trout, but a very differ- ent animal, found only in the eastern and north-eastern rivers, which empty their waters into the Bay of Fundy or the Gulf of St. Law- SALMONID^ 99 rence. This Trout is found only in these rivers, and so far as 1 can learn, instead of running up to the head waters of the streams in order to spawn, comes up only to the foot of the first rapids with the flood, and returns with the tide of ebb. Even about this Trout I have my doubts, though before finishing this work, I hope to have more definite information on the subject. With regard to the fish mentioned above, I have no doubts whatever. It varies in nothing from the common Trout but in those particulars, which prove that it has run to the salt-water. The last-named variety, Salmo Hucho^ which is also cited, on the authority of Smith, as a fish of New England, stands in the same category with the last-mentioned. There is no such fish on the continent of America ; and, indeed, even on the European continent, where alone it is found, its limits are narrower, and its geographical range smaller, than that of any known fish. It is, in fact, found only in tributaries of the Danube, more especially in the Traun, the Saave, the Draave, and the Laybach rivers. Some writers have supposed him to be purely a fresh-water fish, but it is believed by Davy, that, in his largest state, he is an in- habitant of the Black Sea. He is said to spawn in the Muir between March and May, and in the Danube in June. He is the fiercest and most predatory of all the Salmonidce^ and it is useless to attempt the captm-e of large ones with the fly. Spinning tackle, the bleak, the minnow, and small trout, or parr, are the only modes, and the only bait which he cares to take. In shape, he resembles an ill-fed Trout, being the longest and slenderest of all the Salmonidce, the ratio of his length to his girth being as 18 to 8, or in well-fed fish, 20 to 9. He has a sUvery belly, and dark spots only on the back and sides, which, in itself, shows suffi- ciently that he is not the fish described by Smith under this name. Smith's fish is described " as resembling much the Sea Trout ; but being found, on a careful examination, to be more slender, and to have a greater number of red spots. The back is dusky ; the ventral fin has a yellowish tinge ; all the others are of a palish purple ; the tail is forked, and the fish measures sometimes four feet throuo-h — or- dinarily they are only about two, and are caught by the hook. This Trout certainly exists in the large rivers and ponds in the interior, bur 100 AMERICAN FISHES. deteriorate in size. They are brought from New Hampshire in the winter, frozen, for the markets, and from the northern parts of Maine, where specimens have been taken as large as any produced in the great rivers of Europe." This passage I quote from the " American Angler's Guide," and 1 do so, to declare that this fish is, in the first instance, not the Hucho ; and, secondly, to point out that no such fish has ever been authenti- cally produced at all. A Hucho of the Laybach, of two feet in length, by eleven inches girth, and three inches thickness, was found to weigh four pounds two and a half ounces. Now, fishes increase in weight in the ratio of their breadth and depth, not of their length, a Trout of thirty-one inches weighing seventeen pounds. Whether any Trout or Salmon has ever been taken of full four foot in length I greatly doubt. If so, its weight must be enormous ; the largest Salmon ever known, the eighty-three pounder, which came into the possession of Mr. Groves, the London fishmonger, in 1821, is described as having been a short fish for the weight, and I am convinced would not have measured four feet. Now it remains to inquire what is this fish which Mr. Smith desig- nates as the Hucho ; and is there any such fish in existence elsewhere than in that gentleman's imagination .'' Now I fear the answers to these questions must be in the negative, since, most assuredly, there is no scarlet-spotted Trout on record at all approaching to the size described by Mr. Smith, which we must reckon at the rate of from seventy to one hundred pounds weight. The Salmo Amethystus, Mackinaw Salmon, which does grow to that prodigious size, and which answers to many of the particulars specified, is never scarlet-spotied, nor does the Salmo Confinis of Dr. Dekay ever show a red spot. One or both these fish do exist in the lakes of Maine and New Hampshire, from Temiscouata to Winnepisiogee, and it may be that this is a mis-description of one of these. If it be not, it is either a new and nondescript fish, of the kind mentioned as killed by the Pre- sident of the Piseco Club, " with red flesh, weighing twenty-four pounds," or it is a very large specimen of the Brook Trout, and, - moreover, wonderfully exaggerated in dimensions. It is a remarkable peculiarity of the American Trout, that it is SALMONID^. 101 seldom found— except when, as a very rare exception, one is taken in the drawing the sean — ^in any large rivers. I have never heard a soli- tary instance of a fish being taken either with the bait or the fly, or even with the spinning tackle, in any large stream, unless quite at its head waters, where it is not large. All the Trout which are taken, are taken in what are here called creeks, and what would in Europe be described as large brooks, or small rivers of the sixth or seventh class. In these the run of fish greatly exceeds the dimensions of the little inhabitants of the mountain brooks. This, in addition to other facts, at the knowledge of which we have arrived through the experi- ments recorded heretofore as made in England with regard to the growth of fishes, lead us irresistibly to the conclusion that the use of large expanses of suitable water is necessary to the Trout, in order to their arriving at any great magnitude. It is, therefore, quite within the range of possibility, that in the large pure inland lakes, supplied by the limpid springs of the moun- tains, the Brook Trout of America may attain a growth analogous to that of the well-fed and full-grown Trout of the Thames, the Stour, and the Irish lakes ; a growth which the smallness of the streams which they do frequent, and their inexplicable avoidance of the large and navigable rivers, prevent them from acquiring elsewhere. I cannot say that I shall be at all surprised should it turn out, on investio-ation, that the Brook Trout, Salmo Fontiiialis. is indeed occa- sionally taken up to the weight of twenty or twenty-five pounds, espe- cially in the waters of Hamilton County, and is now confounded, on account of its size, with the great Lake Trout — not equal to it, whether as a fish of game or a table fish — of the same waters. The Brook Trout proper of America is one of the most beautiful creatures in form, color, and motion, that can be imagined. He is slenderly and gracefully formed, though rather deeper in proportion to his length than the Salmon, and far more so than the Lake Trout. In a well-grown and well-fed fish, the length of the head to the whole body is about as one to five ; and the length of the whole body to the breadth, at the origin of the first dorsal fin, as four and a half to one. A line drawn from the front teeth to the posterior curve of the gill-cover, which is nearly semicucular, is nearly parallel to the 102 AMERICAN FISHES. lateral line, and will divide tlic body into two nearly equal parts, the convexity of the back and belly being also nearly equal. The centre of the dorsal fin is as nearly as possible in the centre of the length of the body ; and the second dorsal fin is equidistant from the posterior extremity of the dorsal, and that of the caudal fin. The origin of the ventral fin is vertically under the origin of the dorsal ; and the origin of tlie anal equidistant from the termination of the ventral and the origin of the caudal fin. The pectoral fin is about two-thirds the length of the head. The pectoral fin has eleven rays, the first dorsal eleven, the ven- tral eight, the anal fifteen, the caudal nineteen. The second dorsal rayless and adipose. The head is smooth ; the body covered with small and delicate scales. Teeth on the vomer, the palatine bones, and all the maxillary bones. The head and upper part of the back are beautifully mottled, like tortoise-shell, with brownish green and yellow spots ; the gill- covers silvery, with yellowish and pink glazings ; the sides, about the lateral line, lustrous metallic bluish gray, with large yellow spots more brilliant than on the back. A double row of vivid vermillion specks^ irregular in number, along the lateral line, above and below it. The sides and upper portion of the belly glazed with bright carmine ; the belly silvery white ; the pectoral fins reddish yellow, with a dusky anterior margin ; the ventral fins the same, with the margin blacker and more definite ; the anal fin red, with a broad white anterior mar- gin, and a black lunated streak between the white and red ; the caudal fin purplish brown ; the first dorsal golden yellow, barred and spotted irregularly with jet-black ; the second dorsal similar to the back. Such, briefly, are the characteristics and general appearance of this beautiful and interesting fish, which in every part of the world where angling is resorted to as a sport, and not merely as a mode of obtain- ing subsistence, is the great object of the scientific fisherman's pursuit. There is no sportsman, who is actuated by the true animus of the pursuit, who would not prefer basketing a few brace of good Trout, to taking a cart-load of the coarser and less game denizens of the waters ; nor, whether we consider his wariness, his timidity, his ex- treme cunning, the impossibility of taking him in fine and much-fished waters, except with the slenderest and most delicate tackle ; his bold- SALMONID.ii:. 103 ness and vigor after being hooked, or his excellence on the -dble, shall we wonder at the judgment, much less dispute it, which, next to the Salmon only, rates him the first of fresh-water fishes. The pursuit of him leads us into the loveliest scenery of the land; the season at which we fish for him is the most delicious, those sweetest months of spring— when they are not, as at present, the coldest and most odiou of the year— the very name and mention of which is redolent of the breath of flowers, the violet, the cowslip, and the celandine, which plunge us into a paradise founded upon the rural imaginings of the most'' exquisite of England's rural bards, until we are recalled from our elysium by a piercing gale from the north-east, and perhaps a pelting hail-storm, bidding us crush our wandering fancies, and teach- ing us that spring-time is one of those pleasant things which occurs twice perhaps in a lifetime in the United States of America. The habits of the Trout have been already discussed so fully in the earlier part of this article, as well as the nature of his food, that I shall defer further mention of these topics, until I come, in the second part of this volume, to the taking of him with the natural or artificial bait, which is most intimately connected with the consideration of his prey and his haunts, so that in that place these will be most suitably discussed. Note to Revised Edition.— For sorfle further particulars as to the size of the Brook Trout, see Supplement. Art. Brook Trout, Salmo Fontinali^ 104 AMERICAN FISHES. ABDOMINAL MALACOPTEEYGIL SALMONID^ VARIETY. TRUITE DB OREVB THE GREATEST LAKE TROUT. MACKINAW SALMON NAMAYCUSH SALMON TROUT. Salno Amethystus ; Mitchil, DeKsiy.—Salmo Namaycush ; Peunant, Richardson. * This noble and gigantic species, which equals, or even exceeds, in size, the true Salmon, Salmo Salar, and is by far the largest of all the lacustrine or non-migratory Salmonidcs, is found in all the great lakes to the northward and westward of Lake Erie, to the Fur countries and the Arctic region. It is not found in any tidal rivers, and never visits the sea. The Falls of Niagara present an insuperable obstacle to its descent into Lake Ontario ; but whether it exists in any of the smaller lakes of New York, or the eastern waters of New England, does not as yet appear to be fully ascertained. It has been taken by the com- panions of Dr. Richardson and Sir John Franklin, in Winter lake, lat. 64|° N. ; but I cannot learn that it has been discovered in any of the waters which discharge themselves southward by the Mississippi or the Missouri. I doubt not at all that it exists in the waters of the Great Basin and the Columbia, and that it is one of the fish mentioned by Col. Fremont, as taken in them, during his explorations. The name '^ O ^ :xi 5 ^ ^ m > J^ H c^ ^< n .::: Co > .^ 1 — ^ ^ m ^ o >> H Cb s :xj 5 m H o ^ 31 cz H -< CO H —\ S ^ 3> o ^ S ^ $ — i^. H z N o ^. re >> .^ ^ f^ [— ^ ^ CO :ij. Cb >- C5 1— .■^ ^ ^ o Z SALMONID^. 105 of Mackinaw Salmon, by which it is commonly known, is therefore a misnomer, since it is no more peculiar to the straits of Michilimackinac than to any other locality between the Falls of Niagara and the Arctic ocean. The term Namaycush, which Pennant adopted, and Dr. Rich- ardson has retained, both as its English name and its scientific distinc- tion, is no more than its denomination by the Cree Indians, who term it Nammecoos, and I confess I think it in both respects preferable to any other ; for Dr. Mitchil's scientific name Amethystus, which he gave it in consequence of a faint purplish tinge perceptible on the teeth, gums, and roof of the mouth, is founded on a peculiarity so slight — I speak on the authority of Prof. Agassiz — as in many specimens to be scarcely distinguishable ; while it has no name in the English language defining it from the Siskawitz, inhabiting the same waters, or from the common Lake Trout, Salmo Confinis^ of the New York and New England lakes. It is a remarkable fact, that at least one-half of our inland or fresh- water fishes have no correct English names, no names at all in fact, but such arbitrary and erroneous terms as were applied to them igno- rantly, by the first English settlers in the districts in which they are found, and have been adhered to since for lack not of letter^ but of any real names. Thus the peculiar fish of Lake Otsego, though fully ascertained to be, and scientifically distinguished as, one of the family SalmonidcEj and defined as Coregonus Otsego, has, to this day, no other appellation in the vernacular than the absurd misnomer of Otsego Bass, to which species it has no relation whatsoever. The same is the case with the fish called " Trout,^^ by the inhabitants of Carolina and the neighboring States, which is mentioned as the " White Salmon," by Smith, in his history of Virginia ; and which is said to abound in the rivers of Pennsylvania. This is, I doubt not, the fish alluded to by a recent writer in the " Spirit of the Times," as the Susquehanna Salmon, unless perchance another nameless fish, the Perca Luciojperca, is intended. The southern Trout is of the Pearch family — nothing more remote from Trout — though in form it has some resemblance to the Sahnonidce. It is the G^risUs Salmdides of Cuvier, the Lahre Salmdide of Lacdpede, both terms indicating its family as of the Pearch or Bass, and its similarity to the Salmons ; but it has no English name at all, unless we adopt the vulgarism of calling it a 8 106 AMERICAN FISHES. Trout, which is no less absui'd than it would be to call a Pickerel, Salmon. These prevalent misnomers, and this total absence of real and ra- tional names, are of great disadvantage, creating excessive confusion, and puzzling all, except the scientific naturalist. It is much to be regretted that the Indian terms have not always been sustained ; for when interpreted, they are almost invariably found to be truly dis- tinctive ; and it is greatly to be desired that on the discovery of new genera, or varieties, this system of nomenclature may be adopted, as it has been by Prof. Agassiz with regard to the Siskawitz, a new lacus- trine Trout, discovered by him during the past summer in the great waters of Huron and Superior. With regard to those misnamed long ago, the misnomers of which have become familiar, and as it were stereotyped by the lapse of time, it is difficult to say what is to be done, or how the evil is to be reme- died ; and it is to be feared that the Coregonus of Otsego will remain the Otsego Bass for ever ; since [although nothing is easier than to explain, and even to prove, that the fish is in no respect a Bass] when he who has been accustomed so to call it, but who is open to convic- tion, enquires if I must not call him Bass, what is his name ? there is no answer to the question, but that he is a Coregonus of the Salmon family. To return, however, to the Greatest Lake Trout, Mackinaw Salmon, or Namaycush — it is also called, in common with all the other large Lake Trout, Salmon Trout ; but this is too absurd even to be admitted as a provincial synonyme, since the Salmon Trout is a Sea Trout, and is moreover found on the eastern shores of this continent. This is pro- bably the largest of the Salmon family in the known world ; hence, I have ventured on my own authority, to designate him as the Greatest Lake Trout, in order to distinguish him not only from the Siskawitz and the Salmo Confinis of DeKay, but also from the common Trout, Salmo Fontinalis, when taken of large size in the small inland lakes. The average weight of this monstrous fish in Lake Huron is stated by the fishermen to be seventeen pounds, but they are constantly taken of forty pounds weight, and not at all unfrequently of sixty or seventy. It is stated by Dr. Mitchil, that at Michilimackinac, they have been known to attain the enormous weight of one hundred and SALMONID^. 107 twenty pounds, with which the dimensions of the same fish as described by La Hontan, in his Mem. de PAmerique, would seem to agree — " Les plus grosses Tridtes,^^ says he, " des lacs ont cinq pieds et demi de lon- gueur et un pied de diametre^^ — but at the present day, specimens of this gigantic magnitude are never seen, and seventy pounds may be taken as the limit of their ordinary growth. Even this, however, is a size to which the Sea Salmon has scarcely been known to attain. It is a bold, powerful and tyrannical fish, with which no other in- habiting the same waters can compete. The Gray Sucking Carp, Ca- tastomus IliidsoniuSj the Methy, a species of fresh-water Ling, Lota Maculosa^ and the Herring-salmon, Coregonus Artedi, form the favorite food of this voracious fish, the stomach of which is constantly found crammed with them almost to repletion ; but he will bite raven- ously and fiercely at almost anything, from a small fish or a piece ol pork, to a red rag or a bit of bright of tin, made to play rapidly through the water. In form, he considerably resembles the common Salmon, though he is perhaps rather deeper in proportion to his length. His head is neat, small, and well-formed, with rather a peculiar depression above the eye, and the snout sharply curved and beak-like. The head forms nearly a fourth-part of the whole length of the fish ; the skull is more bony than that of the common Salmon, the snout not cartilaginous, but formed of solid bone ; the jaws are very strong, the upper over- lapping by about half an inch the lower, which is strongly articulated to the preoperculum and to the jugal bone. The eye is midway between the snout and the nape, and twice as far from the hinder edge of the gill-cover as from the tip of the snout. Of the gill-covers, the preoperculum is curved and vertical, or nearly so ; the suboperculum is deeper than in the other Trouts, and is jointed at its inner angle to the operculum and preoperculum by a slender process concealed by these bones. Its edge forms fully one half of the border of the free gill-cover, and is finely grooved. The gill-rays are twelve in number. The dental system of the Mackinaw Salmon is very complete, and more formidable than in any other member of the family. The inter- maxillaries and labials, as well as the palatine bones, lower jaws and tongue, are armed with very sharp and strong conical curved teeth ; 108 AMERICAN FISHES. those on the vomer consisting of a circular cluster on the knob of that bone, and of a double row extending at least half an inch backward. The dorsal fin is situated in the middle of the fish, and contains fourteen rays, the eighth ray being exactly central between the snout and the tip of the central caudal fin-ray. The second adipose dor- sal fin is small and obtusely formed. The caudal fin has nineteen, the ventrals each nine, the anal eleven, and the pectorals each four- teen rays. The origin of the ventral fins is slightly posterior to tho centre of the fish. Such are the principal structural distinctions of this noble fish, and I have entered into these rather at length, since by them only can he be distinguished from his lake congeners. I have already observed the great differences existing in point of color and markings between fish of the same species found in different waters, throughout this family, and endeavored to show the impropriety of founding specific distinc- tions, or even permanent varieties, by reference to these alone, without reference to structure. In the Salmo FontinaliSj common Brook Trout, this is easy to be noticed, but in none of the Salmonidce with which I am acquainted are the differences of color and marking so broad and distinct as in different individuals of this species. I have before me, as I write, three colored representations of this same fish, two water-color sketches, by Mr. Cabot, of Boston, and one, a colored lithograph, in Dr. Richardson's Fauna Boreali- Americana ; and these three I am certain would be pronounced by nine persons out of ten not accustomed to observe structural differences, three different fish. Indeed, I am informed by Prof. Agassiz, that by the French residents on lakes Huron and Superior, they are actually believed to be three distinct fish, and are known by three different names, from the locali- ties in which they are found, viz. : — Truite des Battures, Trout of the rocky shallows — Truite de Greve, Trout of the muddy shoals — and Truite du Large, Trout of the deep open waters. The first of those fish is represented in the large plate facing this paper, and the second in the cut at the head of page 104. The third is thus described in Dr. Richardson's work named above : — " The head, back and sides have a dark greenish gray color, which when examined closely is resolved into small roundish yellowish gray spots on a bluish gray ground, which covers less space than the spots ; the latter are most evident on SALMONID^. 109 the sides, each of them including three or four scales. The un- covered portion of each scale is roundish, and its convex centre, having a grayish hue and silvery lustre, is surrounded by a dark border of minute spots, which are deficient or less numerous on the yellowish gray spots, and also on the bluish white belly. The dorsal and caudal fins have the greenish gray tint of the back, and the ven- trals and anals are muddy orange ; this color also partially tinging the pectorals. The irides are bright honey yellow with blue clouds." I will merely add to this, that in the colored lithograph, which is beautifully executed, the fish has a bright, clean, silvery appearance, with a prevalence of bluish gray hue, and a silvery belly, precisely in accordance with a description given to me by Prof. Agassiz, of the Truite dw Large, for in this condition I have never myself seen the fish. In the drawings by Mr. Cabot, from which the wood-cuts to this paper are taken, and the correctness of which I had an opportunity of verifying by personal inspection during a recent visit to the upper lakes, the Truite des Battures, large plate facing page 104, is of a dark bluish green on the back, fading into a greenish brown about the late ral line, thence into a greenish yellow on the sides, and into bluish silver on the belly, the whole largely marked with distinct irregularly- shaped spots — light green on the dark back, yellowish on the brown green of the sides, and silver on the bluish belly, becoming larger as they descend from the back, and at last melting into the brightness of the abdomen. The dorsal and caudal fins of the same color as the back, with irregular yellowish green spots, the latter faintly margined with dull red ; the pectorals bluish gray, marginsd with the same color, and the ventrals and anals broadly margined with dusky Ver- million. The third variety, the Truite de Greve, is generally of a muddy greenish brown, darker and greenar on the back, browner on the sides, and yellowish gray on the b3lly. The spots in this variety are much smaller than in that last described, and far less definite both in shape and color, so that the fish might be said to be mottled or clouded, rather than spotted. The fins are all of the same dull, dingy, olivaceous color, similarly clouded, with the faintest possible indication of a ruddy margin on the pectorals, ventrals, and anals, but no tinge of that color on the caudal fin. Both these varieties I have 110 AMERICAN FISHES. seen and compared within the last month, recently taken on Lake Erie, and I am informed that the color and flavor of the fish is affected, as might be expected, by the same cii'cumstances which produce the difference of external coloring, the brighter fish having the redder flesh and the higher and more delicate flavor. In the deep cold waters of Lake Huron, all the fish are infinitely superior, both in firmness and flavor, to those of the comparatively sliallow and muddy waters of Lake Erie, so much so, that those who have been accustomed all their lives to the White-Fish, Coregonu^ AlbiiSj of the lower lake, speak of that of Lake Huron as entirely a different fish as regards its epicurean qualities. " The flesh of the Namaycush," says Dr. Richardson, " is reddish or orange colored, being paler when out of season. When in good condition, it yields much oil, and is very palling to the appetite if simply boiled, but roasting renders it a very pleasant article of diet. The Canadian voyageurs are fond of eating it in a frozen state, after scorching it for a second or two over a quick fire, until the scales can be easily detached, but not continuing the application of the heat lono; enouo;h to thaw the interior. The stomach when boiled is a favorite morsel with the same people." Although I have seen this fish at almost every season of the year, the flesh of none has exceeded what I should call a dull, huffish flesh- color, not approaching to what, on the most liberal construction, could be termed red or orange color. It is in my opinion a coarse, bad fish on the table, at once rank and vapid, if such a combination can be imagined, and it is decidedly the worst of the large lacustrine Trouts, few of which in either hemisphere are either delicate or high-flavored. I doubt not, however, that when fresh out of the water, in the cold deep lakes of Huron and Superior, crimped and broiled or roasted, it is far better than could be supposed by one who has eaten it only after being many hours out of its native element. In no respect, however, must we regard the opinions of sportsmen more cum grano than in their appreciation of the qualities of fish, flesh or fowl in an epicurean point of view. They are apt to be very hungry when they eat, and who does not know the effect of the Spartan sauce on the palatableness of the plainest viands } and again, their tastes are simplified by the absence of stimulants of everv kind SALMOMD.^. Ill The habits of the Mackinaw Salmon are similar to those of most of the non-migratorj Lake Trout ; they affect and prefer the deep waters at most seasons of the year, and lie at a great depth beneath the sur- face. In the spring of the year, however, they approach the shores, and are found in the shallow waters, whither, it is supposed, they pur sue the various kinds of fish on which they prey, which resort thither In search of larvae of various insects. They do not enter the rivers to spawn, but approach the shores for that purpose in autumn, depositing their ova on the gravelly shoals, and then retiring again into the depths. In Lake Huron they begin to spawn about the tenth of October, and return to the centre of the lake within three months from the com- mencement of the movement. The young fry of this fish has been examined by Professor Agassiz, and found to possess the same lateral bands or markings which were formerly believed to be peculiar to the Parr alone, but which are in all probabiHty, common to every species of the family of Sahnonida. During its stay, at the spawning season, in the shallow channels between the innumerable islands, the Namaycush is speared by torch light in great quantities by the Indians— a cruel and wasteful devasta- tion, which, though it cannot be wondered at in the untutored savage, cannot be reprehended too severely when practised, as it is universally, by the civilized white man, for purposes of reckless sport or illicit and dishonorable gain. In the fur countries they are sometimes taken in the autumn with nets ; but the season when it is captured in the greatest abundance is in the months of March and April, during which it is taken by thousands on cod-hooks, baited with small fish set in holes cut through the ice, in eight or nine fathoms water. It will not be amiss here to state that when the ice is formed of snow partially melted and recongealed, so as to be opaque, presenting an appear- ance Hke that of ground glass, neither this nor any other of the Trout family will take the bait. During the mid-summer and mid-winter months the Mackinaw Salmon is rarely seen or captured, as during those seasons it lies in the deepest waters in the centre of the great lakes, so that it can be fished for only with a drop-line and heavy plummet at an extraordi- nary depth, in a manner similar to that practised in deep-sea fishing. 11^ AMERICAN FISHES ABDOMINAL MALACOPTERYGIl. SALMONlDiB THE SISKAWITZ. NORTHERN LAKE TROUT. Salmo Siskawitz * Agassiz. This fine fish, which is second only in size to that last described, was discovered so recently as last summer, during a trip to the upper lakes for scientific purposes by Professor Agassiz, to whose courtesy and kindness I owe the power of including it in this work, as it has not up to this time been described or figured in any book of Natural History. A journal of that tour is at this moment passing through the University press at Harvard, which will comprise a full account of this and several other previously nondescript fishes, together with accurate and b,eauti- fiil lithographic illustrations by Sonrel ; and to this for fuller informa- tion, and especially for accounts of several species which do not come within the limits of this work, I refer my readers, certain that they will derive both pleasure and profit from the perusal. The Siskawitz in its coloring and general aj)pearance, as regarded by an uninstructed eye, bears a very considerable resemblance to the Mackinaw Salmon, or Namaycush, particularly to that accidental variety of it which I have described above as the Truite de Greve , and is found in the same waters with it, most abundantly in Lake Superior, a few in Lake Huron near the Sault St. Marie, but none in St. Clair, Erie, or Ontario. And, it is believed, in the smaller inland waters of New York and the Eastern States, it is unknown. The head, back and sides of the Siskawitz, above the lateral line, are of dingy brownish olive, with a greener gloss on the upper parts, irregularly blotched and clouded, rather than spotted, with lighter circular or oval patches of the same color. Below the lateral line the color is paler and more yellow, with clusters of the same spott SALMONID^, 113 fading into a dull daad whit 3, which is the prevailing hue of the belly, with a very slight silvery gloss on some of the soales. Tha dorsal and caudal fins are of the same greenish brown with the back, and like it are h-regularly patched with lighter spots. The pec- toral, ventral and anal fins are paler, but with the same markings, and with a very faint indication of dusky red on the margins. Altogether, the Siskawitz is a greener colored and less lustrous fish than the Namaycush, and far less distinctly spotted ; still there is so much similarity, that by a parson not accustomed to look for nicer and more permanent structural distinctions, the two species might be very readily confounded. In form, the Siskawitz is rather shorter and stouter than the Mack- inaw fish, and does not taper nearly so much at either extremity. The head particularly, which in the other is very small, neatly shaped, and depressed toward the snout, is short, thick, and very obtusely rounded, giving a coarse and clumsy profile, and distinguishing it de- cidedly from the kindred species. On the shoulders it is moderately broad, with the sides somewhat compressed. The length of the head is about one-fourth of the whole length of the fish, from the snout to the tips of the caudal. The skull is strong and bony, with powerful lower jaws. The porous lines and foramina of the bones, seen on the heads of several of the other Trouts, are very evident and distinctly marked in this, as are the radiating processes on the operculum anl pre operculum. The preoperculum is considerably rounded and almost vertical , the posterior free margin of the gill-covers is nearly semicircular much less acute posteriorly than in the Namaycush. It has a very complete and formidable dental system, all the max- illary and palatine bones, as well as the lower jaws and either side of the tongue, being armed with strong, sharp, curved teeth, and the vomer provided with a double line extending along the whole length backward. The dorsal fin is situated nearly midway the whole length of the body ; the posterior dorsal is thicker and more clumsily shaped than in the preceding species. The caudal fin is deeply forked. The number of rays in the several fins I am, I regret to say, unable to supply at present. Neither in coloring nor in form tlierefore, does the Siskawitz equal 114 _ AMERICAN FISHES fcbe Mackinaw Salmon or Namajcush,; it is in all respects a clumsier and coarser fish. Its flesh is of the same nature, though much richer ; and when salted, it commands nearly double the price of the Namajcush. Its habits and haunts are almost identical with those of the other species, like which it is not migratory or anadromous, never entering the rivers either for the purpose of spawning or in pursuit of food ; although it approaches the shores, and visits the gravelly shallows of the lakes in autumn, in order to deposit its ova. It is taken by the French inhabitants and by the Indian hunters, with the torch and spear, occasionally with the sean, and also with the long line in deep water. It is said to strike readily at a piece of glit- tering tin, or mother-of-pearl, made to revolve and glance quickly through the water.* There is no doubt but that with good spinning tackle, baited with minnow, shiners, or the parr of the Brook Trout, which would proba- bly prove the most killing of the three, or with the deadly spoon, the Siskawitz might be angled for with great success, and would afford good sport, as it is a strong and powerful fish, growing to twenty-five pounds or upwards, although its usual weight does not exceed fifteen or sixteen pounds. Neither this fish, however, nor the Namaycush, nor, so far as 1 know, any other of the non-migratory Lake Trout, strikes with the same fierceness and avidity, springing out of the water to take the bait, and leaping far and frequently above the surface when hooked, as the Sea Salmon, the Salmon Trout, or any of the anadromous species of this highly interesting family. The motion of the great lakers is for the most part confined to a heavy lumbering rush in pursuit of the bait, and to a strong dead pull when endeavoring to escape after being jatruck. They will bore down desperately at first into the deep water, but do not fight with the swift energy or resort to the cunning arti- NoTE TO Revised Edition. — From personal observation, since writing the above, I am satisfied that these large Lake Trout cannot be angled for with success, ex- cept in very deep water, either with a drop- line, or by trolling from a boat with a plummet, and a cod-hook baited with any kind of flesh, fish, or fowl. The former is the preferable mode. The Indians kill them with the spear, or with baits through 'he ice, in immense numbers. Fresh, their flesh is coarse, oily, rank and vapid, 4iut when pickled or smoked, they are very palatable. M — k < CO 1 C/D NO Co Si cr. 02 ^ o ^ ■"vH ^ • * k h- N ZD h- o i ^ DC < h- ^ Ld C/5 ^ C/3 >, Carpio; Linnseus, Cuvier. Of this family, Cyprinidce, the principal characteristics are a mouth slightly cleft ; weak, and generally toothless jaws ; pharyngeal bones strongly dentated ; one dorsal fin ; branchial rays few in number ; to which may be added large fleshy lips, and bodies covered with large scales. It comprises eighty or ninety well-known American species, not one of which is worthy of notice, as either a fish of sport or a dainty. There are in America no Carps proper, indigenous to the country — no Barbels — no Cobitis, or loaches. Leucisci^ analogous to, though by no means — as stated by Dr. J. V. C, Smith, of Massachusetts — iden- tical with the Chub, Roach, Dace, and Bleak of Europe, are found in abundance under the above names, but still more commonly as Shiners. The genus Abramis, Bream, has again several representatives in the waters of North America, but none, either of this or the last sub- genus, can attain to dimensions which lead the angler to trouble him- self about them, unless it be as bait for other fish, as Pike and Pearch, for which purpose several of these fish are better adapted than those of any other family, unless it be the young fry of the Salmonida^ while in their Parr form. CYPRINID^ 165 In lieu of those genera, however, which exist in England and on the continent of Europe, but entirely lack American representatives, several prevail here which are totally wanting in Europe, as the genus LabeOj the genus Catastomus^ Suckers, or Sucking Carp, many varieties of which are found throuo^hout the waters of the United States and Canada, from north to south, and many species of Hydrargyra^ ana- logous to the European Minnow. Several of these last species are of great interest to the naturalist, the Catastomi^ or Suckers, especially, from the singular formation of their mouths, which are situated far below and posterior to the tip of the snout, and furnished with crimped and pendant labials, adapted for the deglutition of vegetable substances and even of mud ; but to the sportsman they are of no account, as they do not take the bait, and are worth little as bait themselves, while, by the epicure, they are justly held in utter scorn. The truth is, that nowhere under the canopy of Heaven are the- genus Cyprinus worthy to be accounted sporting fishes, and nowhere are they eatable — not even excepting the Carp and Tench of Europe — unless with the aid and appliances of a most careful cuisine, and by dint of stewing in claret, with condiments and spices, garlic and force- meat balls, and anchovies, such as might convert a kid glove, or the sole of a reasonably tender India-rubber shoe, into dehcious esculents. The shyness of the Carp in biting, the great size of the Bream and Barbel, and even in some waters of the Chub, induce bottom-fish- ing anglers at home to take some pleasure in their pursuit and capture, but that is invariably in such slow and sluggish waters as contain no gamer or more delicate fish ; and the dull, logy, watery fish them- selves, and the cockney punt-fishers, who asphe to take them, are held in about equal esteem, or disesteem, by those who know what it is to throw a long line lightly, with a cast of flies, for the vigorous-speckled Trout, or to spin, or even troll, with the Parr or Minnow, for the savage and voracious Pike or Salmon In America, none of the Leuciscij Chub, Roach, Dace, or Shiners, and none of the Abramis^ Bream, exceed nine or ten inches in length and consequently are never subjects of more serious pursuit than the holiday crooked-pin and angle-worm fishing of schoolboys. They are 166 AMERICAN FISHES. the detestation of the Trout bottom-angler, constantly nibbling away his bait, and tantalizing him with vain hopes of a bite. Of this family, therefore, so far as the true American genera are concerned, no notice need be taken in a sporting work, except as re- lates to two or three little fishes, to which I shall devote a few lines each, as being excellent bait for all the larger and bolder fishes. Within the last few years, however, two European varieties have been introduced, and have become entirely naturalized in some of our waters. The Gold Carp, Cyprinus Auratus of Linnaeus and Cuvier, or common Gold and Silver fish of China, in the Schuylkill, and in some streams of Massachusetts, and the Common Carp of Europe, whose title stands at the head of this paper, in the Hudson, especially in the vicinity of Newburgh. The former of these little fish is, indeed, unworthy of notice, except as an ornamental fish, to be kept in garden tanks and fountains ; but the other being much, though I must confess in my opinion uiide- servedlyj esteemed in Europe, and having been deemed worthy of le- gislative enactments for his protection, by the State of New York, 1 shall proceed to describe as a species, which, within a year or two at the farthest, will come within the American angler's list of game. The mode of this fish's introduction into American waters, is as fol- lows : — Captain Robinson, who has a fine place immediately on the banks of the Hudson river, containing some fine fish ponds, between Newburgh and New Windsor, imported some years since a quantity of Carp at considerable expense, I believe from Holland, where the species is very abundant and very fine in quality. His ponds were soon admirably stocked ; but in process of time a heavy freshet carried away his dams and flood-gates, and a very large proportion of his Carp escaped into the Hudson. This fact being represented to the Legislature of the State, a penal enactment was passed, heavily mulcting any person who should take any one of these Hudson river Carpj at any season or under any circumstanoes, until after the expi- ration of five years from the passage of the act. The provisions of this bill have been strictly enforced ; several pa- eons have been fined, and the fish is now extremely abundant. I cannot here, in relating these circumstances, control myself, but CYPRINIDiE. 167 oanst invoke the contempt and indignation of every gentle sportsman, every reasonable thinking man, upon the heads of that ignoran* motley, and destructive assemblage, which is entitled the Senate and Assembly of New York. For the last fifteen years not a session has passed without the strenuous and sustained attempts of the most edu- cated and most influential gentlemen of the State, both of the citv and the agricultural counties, to induce the faineant demagogues 0/ that assembly to take some measure to prevent the total extinction, within that very county of Orange, of some of the noblest species of game in existence, indigenous to that region, and once abundant, but already scarce, and within twenty years certain to be lost altogether, through the mal-practices of their destroyers, the errors of the ex- isting game-laws, and the difficulty of enforcing them in their present state. It is quite unnecessary to state that these efi'orts were wholly inef- fectual — that it was found impossible to induce those learned Thebans to do anything to prevent American Woodcock from being shot before they are fledged, and American Brook Trout from being caught upon their spawning beds ; but that no sooner is a coarse, watery, foreign fish accidentally thrown into American waters, than it is vigorously and effiectively protected, which protection was merely granted, I be- lieve, to enable " a facetious member of the legislature^'^'' as he is styled by the learned Doctor Bethuns in his fine edition of Walton's Ano;ler. to draw a witty comparison between the naturalization of '' scaly foreigners" and Irish voters. I dare say the facetious member was not devoid of hopes that the scaly foreigners would some day or other vote for him. It is impossible to feel anything but contempt for such unutterable blockheadism, while it is equally impossible to expect anything better, after their recent exhibitions in the legislatorial line, from such a bodv as the New York Houses of Assembly. Since, however, their wisdom has pronounced that henceforth the Carp is to be a game fish of America, I shall proceed to describe this " scaly foreigner," thus naturalized with a five years' exemption from liability to capture, in the waters of Hudson's river. The European Carp is one of the fish which has been the longest known and esteemed, being mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny, 168 AMEBICATV FISHES. although they do not at that period appear to have attained their present celebrity. They are found in most of the lakes and rivers of Europe, but thrive best in the ^ore temperate southern districts, degenerating when they are carried farther north. It is said that in Russia they are even now unknown. " Their growth," says Mr. Yarrel, " is, however, particularly cultivated in Austria and Prussia, and considerable traffic in Carp prevails in various parts of the Euro- pean continent, where an acre of water will let for as much yearly rent as an acre of land, and where freab-^ater fishes, as articles of food, are held in higher estimation than in this country." — Mr. Yarrel means England, but the observation is even more applicable to the United States than to Great Britain. '' Carp," he continues, " are said to live to a great age, even to one hundred and fifty, or two hundred years ; but they lose their rich color — their scales, like the productions of the cuticle in some other animals, becoming gray and white with age," The exact period of the introduction of the Carp to England is unknown, but it. is mentioned in the Boke of St. Albans, by Lady Juliana Berners, printed in 1496, and the great probability is that it was naturalized from the continent, probably from the Low Countries, or Austria, previous to the suppression of the monastic institutions. The Carp thrives best in ponds or lakes, and in such parts of rivers as have a slow, lazy current, and a muddy or marshy bottom. " They are very prolific," I again quote from Mr. Yarrel, " breed- ino' much more freely in lakes and ponds than in rivers. Bloc found six hundred thousand ova in the roe of a female of nine pounds' weight, and Schneider seven hundred thousand in a fish of ten pounds' weight. They spawn toward the end of May, or the beginning of June, depend- ing on the temperature of the water and the season ; and the ovl. are deposited upon weeds, among which the female is followed by two or three males, and the fecundation of a large proportion of the ova is by this provision of Nature effectually secured ; but they both breed and grow much more freely in some waters than in others, without any apparent or accountable cause." The Carp, and indeed the whole family of Cyprinidce, are the least voracious of all fishes, and the least addicted to animal food, the larvae of insects, worms, the softer and more gelatinous parts of aquatic plants, and even vegetable mud, furnishing them with ample subsist- CYPRINID.E. 16S once. During the winter, it is believed that they eat little or nothing, and lie, half- torpid, in the mud. They are extraordinarily tenacious of life, and can be kept alive in a cool place for many days, and even weeks, if placed in wet moss, and fed on bread steeped in milk. This peculiarity renders them very easy of transportation. They are slow of growth, not arriving at the weight of three pounds- before their sixth, or ten before their ninth year ; they arrive, how- ever, ultimately at a vary great size, having been taken up to eighteen pounds, at which ultimum they are nearly as broad as they are long, measuring thirty inches in length by twenty-two or three in depth. " They are in season for the table," says Yarrel, once more, " from October to April, and are greatly indebted to cooks for the estimation in which they are held. " The mouth is small ; no apparent teeth ; a barbule or cirrus at the upper part of each corner of the mouth, with a second smaller one above it on each side ; the nostrils are large, pierced at the second- third of the distance between the lip and the eye. The eye is small ; the operculum marked with striee radiating from the anterior edge ; nape and back rising suddenly. The dorsal fin-rays are twenty-two in number, the pectorals seventeen, ventrals nine, caudals nineteen. The first dorsal fin-ray is short and bony, the second also bony and strongly serrated posteriorly. The first anal fin-ray is also bony and serrated posteriorly. The tail forked, the longest rays as long again as those of the centre. The caudal rays of the two halves of the tail always unequal in number in the Cyprinida. The body covered with large scales, about twelve rows between the ventral and dorsal fins ; the general color golden olive brown, head darkest ; insides golden ; belly yellowish white ; lateral line interrupted, straight. Fins, dark brown." This fish is very well adapted for keeping in muddy stew ponds, when he will become very fat, and can be used with advantage when no other fish is to be procured. 12 iVo AMERICAN FISHES. ABDOMINAL MALACOPTERTGII. CYPBINID^. THE AMERICAN ROACH LEUCISCUS RUTILUS The American Roach is a pretty, lively little fish, common to most of the ponds and small running streams of the Middle and Northern States, and is closely analogous to the European fish of the same name, although it never approaches it in size. In England the Roach has been taken up to th{3 weight of five pounds, in the United States it rarely exceeds five or six inches in length, and together with its congeners, the Chub and Dace, .as they are generally termed, though none of them identical with the European species, are seldom taken except by schoolboys, and never put on the table except in remote country districts where sea-fish, and the better inland varieties beincj unknown, anything will pass muster, in this line, as dainties. The Roach is readily distinguished by his blood-red irides, and the ruddy tinge which borders his pectoral, ventral, and anal fins. His head is thick and obtuse at the snout, the labials coarse and fleshy The eye large, and situated midway between the tip of the snout and the portcrior margin of the gill-covers. The gill-covers are mode- CYPRINID^. 171 rately curved, forming an irregular semicircle. The pectoral fin has its origin immediately behind the edge of the suboperculum. The origin of the dorsal is midway between the snout and origin of the caudal fin, and the veutrals vertically under it. The caudal fin is powerful and lunated. The dorsal rays are ten in number, the pectoral sixteen, ventral nine, anal eleven, and caudal nineteen. This little fish is gregarious, swimming in shoals, and feeding on worms and herbs. It is admirable as a bait for Pike, and for the larger va- rieties of Pearch and River Bass, being, I think, preferred by them to any other fish, as the Parr is by the Sea Salmon, and the larger species of lake and sea Trout. The Chub and Dace are also good for the same purpose, but inferior to the Roach. As sporting fish it would be a loss of time to describe them at length. The American Chub never exceeds ten inches. * Note to Revised Edition.— Since penning the above, I hear from some oot- respondents that in many of the Eastern waters they grow to a much larger size ; my views are. however, those of Agassiz, DeKay, Smith, and Richardson. ^ff^£rr. varying to glossy bluish green, 13 186 AMERICAN FISHES. above, and coppery-yellow varying to silver-white below, according to the purity and brightness of the waters which they inhabit. They may be taken with a hook and angle-worm, but it is a nasty, slimy business, and affords no sport to compensate the disagreeable nature of the labor. The Eel-spear, the set-line, or the Eel-pot, is the true mode of taking them, and their true place is not in the creel of the genuine angler, but on the board of the elaborate epicure, en ma-' telotte, or a la tartare, according to individual preference. With this fish, our list of the soft-rayed species is brought to a close, and I shall now proceed to the Acanihopterygii, or spiny-finned fishes, among which are several of our finest species, both of fresh and salt- water, both for sport in the water, and excellence on the table PERCID^. 187 ACANTHOPTEKTGII. PEECIDuE. THE AMERICAN YELLOW PEARCH. Perca Flavescens ; Mitchil. This is a very common fish, widely difiiised, with small variation of size, shape, form and color, through all the inland fresh waters of the whole United States, ranging through all the lakes and rivers of the country from the eastern part of Maine to the waters of the Ohio, into which it has gained access through the Ohio Canal, and whence it will undoubtedly ere long make its way into the Mississippi. There are several subordinate varieties of this fish, which differ in size, color, and slightly also in the number of fin rays, in different waters, and these have been created into distinct species, under the titles of the Rough Yellow Pearch, Perca Cerrato Gramdata ; the Rough- headed Yellow Pearch, Perca Gramdata ; the Sharp-nosed Yellow Pearch, Perca Acuta ; the Slender Yellow Pearch, Perca Gracilis , and the White Pearch, Perca Pallida. It does not, however, appear that these distinctions are sufficiently broad or permanent to justify this arrangement ; and it is now generally held that there is but one species of true fresh-water Pearch in the United States, and that the forms which have been designated under the above titles are mere accidental varieties, similar to those which have been previously noticed of the common Trout. Originally the Yellow Pearch was a 188 AMERICAN FISHES. northern fish, its range extending to about the fiftieth parallel, but it has lately, like several others of the same species, been much more widely diffused through artificial channels, as, for instance, the Black Bass, Gristes Nigricans^ and the Rock Bass, Centrarchus JEneus, which have descended from the basin of the St. Lawrence, by the Erie and Whitehall canals, into the waters of the upper Hudson. The Yellow Pearch is a bold biter, and a tolerably good fish on the table ; it frequents the same waters with the Pickerel, from the assaults of which it is defended by the sharp spinous rays of its dorsal fin. In color, its sides are yellow, varying in intensity from greenish to bright golden in different waters, and occasionally in tide waters to pale greenish white. Its back is banded with six or eight dark verti- cal bars. Its pectorals, ventrals and anal are golden orange — its dorsals and caudal greenish brown. Its body is compressed, elongated, with a slightly gibbous dorsal outline. The scales are small, the head, above the eyes and between them, smooth, lateral line concurrent with the line of the back. Head sub-depressed, and in the larger and older fish the rostrum is pro- duced, causing a hollow in the facial outline. The first dorsal com- mences above the base of the pectorals, the first ray much shorter than the second, the fom^th, fifth and sixth rays are the longest, and the last the shortest — it has in all thirteen rays. The second dorsal has seventeen rays, the two first spinous. The pectorals have fifteen soft rays ; the ventrals have one spinous and five soft rays ; the anal, two spinous and eight soft ; the caudal is forked, with rounded tips. The mouth is of moderate size ; the preoperculum strongly toothed, the operculum serrated beneath, with a spine on its posterior angle. The irides are golden yellow — the pupils black. It varies in weight in different waters, from a few ounces to four or five pounds. It is a bold, hardy fish — is easily transported from one water to another, and appears to thrive equally well on all soils. It is taken with the worm or small fish, used either as a live or dead bait, and affords very fair sport, pulling strongly on the line for a few minutes, but by no means requiring the same degree of skill a«J the Pearch to effect its capture. It is the favorite fish of rural anglers, where Pickerel do not abound, and is esteemed a great delicacy where Bca-fish cannot be obtained. PERCIDiE. 189 ACANTHOPTERYGn. PEROlDiE. THE STRIPED SEA BASS. Rock Fish ; Ba-Fish; Richardson. — Labrax Lineatus ; Cuvier. This noble fishj which, after the Salmon family, is unquestionably the most sporting fish of this continent, has its geographical range from the Capes of the Delaware, in which river it is known as the Rock Fish, to the coasts of Massachusetts ; unless, as I think almost certain, the Bar-Fish of Richardson, which is taken in the St. Law- rence, prove to be merely an accidental variety. The Striped Bass is properly a sea fish, entering the rivers in the spring to spawn, at which time he runs as high up the courses as the depth of water will permit, and hes among the bushes where the chan- nels are narrow. They run far up the Hudson — are taken at the foot of the Cohoes Falls of the Mohawk in great numbers, and ascend yet higher up the cold, clear waters of the Delaware. In September and October they run along the coast in large schulls, entering the inlets, and being taken in great numbers between the outer bars and the beach by the sean. In the heaviest surfs of the Atlantic, on the outer ocean beaches, they are captured of great size with a bone or metal squid. They are a bold, ravenous and powerful fish, biting voraciously at almost every sort of bait, from soft crabs and clams, on a drop-line, to shiners or sparlings on trolling tackle, Shad-roe in rivers frequented by that fish in the spring of the year, and even the artificial fly of large size and gaudy colors, with which, at the end of a hundred yards of line, they afford great sport, being vigorous, fierce and active, nor succumbing until after a long and violent conflict with their captors. In winter, when the weather becomes cold and stormy, they again enter the estuaries of rivers, and imbed themselves in the mud of the brackish bays and lagoons, which possess the advantage of being calm and undisturbed by the tempests which vex the open sea. They attain to a very great size, even, I believe, to seventy Oi 190 AMERICAN FISHES. eighty pounds' weight, though I have never myself seen one of abov4 forty-three ; the smaller sized fish, of seven or eight pounds, are, however, hy far the most delicate, and I think those not exceeding fifteen pounds give the best sport to the angler. In color, the Striped Bass is bluish brown above, silvery, on the sides and beneath. Along each side are from seven to nine equidis- tant dark, parallel stripes, the upper series terminating at the base of the caudal, and the lower above the anal fin. These lines are occasionally indistinct, sometimes interrupted, and more rarely each alternately a continuous stripe and a row of abbreviated lines or dots ; this appears to be the form which Dr. Richardson has designated as the Bar-Fish of the St. Lawrence. The body is cylindrical and tapering. Head and body covered with large adhesive scales. Lateral line obvious, running through the fourth stripe, and nearly straight. Head bluntly pointed ; eyes large ; nostrils double ; gill openings large ; lower jaw the longest ; teeth numer- ous on the maxillaries, palatine bone and tongue ; operculum armed with two spines on its lower margin, the preoperculum finely dentated. The first dorsal consists of nine spinous rays, of which the first and the last are shortest. A simple ray occurs between this and the second dorsal, which consists of twelve branched rays. The pectoral fins have sixteen rays ; the ventrals one spinous and five soft rays ; the anal three spinous and eleven soft ; the caudal, which is broadly lunate in shape, has seventeen branded rays. The pupils are black, the irides silvery. Altogether it is one of the most beautiful, as well as the most excel- lent and sporting of American game fish, the flesh being very firm, white and well-flavored. There are two other species of Bass, the Lahrax Rufiis, and Labrax PaUidus, or Ruddy, and little White Bass, which are better known, both to anglers and epicures, as the River Pearch of New York, and White Pearch. They are both taken in the brackish waters of tide rivers, and afford fair sport to the angler, as well as being a very deli- cate pan-fish W"'fi"i'' " -('/} \ >^ ^ ^ 1 N 1 r^ .S 3> CO H *> :3D CN >< ^ ^ ^ ,1 S m 3» o 1 ■<) H 1 S 03 D> ^ <> 5?" CO :^ >4_ CO i PERCID^. 191 Dr. DeKay also enumerates another fish of this genus, as the smaL Black Bass, Labrax Nigricans^ which he describes as being found in various ponds of Queens and Suffolk Counties, Long Island, rarely attaining to two pounds in weight, being esteemed very good eating, and rising freely to the fly. 1 have never myself seen this fish, but have great doubts whether it is more than a casual variety of the Black Bass of the St. Lawrence, the Centrarchus Fasciatus of DeKay, the Huro Nigricans of Cuvier and Richardson, and more properly the Gristes Nigricans of Agassiz ; for, although this is improperly distinguished into two fishes by Dr. DeKay, it is in fact but one I have never heard, it is true, of the existence of the St. Lawrence Bass in the waters of ihe State of New York south of Champlain, prior to the opening of the canals, but there is no doubt that, like the Pearch, it might easily be transported from one to another locality by artificial means. There is yet another variety, the White Lake Bass, Labrax Albidus, which is taken readily with the hook in Lake Erie, and known at Buffalo, where it is much esteemed as an article of food, as the White Bass. None of these are, however, sufficiently important to merit more particular notice. 1^2 AMERICAN FISHfiS- ACANTHOPTEEYGIL ' PEKCID^ THE YELLOW PIKE PEARCH. AMERICAN SANDRE. Litcioperca Americana ; Cuvier. THE OHIO PIKE, GLASS-EYE, YELLOW PIKE, OHIO SALMON i'his bold and voracious fish I have never seen, though it is abundant from the western part of the State of New York to the waters of the Ohio, the great lakes and the rivers of the fur countries, up to the 58th parallel of latitude. It affords great sport to the angler, being readily taken with the hook, with almost any live or dead fish bait, though it is said to prefer the common fresh water Cray-fish, Astacus Bartoniy according to Dr. DeKay, whose account of this fish I have taken the liberty of borrowing from his Fauna of New York : " The best time for fishing is in the dusk of the evening, with a great length of line, keeping the bait in gentle motion. The foot of rapids or beneath milldams appears to be its favorite haunts. In the heat of summer it seeks the deepest parts of lakes, or in streams in the coolest places under weeds or grass. It is esteemed one of tho PERCID^E. 193 most valuable fishes of the western waters, in which it greatly abounds, and sells readily for a high price. It spawns in Lake Huron in April or May, and has been taken of the length of thirty inches. " Its color is yellowish olive above the lateral line ; lighter on the sides ; silvery beneath. Head and gill-covers mottled with green, brownish and white. Chin pale flesh-color. Pupil dark and vitreous, irides mottled with black and yellowish. Membrane of the spinous dorsal fin transparent, with a few dark dashes ; the upper part of the membrane tipped with black. Soft dorsal fin light yellowish, spotted with brown in irregular longitudinal bars. Ventral fins transparent yellowish ; pectoral fins yellowish olive, with brownish bars. Anal fin transparent yellowish, with a broad whitish margin ; caudal fin with irregular dusky bars. " The body is elongated, cylindrical and tapering. Scales of moderate size, lateral line straight from the upper edge of the gili- covers to the tail. Preoperculum serrated with a series of distant spines. Opercle with one slender flat terrinal spine, beyond which is a pointed membrane. Branchial rays, seven. Mouth wide extensi- ble, the lower jaws received into the upper. A series of acute re- curved teeth in both jaws, and on the vomer and palatines. Two very long and conspicuous teeth, resembling canines, in front of each jaw ; those of the lower received into cavities above. Teeth on the vomer minute. Tongue smooth, pointed, free. The first dorsal fin is composed of thirteen or fourteen long slender spinous rays ; the second dorsal has one short, simple, subspinous ray, and twenty-one soft rays ; the pectorals have fourteen soft rays ; the ventrals one stout spine and five branched rays ; the anal one spine and fourteen rays ; the caudal is deeply furcate, and has seventeen distinct, beside many accessory rays." This fish is a true Pearch, though its form, elongated mouth, and fiercely predatory habits suggest the idea of a Pike, whence Dr. De- Kay has given it the appellation of Pike Pearch, which is a translation of its classical name, in preference to the name Sandre, which belongg to the Canadian fish of the same species, and to the analogous Euro- pean fishes. 194 AMERICAN FISHES. The Gray Pike Pearch, Lucioperca Grisea^ would seem to be a permanent variety of the above, if not a distinct species ; it differs from it in size, never exceeding ten or twelve inches, in color and aeveral other important particulars. It is found in the same waters ^th the preceding species, and is equally prized as an article of food. Richardson's Pike Pearch, the Canadian Sandre, Lucioperca Canadensis^ is another small distinct species, found in the river St. La.wrence. Its principal characteristic difference lies in the fact that the operculum has five acute spines on the lower margin. In color i\ is dark olive green above, and whitish beneath, with a few pale- vellow spots on the sides below the lateral line. It does not exceed fourteen inches in length. It is, like the others of its species, esteemed an excellent fish on the table, and, being a free biter and hard puller, affords good sport to th-e angler. It is not, however, of so great im- p«3rtance that I care to enter into a more minute description. This IS the fish concerning which a controversy has been going on between " Dinks " and some Western fishermen, who insist on cdling it a Pike, as distinct from Pickerel. It is a true Pearch, and has no connexion with any of the Pike family. I CO 00 GO OQ CQ Ic^' >; PERCIU^. PERCID^. 195 AOANTHOPTER YG II. THE BLACK BASS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. Huro Nigricans; CuvieT.—Centrarchm Fasciatus ; BeKsLy.—Gristes Nigricans; Agassiz. This is one of the finest of the American fresh-water fishes ; it is surpassed by none in boldness of biting, in fierce and violent resistance when hooked, and by a very few only in excellence upon the board. Peculiar originally to the basin of the St. Lawrence, in which it abounds from the Falls of Niagara downward, if not through its whole coui'se, it has made its way into the waters of the upper Hudson, through the canals. It is said by Dr. DeKay to be found generally in the small lakes of the State of New York, but I conclude that this must be limited to those which communicate with the great lakes or the St. Lawrence. It is taken abundantly in Lake Champlain, but it is in the swift glancing waters of the St. Lawrence, among the exqui- site scenery of the Thousand Islands, that it aflbrds the greatest sport to the angler. It bites ravenously at a small fish or spinning-tackle, or at the deadly and murderous spoon, an instrument so certainly destructive that the use of it is properly discouraged by all true anglers as poaching and unsportsmanlike . The finest sport can be had, however, with a long light Salmon-line, troble-twisted gut, to defy its numerous and exceedingly acute teeth, and a large fly, with a body of scarlet chenil and four wings, two of the silver pheasant and two of the scarlet ibis. As the Black Bass attains to the weight of six or eight pounds, and is excelled in vigor, speed and agility only by the Brook Trout, the Salmon Trout and the True Salmon, the sport which he affords when thus hooked can be very readily imagined ; nor can he be brought to the basket by any- thing short of the best tackle, and the most delicate and masterly laanipulation. In color, this fish is of a dusky bluish black, sometimes with bronze 196 AMLRECAN FISHES. reflections, the under parts bluish white, the cheeks and gill-covers nacrous of a bluish color. The body is compressed. Back arched and gibbous. Profile de- scending obliquely to the rostrum, which is moderately prolonged. Scales large, truncated. Scales on the operculum large ; a single series on the suboperculum, much smaller on the preoperculum, ascend- ing high up on the membrane of the soft dorsal and caudal fins. Eyes large ; nostrils double. Operculum pointed, with a loose membrane. The lower jaw is somewhat longest. The jaws are smooth and scale- less. Both jaws are armed with a broad patch of minute conic acute reserved teeth. An oblong patch of rasp-like teeth on the vomer, and a band of the same kind on the palatines. Branchial arches minutely toothed. Pharyngeal teeth in rounded patches. The dorsal fin is composed of nine stout spines ; the second dorsal of one spine and fourteen soft rays. The pectorals have eighteen soft rays, the ventrals one spine and five soft rays, the anals three spines, and twelve soft rays, and the caudal sixteen soft rays. ^'It is somewhat doubtful to me whether the fish known in the waters of Lake Erie and those generally above the Falls, as the Oswego Bass, is not distinct from this fish, though it is also occasionally called Black Bass. There is very evidently some confusion about the matter, as I am well assured that another fish of the same family, the Corvina Os- cula, is at times confounded with it, and called by the same name, though in truth it but slightly resembles it. Another fish of the same family is the Growler. * Note to Revised Edition. — During a tour, this autumn, through the great lakes, I had abundant opportunities of learning the habits of this fish, which swarms in all the Canadian lakes, though not found north of them. It is taken in Seneca, Crooked, and Cayuga Lakes, and in the first is of rare excellence. I lean to the opinion that the differences between this and the Oswego Bass arise merely from difference of condition and feeding-grounds. This Bass has, I understand, been in- troduced into Lake Mahopach, Dutchess Co., N. Y. PERCIDiE. 191 AvJANTHOPTERYGII. PERCIDiE. THE GROWLER. Gristes Salmoeides ; Auctorum. The White Salmon , Smith's History of Virginia. — The Trout '. Carolina Pro- vincialism. I'his fish, in general form, closely corresponds with that last de- scribed. It has the same gibbous back, with the lateral line following the jdorsal curve, and the same protruded lower jaw. Its teeth are set minutely in broad bands or patches. The operculum has two mode- rate points. Its color is deep greenish brown, with a bluish black spot on the point of the operculum. When young it has twenty-five or thirty lon- gitudinal brownish bands, which become efi"aced by age. The first dorsal fin has ten spines, the second thirteen or fourteen soft rays ; the pectorals sixteen soft rays ; the ventrals one spine and five soft rays ; the anal three spines and eleven or twelve soft rays ; the caudal fin, which is slightly lunate, has seventeen soft rays. There may, perhaps, be two distinct varieties of this fish. It has been taken in the waters of Western New York, in the Wabash in Indiana, and abundantly in Carolina, where it attains to the length of two feet, and is considered an excellent fish, passing, as well as another fish of the same family, the Carolina Weak-fish, Otolithv^ Carolinensisj under the misnomer of Trout. I am inclined to believe that this fish is also known as the Welchman in the inland waters of North Carolina. It is also the Salmon of the Susquehannah. Before passing on to the next species I will observe that I consider the proper classical name of the Black Bass of the St. Lawrence deci- dedly to be Gristes — the genus Huro not having been by any means satisfactorily defined. For that of Cenirarchus is distinguished by having many spinous rays to the ventral fin, while the genus Gristes has but three, Perca two, and Lucioperca only one — this afibrding a broad and clear distinction, and being that on which Agassiz founds the subgenus in question. 198 AMEKICAN FISHE^. ACANTHOPTEEYGII. PEECID^ THE ROCK BASS. FRESH WATER BASS. Centrarchus uEneus ; Cuvier. This is another delicate and game fish, which, originally peculiar to the basin of the St. Lawrence, has made its way through the canals into the upper waters of the Hudson and the anastomosing streams. It is abundant in the great lakes, and Lake Champlain. It, like the Black Bass, is a bold biter, taking a small fish dead or alive very freely, but preferring to all other baits the Cray-fish, Asta- cus Bartoni. The general color of this fish is a dark coppery bronze above, with green reflections, the head above dark green, gill-covers metallic green, with a dark spot on the posterior margin of the operculum. The sides golden copper, with several rows of oblong dark spots below the lateral line. The fins bluish green. The body is compressed, short and broad. The dorsal outline gib- bous ; the lateral line following the curve of the back. Head large, PERCID.qi 199 with a concave outline. Gill-covers scaly ; the operculum with rudi- ments of a double angle on the posterior margin ; lower jaw somewhat the longest. Teeth small, conical, recurved, on the maxillaries, inter- maxillaries, vomer, palatines and pharyngeals. The dorsal fin has eleven spinous and twelve soft rays ; the pecto- rals fourteen rays ; the ventrals one weak spine and five branched rays; the anal, six spinous and eleven soft rays; the caudal with rounded tips has seventeen rays. The Rock Bass is excellent eating, and gives good sport to the angler, though it never attains to the size of the Black Bass» rarely exceeding a pound or a pound and a half, and consequently being far less difficult to take. This fish, as well as the Black Bass and others of the family, might be transplanted with great ease into inland waters ; and as they are hardy, and defended from all enemies by their sharp and spiny fins would be sure to thrive, and would prove delicious additions to oui lacustrine species of fishes. 200 AMERICAN FISHES. ACANTHOPTERYGIL PEEOIDiB. THE COMMON POND FISH. FRESH WATER SUN FISH. Pomotis Vulgaris. — Cuvier. This beautiful little fish has gained its provincia. name from the ixtreme brilliancy of its colors when disporting itself in the sunshine The numerous spots on its body have procured for it the absurd name Df Pumpkin-seed in many States, and in Massachusetts it is known as Bream. It is valueless as an article of food, and equally so as a bait fish, its acute spines deterring any fish from seizins it. It is, however, a constant object of pursuit to boy and lady angleis. It has very many varieties, and a wide geographical range, being found from Lake Huron, through all the Eastern States, and along the Atlantic coast so far south as Carolina. Its color is greenish olive above, with irregular point?, of red and broader yellow or reddish brown spots disposed in very irregular lines Ranges of brighter spots on the bluish operculam, and on the hinder prolongation of the operculum a black spot with a bright scarlet margin. Its body is much compressed, very broad, oval. Scales large and even. Forehead sloping +o the snout. Lateral line concurrent with PERCIDiE 201 the back. Eyes large, circular near the facial outline. Nostrils double ; mouth small, with very minute thick-set teeth on the maxil- laries, palatines and vomer. Its dorsal fin has ten spinous and twelve soft rays, pectorals twelve soft, ventrals one spine and five soft rays, anal three spinous and five soft, caudal seventeen soft rays. There is another well-defined species, the Black-eared Pond-fish, Pomotis Appendix^ which is distinguished by a large lobe-like black prolongation of the upper posterior angle of the operculum. 14 203 AMERICAN FISHES. ACANTHOPTERYCn. SClENIDiE. THE LAKE SHEEP'S-HEAD. Corvina Oscula ; Cuvier. This is a very common fish in Lake Erie, and also below the Falls of Niagara, where it is readily taken with the hook, though it is in very small repute for its edible qualities, being commonly reported to be dry, lean and tasteless. It is in fact very rarely eaten. Its color is bluish gray on the back, darker on the abdomen and the snout. Abdomen and chin grayish white. In shape it considerably resembles the preceding genera, Gri$tes and Centrarchus, having a gibbous dorsal outline, and arched profile, the lateral line being also, as in these, concurrent with the curve of the back. The eyes are large, round and prominent, situated close to the facial outline. The teeth in the jaws are small, conic, and sharp, but the palate and pharyngeals are paved with large rounded solid teeth, well adapted for crushing its hard and shelly prey, such as the fresh- water clams and muscles, cyclas and paludina which constitute its principal subsistence. The dorsal fin has nine spinous rays, the second dorsal one spinous and twenty-eight soft rays, the pectorals nineteen soft rays, the ventrals one spinous and five soft, the anal two spinous and eight soft, the caudal, seventeen rays. Its air bladder is very large and simple. This fish, if I am not greatly in error, is very frequently confounded on the lakes in the vicinity of Bufifalo with the Grisfes Nigricans, under the name of Oswego Bass,* and in fact, though of a diflferent family, ScienidcSj does bear something of general resemblance to that species. It is also found in many of the small inland lakes throughout the country. * It is more probable, however, that there is no true distinction between the Black and Oswego Bass, save in the difference of condition SCIENIDJE. 20b ACANTHOPTEBYail. SCIENIDiE. THE MALASHEGANAY. Corvina Richardsonii ; Cuvier. This, like the species last named, is an inhabitant of the upper lakes, though it is not found below Lake Erie, In Lake Huron it is known as the Shee'ph-head^ and in the vicinity of Buffalo as the Black Shee-ph-head. It affords very good sport to the angler, and unlike its congener last described, is highly prized as one of the most delicious of the lake fishes. Its color is greenish gray, banded with dusky or blackish bars over the back, its sides are silvery, its belly yellowish. In form it closely resembles the Corvina Oscula, but its forehead descends in a more vertical angle to the mouth. The under jaw is somewhat the longer. The mouth is cleft back as far as to the middle of the eye, which is large and round. The teeth are very numerous and very small. The operculum has two lobes behind. The first dorsal fin has nine spinous rays, the second one spine and eighteen soft rays, the pectorals have fifteen soft rays, the ventrals one spine and seven soft rays, the anal one spine and seven soft rays, the caudal seventeen soft branched rays. There is yet another species of this family, the Corvina Grisea, known familiarly as the White Pearch of the Ohio, which is found in the waters of that noble river, but it is of little importance either to the angler or the epicure, and merits not a more particular descrip- tion. With this fish ends the list of those fresh-water fishes of the United States and British Provinces, which by the most liberal courtesy may be. called game or sporting fishes. Hence I proceed to the shoal-water sea fishes of the same division, Acanthopterygii^ and thence, and lastly, to the deep-sea fish of the order Suh'hrachial Malacopterygii. 204 AMERICAN FISHES. SHOAL-WATER FISHES. Having now come to tb ) conclusion of that, hj far the most impor- tant, portion of my sabject which relates to the fresh-water fishes, including those anadromous or migratory species which, although they make their abode during a part of the year at least in salt water, are taken in sporting style in rivers and estuaries only, I shall proceed to devote a few pages only to these sea fish ; all of the division Acanthop- terygiij and all of five families, Percidce, ScienidcBy Sparidce, Scombri- dcBj and Lahridce, which are taken in shoal waters at the mouths of large rivers, in bays and estuaries, and which not only afford much sport to the angler at particular seasons of the year, but furnish a delicious article of food. These are the Sea Bass, or Black Sea Bass, Centrojpristes Ni gricans. The Lafayette, Leiostomus Obliquus. The Weak-Fish, Otolithus Regalis. The King-Fish, Tlmhriiuu Nehulosa. The Silvery Corvina, Corvina Argyroleuca. The Branded Corvina, Corvina Ocellata, The Big Drum, Pogonias Chromis. The Sheep's-head, Sargus Ovis. The Porgee, Pagrus Argyrops. The Blue-Fish, Temnodon Saltator. The Tautog — Black-Fish — Tautoga Americana. SCIENID^. 205 ACANTHOPTERYGn. SCIENID^E THE SEA BASS. BLACK SEA BASS. Centropristes Nigricans ; Cuvier. • This is ^n excellent fish, and a very general favorite on the table It is with UR a summer fish of passage, in the Northern States I mean, appearing on the coasts of New York during the months of May, June and July, in which it is frequent in the markets, and readily taken with the baited hook. Its geographical range is very wide, extending from the coasts of Florida to Cape Cod, on the shores of Massachusetts ; abundant in the vicinity of Martha's Vineyard, it is rare in Boston bay. Properly a southern species, though it visits the waters of the Eastern States in summer, it invariably returns to the eastward in autumn. With the wonted stupid perversity of their order, the fishermen of our coasts have confounded it, by means of absurd misnomers, with two entirely different species, the Blue Fish, Temnodon Saltator, and the Black Fish or Tautog, Tautoga Americana^ calling it com monly by both these appellations. The color of the Sea Bass is a general blue black, sometimes more or less slightly bronzed, the edges of every scale are much darker than the prevailing color, which gives the character of a black net- work on a bluish ground to the whole surface of the fish. The fins, excepting the pectoral, are pale blue ; the dorsal and anal more or less distinctly spotted with a darker shade of the same color. The body is oblong and compressed; the scales are of an oblong form, covering the opercula and extending high up on the dorsal ; the preoperculum is distinctly toothed along its entire margin, the oper- culum has a large spine on it, and another above ; the teeth are like velvet pile on all the bones, those on the outer edges of the jaws the largest. 206 AMERICAN FISHES. The dorsal fin has ten low spinous, and eleven much more elevated soft rays, the pectorals have eighteen soft rays, the ventrals one spine and five soft rays, the anal three spines and seven soft rays, the caudal trilobed, consisting of eighteen soft rays. This fine fish is known by a great number of provincial titles ; among others Dr. DeKay mentions the trivial names of Black Harry and Hana hills. It is a bold and free biter, and is one of the principal objects of pursuit by those who join in steamboat excursions to what are callea the *sea banks, ofi" the port of New York, in the process of whic* they are often taken in considerable numbers. JCIENID^. 207 ACANTHOPTERYGIL SCIENlDiE THE LAFAYETTE SEA CHUB. Leiostomus Obliquus; Lacepede. This is a beautiful and exquisitely-flavored little fish, which pro- perly belongs to the southern waters, being very common on the coasts of Florida, where it is much prized both as a sporting fish and as a delicacy. New York is probably its northern limit, and in the New York waters it is a rare visitant, though it appears at times in extraordinary abundance. One of the seasons of its most remarkable frequency happening to be simultaneous with the visit of Lafayette to America, it thus obtained its common name by general consent, it never having been observed previous to that date, and so taken for a new fish, though it had in truth been defined long before by Dr. Mitchil, who designated it Mugil Obliquus. Its color is grayish white, with fifteen or sixteen darker gray bars, more or less, pointing obliquely forward, those nearer the tail more vertical ; pupils black, irides yellow, fins pale yellow, the dorsal and anal finely spotted with black. There is a round spot of dark brown on the lateral line above the pectorals. The first dorsal fin has nine spinous rays, and is triangular in shape, its fourth and fifth rays being the largest ; the second dorsal has one spine and thirty soft rays ; the pectorals twenty, the ventrals fifteen soft rays ; the anal has two spines and twelve soft rays ; the caudal has nineteen branched and articulated rays. There is a variety of this fish, Leiostomus Xanthurus, peculiar to South Carolina, which has no spots or bands, but has all the fins, and more especially the caudal, yellow. 208 AMERICAN FISHEP ACANTHOPTERYGU. SCIENIDiE. THE WEAK-FISH. Wheat Fish ; Squeteaque, Checouts. — Otolithus Regalis ; Cuvier. The trivial name of this fine fisli lias never been very distinctly explained, some ascribing the title " Weak " to the delicacy of the mouth, which when hooked often tears away from the barb ; others to the briefness of its resistance after being struck, though at first it pulls strongly. Yet a third explanation is, that Weak is a corruption from " Wheat," because it comes into season when the wheat is ripe ; this, however, is not the fact, as it is an early spring fish, though taken through the summer months abundantly in the waters of New York ; probably both names, Wheat and Weak, are really corruptions from the Narra- gansett appellation by which it was first known to the English settlers, Squeteaque. Its geographical range is very wide, extending from New Orleans and the mouth of the Mississippi, where it is styled " Trout," to the estuary and Gulf of the St. Lawrence. It has also, it is said, been taken at Martinique. It is less common in the New York waters than formerly, being savagely hunted by its deadly enemy, the Blue Fish, Temnodon Sal- tator, which has lamentably thinned its numbers. Still it exists in sufficient numbers to give very exciting sport to the shoal salt-water angler, and when quite fresh out of the water is a very exquisite fish, its flavor greatly resembling that of the Trout, whence probably its southern misnomer. When it has been taken three or four hours it becomes flaccid, insipid, and in fact utterly worthless. Its color is bluish gray above, with irregular lines of transverse spots on the back and sides ; the head is greenish blue, the irides are yellow, the gill-covers and belly silvery and nacrous, the chin Salmon-colored, dorsal and caudal fins brown, pectorals pale brownish yellow, ventrals and anal orange. soienida;. 209 The body is long, slender and compressed ; head convex above the eyes, the scales moderate-sized, oval, covering the head and gill-covers; the lateral line is slightly curved ; the eyes large ; maxillaries, inter maxillaries, and pharyngeals minutely toothed. The first dorsal fin is triangular, and longer than it is high, of eight weak spines ; between this and the second dorsal is a single weak spine. The second dorsal has twenty-eight soft rays, the pectorals have eighteen soft rays, the ventrals one spine and five soft rays, the anal thirteen, and the caudal seventeen rays. Of this fish there are two distinct varieties, the Otolithus. Caroli nensis, also misnamed Trout, which is bluer on the back than th<» Common Weak-Fish, and is spotted rather than striated ; and th Otolithus Drummondij a smaller species found at New Orleans. The Common Weak-Fish is taken with the hook and reel of al; eizes, from a few ounces up to seven or eight pounds^ and it is posi iively asserted even up to thirty, but I have never seen a specimea approaching to such dimensions. 210 AMERICAN FISHES, AOANTHOPTERYGn. SCIENIDiE. THE KING-FISH. BERMUDA WHITING. Umbrina Nebulosa; Agaasiz. — Umbrina Alburnus. This admirable fish, which was formerly very abnndant in the waters of New York and its vicinity, very few ever wandering so far as to Boston, is becoming daily less frequent. On the coasts of Caro- lina and Florida, where it is still taken in vast numbers, it is known absurdly as the Whiting, a fish to which it bears no resemblance. It is perhaps the gamest of all the shoal salt-water fishes, and the •angler regards the King-Fish in his basket much as the sportsman looks upon the Woodcock in his bag — as worth a dozen of the more easily captured and less worthy fry. His colors on the back and side are dark bluish gray, with lustrous and silvery reflections, and bright many-colored nacrous gleams flitting over him as he dies. His irides are yellow ; his dorsals, caudal, and pectorals are dusky olive brown, the former the deepest ; the ventrals and anals pale yellow. There are several dark oblique bands on the back, broken toward the tail, and a dark horizontal stripe, more or less distinct, from the pectorals to the tail. The body is long, cylindrical, and slender ; the scales round, the lateral line parallel to the back ; the snout is long but blunt ; the operculum has two strong flat spines ; the preoperculum is serrated behind ; the branchiostegous rays are seven ; the teeth of the upper jaw are long, sharp and rare, in the lower even and crowded. First dorsal fin is triangular, with ten spinous rays, the second dorsal has one spinous and twenty-five soft rays, the pectorals thirteen soft rays, the ventrals one spine and five soft rays, the caudal fin has seventeen rays, and has its upper lobe acute, but its lower rounded. There is said to be a permanent variety of this fish, Umbrina Coroides, peculiar to South Carolina, which has two spines to the anal fin, and is marked with nine dark vertical bands on the back. 8CIEJNIDJB. 211 AOANTHOPTERYGII. SCIENIDiE. THE SILVERY CORVINA. CORVINA ARGYROLEUCA. Silvery Pearch. Bodianus Argyroleucos ; Mitchil. This jSsIi, which greatly resembles the Pearch both in shape an(? habits, is well known to the fishermen of New York as the Silvery Pearch. It is properly a native of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, but ranges during the summer so far north as the waters of New York. It is a free biter, and a moderately good fish. It is of a lustrous silvery white on the upper parts of the body, and opaque white below. Its dorsals, pectorals and caudal are pale yellow ; its ventrals and anals orange yellow. Its body is compressed, its dorsal outline arched and gibbous, its lateral line concurrent with the back ; eyes large, mouth deeply cut, teeth small and disposed in bands ; the preoperculum has two small spines, and a serrated margin ; the operculum terminates in two flat spines. The first dorsal fin has eleven spines, the second dorsal two spines and twenty-two soft rays, the pectorals seventeen soft rays, the ventrals one spine and five soft rays, the anal two spines and nine soft rays, the caudal is slightly rounded, aad has seventeen soft rays. 212 AMERICAN FISHES ACANTHOPTERYGII. SCIENID^ THE BRANDED CORVINA. Corvina, Ocdlata ; Cuvler. This is a beautiful species, very rare at the north, hut is ahundani to the southward. It is as excellent as it is handsome, and my south- ern readers will recognise it as the Poisson Rouge^ or Red-fish, of Ne\y Orleans, and as the Sea Bass or Red Bass of Charleston. Like the rost of its family it is a bold biter and a vigorous fish, and is considered superlative on the table. In color it is blue above, lighter below, with head, cheeks and shoulders of a deep golden yellow, with ruddy metallic refiections. Its dorsal fin is dark green. Pectorals, ventrals and anal dull red. At the base of the tail it has one and sometimes two dark brown confluent spots. To these its name of Branded has been ascribed by Dr. Mitchil, as if the marks resembled the brand left by a heated iron. The body of this Corvina is more cylindrical, less compressed and shallower than in any others of its family. The snout is blunt but prominent. Lateral line concurrent with the dorsal outline. The teeth in one band in both jaws. The preoperculum is serrated or toothed along the whole margin ; the operculum terminates posteri- orly in two blunt spines. The first dorsal fin has ten spines ; the second one spine and twenty- six soft rays ; the pectorals have seventeen soft rays ; the ventrals one spine and five soft rays ; the anal two spines and eight soft rays ; and the caudal, which is nearly even, but slightly hollowed out in the centre, has seventeen branched rays. It is found in the southern seas from eight inches to three feet in length, and in those waters is one of the most favorite objects of pur- suit to the salt-water angler. SCIENIDiE. 21i< ACANTHOPTERYGa SCIENID.E THE BIG DRUM. Pogonias Chromis ; Cuvier. AND THE BANDED DRUM. Pogonias Fasciatus ; Lacepede. Both of these fish are so constantly and commonly taken "by the bait fisher in shoal salt water that it would hardly be proper to omit all mention of them in a work of this nature, although except the great size and dificulty of landing the former, and the rapid biting of the latter variety — if they be indeed distinct species, which I think Dr. DeKay has satisfactorily established them to be — they have little or nothing to recommend them. The geographical range of both these fishes is from Florida to New York, their northern and southern limits being identical. They have both deep compressed bodies, large eyes, lateral lines parallel to the dorsal outline, numerous teeth in card-like bands on the laws, and the pharyngeals furnished with large hard grinders. They have both double dorsals, the former with nine, the latter with ten spines in the first — both with one spine and twenty-two soft rays in the second. Pectorals, respectively, eighteen and twenty ; ventrals of both, one spine and five soft rays ; anals, respectively, two spines, seven soft rays, and two spines, five soft rays ; caudals seventeen, and fifteen branched rays. The large fish is of a brownish bronze color, rather lighter below, with a strongly marked spot behind the pectorals ; scales silvery at the outer edges. The smaller fish is nearly of the' same color, chocolate brown, or bronze intermixed with silver, but marked with four dusky bands, one coming down to the pectorals, the second crossing the first dorsal, and 214 AMERICAN FISHES. the last two crossing the second dorsal. The pectoral fins are yellow ish, the others dusky brown. The smaller fish has been by some persons supposed to be the young of the larger species, but this is, in my opinion, satisfactorily contro- verted by Dr. DeKay, who has seen them in September six inches long with all the characteristics of the adult. It is known by various popular names, as the Grunter, Young Drum, and Young Sheeps-head, but is a fish of very small estimation. The larger species is rarely taken of less than three feet in length? and fifteen or eighteen inches in depth ; they weigh from twenty to eighty pounds, and although the large fish are very coarse, the young are considered by some persons delicate eating. They rarely go north of New York, but very rarely visit the coasts of Massachusetts. SPARIDiE. 211 ACANTHOPTERYGn. SPARID.^ THE SHEEP'S-HEAD. ^argus Ovis; Auctorum. This fine and delicate fish must on no account be confounded witli the fresh-water Corvince^ two of which pass by the same synonyme in the vernacular, and are peculiar to the great lakes. This is, on the contrary, a purely salt-water species, never ascending rivers, although it enters all the shallow bays on the coast, so far as Cape Cod. It is a southern fish in its natural state, although during the heat of the summer it wanders to the northward, where it is taken along the shores from June to October. Its southern limit is the Mississippi, and the coasts of Florida and the Carolinas are its breeding-grounds. As a delicacy, it holds " the same rank with American gastrono- mers," says Dr. DeKay, " that the Turbot holds in Europe. I have frequently eaten of both, under equally favorable circumstances, that is to say, within an hour after being taken out of the water, and can assert that the Sheep 's-Head is the more delicate and savory fish. The Turbot, I may here state — though I have heard the contrary frequently asserted — does not occur on the shores of America." I have quoted the above remarks for two reasons, first because I desire to register my assertion as against Dr. DeKay's, although such things are, after all, merely matters of opinion, that the Sheep's-Head, though a delicious fish, is not more delicate — savory neither of them are — than the Turbot, and that it is immeasurably inferior to it in lacking what constitutes the Tui-bot's chief excellence, the admirable gelatinous fins, which have been famous the world over from the time of Domitian and Heliogabalus, arch epicures of old, to the palmy days of Ude and Carenne. Secondly, I beg leave to state positively, that although the Turbot of Europe does not exist on the shores of America, a Turbot, and a very admirable fish too, as far superior to the Halibut as one fish can well be to another, does exist, and is constantly taken on the shores of Mas- 216 AMERICAN FISHES. sachusetts, although, like many other excellent species, it is strangelj undervalued. But to return to the Sheep's-Head : it is a timid and wary fish, very difficult to hook, and when hooked a fierce and bold battler, exceeding difficult to land, and making a more desperate resistance than infinitely larger species. It is considered the greatest achieve- ment of the salt-water fisherman to master this king of the seas. It is occasionally taken up to seventeen pounds, though seven or eight pounds may be considered the average of large fish, but like many, I might say most fishes, the smaller and middle-sized run may be generally set down as the most choice. The Sheep's-Head has a deep compressed body, a head sloping abruptly to the snout, and equally so to the chin and throat. Scales large and oblong, smaller on the gill-covers and throat ; the lateral line is parallel to the dorsal outline ; the preoperculum is broadly rounded, the operculum emarginate. In front of each jaw it has several large quadrilateral cutting teeth, and inside of these, both above and below, as well as on the pharyngeals, are many series of large-paved grinders. Its dorsal fin has twelve spinous and eleven soft rays, its pectorals fifteen soft, ventrals one spinous and five soft, its anal three spinous and ten soft, and its caudal seventeen soft rays. In color it is of a dull silver, with coppery gleams on the back, with five slightly arched bands of a darker color crossing the back and tail. The irides are brown, the pupils black, girdled with a golden ring. The fins are all deep brown or blackish ; the head and forehead black, with golden green reflections ; the chin marked with smutty patches, from some fancied resemblance of which to a Moorland sheep's face, its trivial name is derived. Note to Revised Edition. — Since writing the above, I learn from the correspon- dent of a paper, writing hostilely, that the Sheep's-Head ranges even south of the Mississippi. I used the best authority I could conmiand, not having visited that country. 1 now gladly avail myself of his matter, though " I detest his manner." SPARIDiE. 217 ACANTHOPTERYCn. SPARIDiE. THE BIG PORGEE. Pagrus Argyrops ; Cuvier. This is a good and a handsome fish, and would be more valued if less common. It ie a bold and free biter, and affords great sport tc the salt-water angler, being, with the Sea Bass, the principal object of pursuit to those who affect steamboat excm-sions to the fishing banks. Its geographical range is from Charleston southward, to Cape Cod on the north, beyond which it has been found impossible to natu- ralize them. The color of the Porgee is a deep brownish black on the head and back, with green and golden reflections, especially about the neck and sides, which are silvery, with brazen gleams. A black spot marks the upper corner of the gill-cover crossing the lateral line, and there is another of the same kind at the base of the pectoral fin. The dorsal, anal and caudal fins are brown, the ventrals bluish, the pectorals light yellow. The body of this fish is much compressed, with a gibbous outline, nearly half as deep as it is broad ; the face arched ; the scales are large, and the lateral line corresponds with the curve of the back. The jaws are largely furnished, as well as the pharyngeals, with alternating series of acute and paved teeth. The dorsal fin is com- pound, with one stout and twelve feeble spines, and twelve soft rays ; the pectorals are unusually long, with sixteen soft rays ; ttie ventrals have one spine and five soft, the anal three spines and eleven soft, and the caudal seventeen soft rays. There are two smaller fish of the same family, one well known to all fishermen, especially on the Long Island shores, as the Sand Porgee, Sargus Arenosus ; and another far less common, described by Cuvier and others as the Rhomboidal Porgee, Sargus Rhom* boideSj which, though very similar to the Big Porgee, are clearly distinct. 15 218 AMERICAN FISHES ACANTHOPTERYGIL SCOMBEIDiE. THE BLUE-FISH. HORSE MACKEREL, GREEN-FISH, IN VIRGINIA ; SKIPJACK, IN CAROLINA ; SNAPPING MACKEREL. Temnodon Saltator ; Cuvier. A BOLD, fierce, and well-known fish this, greatly sought after, and Tording fine sport to the fisherman, and right-royally good to eat when quite fresh out of the water, split in two down the back, nailed upon a shingle, and roasted before a quick fire. It is a singularly erratic fish, sometimes swarming on the coasts, and again almost enthely disappearing. It occasionally runs far up rivers, and was taken in the Hudson, so high up as the Highlands, in great quantities in the year 1841. It appears to have been entirely unknown on the coasts of New York before the year 1810, since which it has been, on the whole, gradually on the increase, while in like propor- tion its victims, the Weak- Fish and King-Fish, appear to be dying out. The Blue Fish is said occasionally to reach the weight of thirty-five pounds, but the average run is from three to eight. They generally frequent the coasts of New York from May until late in the autumn. Their geographical range is very wide, from Brazil to Massachusetts on the coasts of America, from New Holland to Madagascarj and from Amboyna to Egypt. The young fish abound in the mouths of our rivers from four to six inches in length, and even then they will take the bait with avidity. The ordinary mode of catching this fine fish is with what is techni- cally termed a squid, or piece of bright bone or metal, hurled out from the stern of a sailing boat, going with what is known as a " mack- erel breeze " in a sea-way, and drawn rapidly home by hand. There are many worse kinds of sport than this ; the swift motion of the vessel, the dashing spray, and the rapid biting of the fish, com- bining to create a highly pleasurable excitement. SCOMBRI D^. 219 Tlie color of this fish is a light bluish gray, with deeper tints on the back, and greenish reflections on the sides, becoming silvery on the belly. The pectorals, dorsal and caudal fins greenish brown, the ven- trals and anal bluish white. The body is oblong, cylindrical, compressed and slender, the facial outline gently sloping, the scales, which cover the whole body, the head, gill-covers, and much of the fins are of moderate size and oblong oval form. The lower jaw is longest, both maxillaries are well armed with sharp lancet-formed teeth ; the palatines, vomer and base of tongue banded with card-like patches of teeth. The operculum terminates in two indistinct flat points. The first dorsal fin is composed of seven weak spinous rays, the second of one short and twenty-five longer flexible rays. The pecto- rals have seventeen soft, the ventrals one spine and five soft, the anals one spine and twenty-seven soft, and the caudal nineteen flexible rays. Of the same family with the above are the well-known Spring Mack- erel, Scomber Vernalis^ of Mitchil, and Fall Mackerel, Scomber Greai, of the same author, as also the Spanish Mackerel, Scomber Colias, aU of which species are excellent eating, and give good sport in the bays and inlets. They are, however, so common that they are rarely pur- sued for the sport, or taken except as an article of food and commerce. I therefore pass them without farther notice than this mere cursory mention 220 AMERICAN FISHES. ACANTHOPTERYGn. LABEIDiB THE TAUTOG. The Black-Fish of New York.— Tautoga Americana ; DeKay. This, like all the fishes last described, is rather a general favorite among both sportsmen and epicures, though I confess my own opinion to be that he is generally overrated in both capacities. As a game fish he is a dead, loggy, heavy puller on the hook, ofi"ering little resist- ance beyond the vis inertice and dead weight, and on the table his excel- lence depends mainly on the cook. The color of the Black-Fish is indicated by his name, but varies con- siderably from deep dull black to glossy blue black with metallic reflections, and occasionally to dusky brown. His body is elongated and compressed, the outlines of the back arched forward of the dorsal to the snout, straight posteriorly. The lateral line concurrent with the back. The eyes are rather small, the scales small, extending over the gill-covers, which are very large and rounded. The lips are very thick and fleshy, the teeth stout. The branchiostegous rays are five in number. The dorsal fin has seventeen low spinous rays, and ten soft rays, the pectorals seventeen soft, the ventrals one spinous, five soft, the anal three spinous and eight soft, the caudal fourteen soft branched rays. The Tautog ranges only from the capes of the Chesapeake to Mas- sachusetts Bay. He is readily taken with the hook baited with crabs, clams, or other small shell-fish, from April until late in the autiunn, especially in the vicinity of rocks, reefs, hulls of sunken wrecks, or old deserted docks, where he finds food in abundance. It is well to bait the ground largely for several days in advance of fishing for him.* * Note to Revised Edition. — I have recently learned that this fish, as well aa the Providence Whiting, is becoming common in Charleston, having, it is believed; f«»caoed from the car of a fishing-boat, and bred there. DB£P-8£A FISHES. 2'M DEEP-SEA FISHING I HARDLY hold myself justified in enumerating tlie Cod, Haddock, Whiting, Halibut and Flounder among game fishes, but as it is proba- ble that some of my readers do regard them as such, and pursue them for the pleasure of the capture, independent of profit, I shall proceed to describe the first three briefly, and shall devote a few pages in another portion of this work to a consideration of the modes and methods of their capture. The huge Halibut, Ilippoglossus Vulgaris, and the Flounder, Fleii- ronedes Dentatus, I shall content myself with naming, as I cannot bring myself to regard them as fit for any but culinary purposes. In like manner the Hake, the Cusk, the Pollock, and many others of the Cod family, I shall pass in silence as objects only of casual pursuit, except to the professional fisherman, who plies his daily toil to earn his daily bread 222 AMERICAN FISHES. SUBBKACHIAL MALAOOPTEKYGIL ' GADIDifi THE COD. Morrhua Vulgaris. This is the common Cod of Newfoundland, well-known as ar article of food the wide world over. There is an American variety Morrhua Americana, which is slightly though permanently distinct. The fishes of this class are distinguished from the other soft-rayed fishes by having the ventrals situate nearly vertical under the pec- torals, and having two or three dorsal and anal fins. The color of this well-known species, which attains to a vast weight, sometimes seventy or eighty pounds, varies much in individuals. It is generally greenish brown, fading into ash-color when the fish is dead, with many reddish yellow spots. The belly silvery opaque white, the fins pale green, the lateral line dead white. The body is long and cylindrical, the head sloping in an arched line, the eyes large, the scales small and adhesive. It has a cirrus or barbel at the extremity of the lower jaw. It has four rows of teeth on the upper, and one on the lower jaw. It has three dorsal fins, respectively of fifteen, twenty-two, and nineteen rays ; pectorals nineteen rays ; ventrals six rays. Two anal fins respectively of twenty-two and nineteen rays ; caudal forty rays. It is a bold ivod voracious fish, ranging from New York northwardly along all the coasts of America. GADIDiE. 223 SUBRACHIAL MALACOPTEETGIL GADIDJE THE AMERICAN HADDOCK Morrhua jEgleJims; Cuvior The distinctive coloring of this fish is blackish brown above, and silvery gray below the lateral line, which is jet black. The back and sides are varied by purplish and golden gleams ; there is a large dark vertical patch posterior to the pectorals, crossing the lateral line. The fins are dusky blue. The body of the Haddock is stout, anteriorly, and tapering back- ward. The head large and arched. The eyes are large. The lower jaw is the shortest ; the teeth small, in a single row on each jaw ; a single small barbel on the chin. It has three dorsals, the first and third triangular, the second long- est, respectively of fifteen, twenty-two and twenty rays The pecto- rals have twenty-one, the ventrals sixteen, the two anals respectively twenty-five and twenty-one, and the caudal thirty-four rays. The range of the Haddock is similar to that of the Cod ; it is very abundant, and is about equal in estimation as an articlfe of food with its congeners. 224 AMERICAN FISHES. SUBBRACHIAL MALACOPTEEYGIL GADIDiE. THE AMERICAN WHITING. Merlangus Americanus, This is, comparatively speaking, a rare and little-known fish, that which is commonly called Whiting^ being in reality a Hake Merlucius It ranges only from Massachusetts northward. It is easily distinguished by its long, tapering, cylindrical body, and its high, triangular, wing-like dorsals. Its color is, above the lateral line, a bright nacrous bluish gray, and below a silvery white, with fins nearly of the same color. The head of the Whiting is acutely prolonged ; the eyes large and prominent ; the gill-covers rounded ; the teeth sharp and small. The three dorsals have respectively thirteen, twenty and twenty rays ; the pectorals nineteen, the ventrals six, the anals respectively twenty-four and twenty-one, and the caudal thirty-two. The Whiting is a delicate fish. It is taken in the same manner and in the same waters with the Cod and Haddock, and, like them, has little or no game habits. My chief reason for inserting him in this work is, that his existence in American waters has been doubted and denied. * Note to Khvised Edition. — I have just learned from Mr. King, of Charleston, S. C, that this fish has lately heen found in their waters, having, it is thought, ea* caped from an Eastern fishii'.g-boat, and boeonio naturalized. SALMON FISHING. 22d SALMON FISHING. Of all the piscatory sports, this is the first and finest ; and although it cannot now be pursued by the American angler except at the expense of some not inconsiderable time and trouble, still there is no land on earth in which it exists in such perfection as in this. Time was, when every river eastward of the Capes of the Dela- ware swarmed with this noble fish, but, year after year, like the red Indian, they have passed farther and farther from the sphere of the encroaching white man's boasted civilization, and perhaps will also ere long be lost from the natural world of this era. The I^ennebec is now the western limit of the Salmon's range, and in that bright and limpid river he is yearly waxing less and less frequent In the Penobscot, even to this day, he abounds ; but for some singular and inexplicable reason, whether it be from the sawdusty turbidness of its lower waters, or from some especial habit of the fish, he is rarely or never known to take the bait or the fly, within very many miles of the mouth of that grand and impetuous stream. Far up the northern and northwestern branches of the river it is speared constantly by the Penobscot Indians ; but the white residents of that wild region, lumbermen for the most part, and sparse agricul- tural settlers, are guiltless of the art of fly-fishing — the only method, by-the-way, except the use of roe-bait, whereof more anon, by which much success can be expected or obtained. To the sportsman, that great track of grandly-timbered and superb- ly-watered wilderness, which yet lies virgin almost and unbroken, from within a few leagues of the ocean to the great St. Lawrence, and from the Upper Kennebec to the Aroostook and St. John's, is yet well nigh terra incognita. Yet well would it repay the fisherman or the hunter, to pack his traps in the smallest compass, and set forth with rifle, shot-gun, and 226 AMERICAN FISHES. long Salmon-rod, via Augusta, Norridgewook, and the magnificeni gorges of the Kennebec, for that land of the Moose, the Deer, the Trout, and the lordly Salmon, there to encamp for days or weeks, as his taste for excitement and his manly hardihood should dictate, floating by day in the birch-bark canoe over the bright transparent waters, sleeping by night on the fragrant and elastic shoots of the green hem- lock, winning his food from the waters and the wilds by his own skill and daring, and earning the appetite whereby to enjoy it, by the toil which is to him a pleasure. Such in fact is at present the only mode by which the angler can enjoy truly fine Salmon fishing, unless indeed he be a man of such liberally endowed leisure that he can fit his own yacht, and visiting the estuaries of those Salmon-freighted rivers, which, from the St. John's, round all the eastern and northeastern shores of New Bruns- wick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward's Island, to the vast mouth of the St. Lawrence, and up that splendid river and its" great northern tributaries, the Mingan and the Saguenay, so far almost as the heights of Cape Diamond, offer the largest temptations to the ad^nturous angler. Within a few years, indeed, the rivers close around Quebec, the Montmorenci, the Chaudiere, and the Jacques Cartier, abounded with Salmon ; and a drive of a few hours in the morning from the Plains of Abraham, set the fisherman on waters where he could confidently count on filling his creel, even to overflowing, before night-fall ; but latterly these streams have failed almost entirely, and a sail of many miles down the St. I awrence to the mouth of the SaguenaCy or the lordship of Mingan, has now become necessary to ensure good sport. In the upper province of Canada, although Salmon run up the river into Lake Ontario, and frequent many of the streams falling into it from the northern shore, as the Credit and others, they are very rarely fished for or taken with the fly, and it is said confidently that in the lake itself they will not take the fly under any circumstances. Within my own recollection, Salmon were wont to run up the Oswego, and so find their way into all the lesser lakes of the State of New York ; but the dams on the river, erected, I believe, in order to the construction of the canal, have completely shut them out from those waters, I may here observe that it is very greatly to be deplored SALMON FISHING. 227 that, as is compolled by law in the Scottish and Irish Salmon rivers, a small aperture is not left in the rivers and dams, if they be above twelve feet in height, by which the fish may ascend to the cool and gravelly head-waters, in which they deposit their spawn. Such an aperture or run-way, which need not be of more than two or three feet square, would not occasion any material waste of water in rivers of the vast volume and rapidity which are characteristic of all the American Salmon rivers, and, therefore, would detract nothing from the utility of the works, while, by suffering this most valuable fish to ascend the course, and so to propagate its species, it would ensure to the inhabitants of the inland shores a delicious variety of food, and create anew an important article of commerce. It is singular that the Salmon of the lakes are never known to enter the Niaga'i-a river, although they are constantly taken at its mouth. They might ascend it some sixteen or seventeen miles, to the foot of the FaUs, but I believe it to be a fact that none have ever been taken within the stream. The cause of this is probably to be found in the great depth of the Niagara rivor, in its abrupt and wall-like shores, and in the total absence of gravel beds, or pebbly shoals of any kind, on which they can deposit their ova. Again, I am not aware that Salmon are ever taken in the Black river, the Rackett river, or any other of the fine streams, all abound- ing with the finest Brook Trout, which make their way from the romantic region of the Adirondach lakes and highlands, to the north- ward, into the basin of the St. Lawrence. Everywhere to the northward of the great Canadian river, to the extreme arctic regions, the Salmon is found in vast numbers, and, together with the White-Fish, or Attihawmeg, the delicious Arctic Grayling, Back's Charr, and the Common Trout, afford their principal subsistence to the Esquimaux, and to the adventurous fur-traders, whose posts are dotted down, hundreds of leagues apart, throughout those inhospitable countries. Again, throughout the whole of that huge territory lately won at the sword's point, by the Saxon energy of young America, from the degenerate children of old Spain, throughout the British possessions, and even in those far northern shores which the Russian holds upon 228 AMERICAN FISHES. this western continent, the estuaries and courses of those waters which pour into the Pacific, can boast not only the true Salmon, but many fine, distinct varieties. Many years will not probably elapse, taking into consideration the incessant stream of immigration which is almost overflowing Northern California, and remembering the restless, enter- prising energy of the Anglo-American race, before railroads, even to the Pacific, across the western prairies, and through the gorges of the Rocky Mountains, will open this new world to the adventurous angler, and the dwellers of the Atlantic cities will make their trips to the Salmon rivers of the Pacific with less trouble, and in less time, than it took their sturdy Dutch forefathers to visit Albany, now reached with ease in a few hours. For the present, however, it is needless to discourse of those west- ern waters, since time must pass before any species of game will be pursued for sport on the shores of the Pacific, or killed except to afford subsistence to a population occupied wholly by the greedy race for riches. To the fisherman, therefore, the Eastern States and the north-eastern British provinces afford the only accessible Salmon fish- ing ; and I should strongly urge it upon those who are enthusiastic about this fine sport, not to waste time even in the Kennebec or the Penobscot, but to pack up their traps at any time between May and September, and set forth at once for the city of St. John? in New Brunswick. This town, which might be styled not inaptly the paradise of Ame- rican fly-fishers, may be reached with ease in a few days via Boston, whence, if I am not mistaken, a stout and well-found steamer, the Admiral, takes her departure every Wednesday for New Brunswick. In St. John every requisite for the prosecution of the sport can be obtained, every information concerning the vast waters, and every facility for the procurement of guides, boats and the like will be gladly furnished, and every thing that hospitality can effect wUl be lavishly offered to the gentle angler. I venture here to mention the name of an enthusiastic and thorough fisherman, Mr. Perley, Her Majesty's emigration officer in the city of St John, as one certain to do whatever in his power lies to forward the views and promote the pleasure of any who shall visit his part of the world, led by the love of the gentle science ; and I take the same SALMON FISHING. 229 opportunity of thanking him for the very valuable information he hai afforded me concerning the fisheries and fishing of the province, and of bespeaking his friendship and attention for any of my readers who shall be induced by the perusal of these pages to wet a line in the rapids of the St. John, the Obscache, the Chemenpeek, or the Richi- bucto. Before proceeding to describe the mere technical portions of Salmon fishing, and the implements necessary for the prosecution of the sport, I shall take the liberty of quoting from myself a chapter of a nove- lette now in course of publication in Graham's excellent magazine, entitled Jasper St. Aubyn. I do this not egotistically, nor altogether to save time and trouble, but rather because it contains as correct an account of the mode to be pursued in casting for the Salmon, hooking, playing and killing him in an English river, as I am capable of writing ; and because the variety of the narrative style may possibly prove a relief to the reader, after the drier routine of more didactic writing. It is scarcely, perhaps, necessary to add that the mode of fishing for the Salmon in England and America are identical, the tackle and im- plements the same, and the same flies the most killing in all waters, of which singular fact, and other matters connected with which, I shall say more hereafter. Nor, I presume, need I apologise to my reader for the slight anachronism which has attributed to an ideal personage sup- posed to live-in the age of the Second James all the modern improve- ments and advantages possessed by the anglers of the present day, and all the skill and science which were certainly not to be found at that time in any Salmon-fisher, not excepting even good quaint Father Izaak, whose maxims on Salmon-fishing, and indeed on fly-fishing in general, savor far more of antiquity than of utility. " It was as fair a morning of July as ever dawned in the blue sum- mer sky ; the sun as yet had risen but a little way above the waves of fresh green foliage which formed the horizon of the woodland scenery surrounding Widecomb Manor; and his heat, which promised ere mid-day to become excessive, was tempered now by the exhalations of the copious night-dews, and by the cool breath of the western breeze, 230 AMERICAN FISHES. whicli came down through the leafy gorges, in long, soft swells froir the open moorlands. " All nature was alive and joyous ; the air was vocal with tha piping melody of the blackbirds and thrushes, caroling in every brake and bosky dingle ; the smooth, green lawn before the windows of the old Hall was peopled with whole tribes of fat, lazy hares, limping about among the dewy herbage, fearless, as it would seem, of man's aggres- sion ; and to complete the picture, above a score of splendid peacocks were strutting to and fro on the paved terraces, or perched upon the carved stone balustrades, displaying their gorgeous plumage to the early sunshine. " The shadowy mists of the first morning twilight had not been dis- persed from the lower regions, and were suspended still in the middle air in broad fleecy masses, though melting rapidly away in the increas- ing warmth and brightness of the day. " And still a faint blue line hovered over the bed of the long rocky gorge, which divided the chase from the open country, floating about it like the steam of a seething caldron, and rising here and there into tall smoke-like columns, probably where some steeper cataract of the mountain-stream sent its foam skyward. " So early, indeed, was the hour, that had my tale been recited of these degenerate days, there would have been no gentle eyes awake to look upon the loveliness of new-awakened nature. " In the good days of old, however, when daylight was still deemed to be the fitting time for labor and for pastime, and night the appointed time for natural and healthful sleep, the dawn was wont to brighten beheld by other eyes than those of clowns and milkmaids, and the gay songs of the matutinal birds were listened to by ears that could appre- ciate their untaught melodies. " And now, just as the stable clock was striking four, the great oaken door of the old Hall was thrown open with a vigorous swing that made it rattle on its hinges, and Jasper St. Aubyn came bounding out into the fresh morning air, with a foot as elastic as that of the moun- tain roe, singing a snatch of some quaint old ballad. " He was dressed simply in a close-fitting jacket and tight hose of dark-green cloth, without any lace or embroidery, light boots of uu- tanned leather, and a broad-leafed hat, with a single eagle's feathei SALMON FISHING. 231 thrust carelessly through the band. He wore neither cloak nor sword, though it was a period at which gentlemen rarely went abroad without these, their distinctive attributes ; but in the broad black belt which girt his rounded waist he carried a stout wood-knife with a buckhorn hilt ; and over his shoulder there swung from a leathern thong a large wicker fishing-basket. " Nothing, indeed, could be simpler or less indicative of any parti- cular rank or station in society than young St. Aubyn's garb, yet it would have been a very dull and unobservant eye which should take him for aught less than a high-born and high-bred gentleman. " His fine intellectual face, his bearing erect before heaven, the graceful ease of his every motion, as he hurried down the flagged steps of the terrace, and planted his light foot on the dewy greensward, all betokened gentle birth and gentle associations. " But he thought nothing of himself, nor cared for his adv.antages, acquired or natural. The long and heavy salmon-rod which he carried in his right hand, in three pieces as yet unconnected, did not more clearly indicate his purpose than the quick marking glance which he cast toward the half-veiled sun and hazy sky, scanning the signs of the weather. " ' It will do, it will do,' he said to himself, thinking as it were aloud, ^ for three or four hours at least ; the sun will not shake off those vapors before eight o'clock at the earliest, and if he do come out then hot and strong, I do not know but the water is dark enough after the late rains to serve my turn a while longer. It will blow up, too, I think, from the westward, and there will be a brisk curl on the pools. But come, I must be moving, if I would reach Darringford to breakfast.' " And as he spoke he strode out rapidly across the park toward the deep chasm of the stream, crushing a thousand aromatic perfumes from the dewy wild-flowers with his heedless foot, and thinking Httle of the beauties of nature, as he hastened to the scene of his loved exercise. " It was not long, accordingly, before he reached the brink of the steep rocky bank above the stream, which he proposed to fish that morning, and paused to select the best place for descending to the water's edge. " It was, indeed, a striking and romantic scene a^ ever met the eye of painter or of poet. On the farther side of the gorge, scarcely a hun- 232 AMERICAN FISHES. dred yards distant, the dark Kmestone rocks rose sheer and precipitou6 from the very brink of the stream, rifted and broken into angular blocks and tall columnar masses, from the clefts of which, wherever they could find soil enough to support their scanty growth, a few stunted oaks shot but almost horizontally with their gnarled arms and dark-green foliage, and here and there the silvery bark and quivering tresses of the birch relieved the monotony of color by their gay bright- ness. Above, the cliffs were crowned with the beautiful purple hea- ther, now in its very glow of summer bloom,. about which were buzzing myriads of wild bees, sipping their nectar from its cups of amethyst. " The hither side, though rough and steep and broken, was not in the place where Jasper stood precipitous ; indeed it seemed as if at some distant period a sort of landslip had occurred, by which the summit of the rocky wall had been broken into massive fragments, and hurled down in an inclined plane into the bed of the stream, on which it had encroached with its shattered blocks and rounded boulders. " Time, however, had covered all this abrupt and broken slope with a beautiful growth of oak and hazel coppice, among which, only at dis- tant intervals, could the dun weather-beaten flanks of the great stones bo discovered. " At the base of this descent, a hundred and fifty feet perhaps below the stand of the young sportsman, flowed the dark arrowy stream — a wild and perilous water. As clear as crystal, yet as dark as the brown cairn-gorm, it came pouring down among the broken rocks with a rapidity and force which showed what must be its fury when swollen by a storm among the mountains, here breaking into wreaths of rip- pling foam where some unseen ledge chafed its current, there roaring and surging white as December's snow among the great roundr-headed rocks, and there again wheeling in sullen eddies, dark and deceitful, round and round some deep rock-rimmed basin. " Here and there, indeed, it spread out into wide, shallow, rippling rapids, filling the whole bottom of the ravine from side to side, but more generally it did not occupy above a fourth part of the space below, leaving sometimes on this margin, sometimes on that, broad pebbly banks, or slaty ledges, aff'ording an easy footing and a clear path to the angler in its troubled waters. " After a rapid glance over the well-known scene, Jasper plunged SALMON FISHING. 233 into the coppice, and following a faint track worn by the feet of the wild-djei- in the first instance, and widened by his own bolder tread, soon reached the bottom of the chasm, though not until he had flushed from the dense oak covert two noble black cocks with their superb forked tails, and glossy purple-lustered plumage, which soared away, crowing their bold defiance, over the heathery moorlands. " Once at the water's edge, the young man's tackle was speedily made ready, and in a few minutes his long line went whistling through the air, as he wielded the powerful two-handed rod, as easily as if it had been a stripling's reed, and the large gaudy peacock-fly alighted on the wheeling eddies, at the tail of a long arrowy shoot, as gently as if it had settled from too long a flight. Delicately, deftly, it was made to dance and skim the clear, brown surface, until it had crossed the pool and neared the hither bank ; then again, obedient to the pli- ant wrist, it arose on glittering wing, circled half round the angler's head, and was sent fifteen yards aloof, straight as a wild bee's flight, into a little mimic whirlpool, scarce larger than the hat of the skilful fisherman, which spun round and round just to leeward of a gray ledge of limestone. Scarce had it reached its mark before the water broke all around it, and the gay deceit vanished, the heavy swirl of the sur- face, as the break was closing, indicating the great size of the fish which had risen. Just as the swirl was subsiding, and the forked tail of the monarch of the stream was half seen as he descended, that indescri- bable but well-known turn of the angler's wrist, fixed the barbed hook, and taught the scaly victim the natui-e of the prey he had gorged bo heedlessly. " With a wild bound he threw himself three feet out of the water, showing his silver sides, with the sea-lice yet clinging to his scales, a fresh sea-run fish of fifteen, ay, eighteen pounds, and perhaps over. " On his broad back he strikes the water, but not as he meant the tightened line ; for as he leaped the practised hand had lowered the rod's tip, that it fell in a loose bight below him. Again ! again ! again ! and yet a fourth time he bounded into the air with desperate and vigorous soubresaults, like an unbroken steed that would dismount his rider, lashing the eddies of the dark stream into bright bubbling streaks, and making the heart of his captor beat high with anticipation 16 234 AMERICAN FISHES. of the desperate struggle that should follow, before the monster ishould lie panting and exhausted on the yellow sand or moist greenswai'd. '' Away ! with the rush of an eagle through the air, he is gone like an arrow down the rapids — ^how the reel rings, and the line whistles from the swift working wheel ; he is too swift, too headstrong to be checked as yet ; tenfold the strength of that slender tackle might not control him in his first fiery rush. " But Jasper, although young in years, was old in the art, and skilful as the craftiest of the gentle craftsmen. He gives him the butt of his rod steadily, trying the strength of his tackle with a delicate and gentle finger, giving him line at every rush, yet firmly, cautiously, feeling his mouth all the while, and moderating his speed even while he yields to his fury. " Meanwhile, with the eye of intuition and the nerve of iron, he bounds along the difficult shore, he leaps from rock to rock, alighting on their slippery tops with the firm agility of the rope-dancer, he splashes knee-deep through the slippery shallows, keeping his line ever taut, inclining his rod over his shoulder, bearing on his fish ever with a killing pull, steering him clear of every rock or stump against which he would fain smash the tackle, and landing him at length in a fine open roomy pool, at the foot of a long stretch of white and foamy rapids, down which he has just piloted him with the eye of faith, and the foot of instinct. " And now the great Salmon has turned sulky ; like a piece of lead he has sunk to the bottom of the deep black pool, and lies on the gravel bottom in the sullenness of despair. " Jasper stooped, gathered up in his left hand a heavy pebble, and pitched it into the pool, as nearly as he could guess to the whereabout of his game — another — and another ! Aha ! that last has roused him. Again he throws himself clear out of water, and again foiled in his attempt to smash the tackle, dashes away down stream impetuous. " But his strength is departing — the vigor of his rush is broken. The angler gives him the butt abundantly, strains on him with a heavier pull, yet ever yields a little as he exerts his failing powers ; see, his broad, silver 4de has thrice turned up, even to the surface, and though each time he has recovered himself, each time it has been with a heavier and more sickly motion. SALMON FISHING. . 235 " Brave fellow ! his last race is run, his last spring sprung — no more shall he disport himself in the bright reaches of the Tamar ; no more shall the Naiads wreathe his clear silver scales with river-greens and flowery rushes. " The cruel gaff is in his side — his cold blood stains the eddies for a moment — he flaps out his death-pang on the hard limestone. " ^ Who-whoop ! a nineteen pounder !' " Meantime the morning had worn onward, and ere the great fish was brouo;h to the basket, the sun had soared clear above the mist- wreaths, and had risen so high into the summer heaven that his slant rays poured down into the gorge of the stream, and lighted up the clear depths with a lustre so transparent that every pebble at the bottom might have been discerned, with the large fish here and there floating mid depth, with their heads up stream, their gills working with a quick motion, and their broad tails vibrating at short intervals slowly but powerfully, as they lay motionless in opposition to the very strongest of the swift current. " The breeze had died away, there was no curl upon the water, and the heat was oppressive. " Under such circumstances, to whip the stream was little better than mere loss of time, yet as he hurried with a fleet foot down the gorge, perhaps with some ulterior object, beyond the mere love of sport, Jasper at times cast his fly across the stream, and drew it neatly, and, as he thought, irresistibly, right over the recusant fish ; but though once or twice a large lazy Salmon would sail up slowly from the depths, and almost touch the fly with his nose, he either sunk down slowly in disgust, without breaking the water, or flapped his broad tail over the shining fraud as if to mark his contempt. " It had now got to be near noon, for, in the ardor of his success, the angler had forgotten all about his intended breakfast ; and, his first fish captured, had contented himself with a slender meal furnished from out his fishing-basket and his leathern bottle. " Jasper had traversed by this time some ten miles in length, follow- ing the sinuosities of the stream, and had reached a favorite pool at the head of a long, straight, narrow trench, cut by the waters them- selves in the course of time, through the hard shistous rock which walls 236 _ AMERICAN FISHES. the torrent on each hand, not leaving the slightest ledge or margin between the rapids and the precipice. " Through this wild gorge of some fifty yards in length, the river shoots like an arrow over a steep inclined plane of limestone rock, the surface of which is polished by the action of the water, till it is as slippery as ice, and at the extremity leaps down a sheer descent of some twelve feet into a large, wide basin, surrounded by softly swell- ing banks of greensward, and a fair amphitheatre of woodland. " At the upper end this pool is so deep as to be vulgarly deemed unfathomable ; below, however, it expands yet wider into a shallow rippling ford, where it is crossed by the high-road, down stream of which again there is another long, sharp rapid, and another fall, over the last steps of the hills ; after which the nature of the stream be- comes changed, and it murmurs gently onward through a green pas- toral country, unrippled and uninterrupted. " Just in the inner angle of the high-road, on the right hand of the stream, there stood an old-fashioned, low-browed, thatch-covered, stone cottage, with a rude portico of rustic woodwork overrun with jasmine and virgin-bower, and a pretty flower-garden sloping down in successive terraces to the edge of the basin. Beside this, there was no other house in sight, unless it were part of the roof of a mill which stood in the low gi'ound on the brink of the second fall, surrounded with a mass of willows. But the tall steeple of a country church, raising itself heavenward above the brow of the hill, seemed to show that, although concealed by the undulations of the ground, a village was hard at hand. " The morning had changed a second time, a hazy film had crept up to the zenith, and the sun was now covered with a pale golden veil, and a slight current of air down the gorge ruffled the water. " It was a capital pool, famous for being the temporary haunt of the very finest fish, which were wont to lie there awhile, as if to recruit themselves after the exertions of leaping the two falls and stemming the double rapid, before attempting to ascend the stream farther. " Few, however, even of the best and boldest fishermen, cared to wet a line in its waters, in consequence of the supposed impossibility of following a heavy fish through the gorge below, or checking him at the brink of the fall. It is true, that throughout the length of the SALMON FISHING. 237 pass, the current was broken by bare, slippery rocks peering above the waters, at intervals, which might be cleared by an active crags- man ; and it had been in fact reconnoitered by Jasper and others in cool blood, but the result of the examination was that it was deemed impassable. " Thinking, however, little of striking a large fish, and perhaps desiring to waste a little time before scaling the banks and emerging on the high-road, Jasper threw a favorite fly of peacock's herl and gold tinsel lightly across the water ; and, almost before he had time to think, had hooked a monstrous fish, which, at the very first leap, he set down as weighing at least thirty pounds. " Thereupon followed a splendid display of piscatory skill. Well knowing that his fish must be lost if he once should succeed in getting his head down the rapid, Jasper exerted every nerve, and exhausted every art to humor, to meet, to restrain, to check him. Four times the fish rushed for the pass, and four times Jasper met him so stoutly with the butt, trying his tackle to the very utmost, that he succeeded in forcing him from the perilous spot. Round and round the pool he had piloted him, and had taken post at length, hoping that the worst was already over, close to the opening of the rocky chasm. " And now perhaps waxing too confident, he checked his fish too sharply. Stung into fury, the monster sprang five times in succession into the air, lashing the water with his angry tail, and then rushed like an arrow down the chasm. " He was gone — but Jasper's blood was up, and thinking of nothing but his sport, he dashed forward, and embarked, with a fearless foot, in the terrible descent. " Leap after leap he took with beautiful precision, alighting firm and erect on the centre of each slippery block, and bounding thence to the next with unerring instinct, guiding his fish the while with con- summate skill through the intricacies of the pass. " There were now but three more leaps to be taken before he would reach the flat table-rock above the fall, which once attained, he would have firm foot-hold and a fair field ; already he rejoiced, triumphant in the success of his bold attainment, and confident in victory, when a shrill female shriek reached his ears from the pretty flower-garden ; eaught by the sound, he diverted his eyes, just as he leaped, toward 238 AMERICAN FISHES. the place whence it came ; his foot slipped, and the next instant he was flat on his back in the swift stream, where it shot the most furi- ously over the glassy rock. He struggled manfully, but in vain. The smooth, slippery sm-facc afforded no purchase to his griping fingers, no hold to his laboring feet. One fearful, agonizing conflict with the wild waters, and he was swept helplessly over the edge of the fall, his head, as he glanced down foot foremost, striking the rocky brink with fearful violence. " He was plunged into the deep pool, and whirled round and round by the dark eddies long before he rose, but still, though stunned and half-disabled, he strove terribly to support himself, but it was all in vain. " Again he sunk and rose once more, and as he rose that wild shriek again reached his ears, and his last glance fell upon a female form wringing her hands in despair on the bank, and a young man rushing down in wild haste from the cottage on the hill. " He felt that aid was at hand, and struck out again for life — for dear life ! " But the water seemed to fail beneath him. " A slight flash sprang across his eyes, his brain reeled, and all was blackness. " He sunk to the bottom, spurned it with his feet, and rose once more, but not to the surface. " His quivering blue hands emerged alone above the relentless waters, grasped for a little moment at empty space, and then disap- peared. " The circling ripples closed over him, and subsided into stillness. " He felt, knew, suffered nothing more. " His young, warm heart was cold and lifeless — his soul had lost its consciousness — the vital spark had faded into darkness — perhaps was quenched for ever." THE IMPLEMENTS OF SALMON FISHING 239 THE IMPLEMENTS OF SALMON FISHING Time was, wlien every angler was required to make his own instru- ments, from the rod itself to the artificial fly, but now, so general has become the love of this calm and gentle pursuit, and so multiplied and subdivided are all trades and professions, that there are few cities in the civilized world, of any magnitude, in which it is not easy, at any moment, to procure anything that is requisite for this pursuit. Of consequence, the necessity for skill in manufacture of imple- ments has passed away, and, comparatively speaking, but few anglers think it necessary any longer to be familiar even with the method of tying their own flies, the tackle-shops furnishing every possible variety, more neatly executed, it is probable, and consequently more killing, than any could be of private manufacture. Still, to tie a neat and taking fly is a very useful accomplishment to the enthusiastic fisherman, especially when he is in wild and remote districts, as frequently must be the case ; and at times some rare natural fly will be seen on the water, which it may be found expedient to imitate without delay. The art of tying flies is attained with greater readiness, and, in fact, is far less difficult, than is generally thought, or than would be imagined needful, from the beautiful delicacy of the manufacture in its perfection. Most works on practical angling contain long and elaborate directions how to hold, and how to tie the feathers on the hook, but all these are, in my opinion, utterly valueless and futilG ; nor do I believe that nnj person has ever learned either to tie a fly, or to cast it when tied, from the. perusal of any printed explanation ; any more than the young sportsman has ever acquhed the knack of shooting on the wing except by practice and experience. The best way to acquire the art of tying flies is to observe carefully the manipulation of some skilful operator, and to obtain from him, during the performance of the work, oral instructions on the subject. 240 AMERICAN FISHES. From any good tackle-maker, a few lessons can be obtained at a very small expense, and tbese will, in a very short space of time, render the novice av, fait to the trick. The first thing to be considered in the angler's equipment, is the rod, and it is here well to observe that, for almost every sort of fish- ing, some different and peculiar rod is essential. That which is com- monly called a general fishing-rod, is, in fact, an abomination, and is useful only to the bait-fisher, and even for him is an awkward and ineffective instrument, it being impossible so to regulate the arrange- ment of the lower joints as to produce that regular and equable degree of pliancy alike with a stiff baiting or with a pliant fly-top. For the Salmon, the rod should not be of more than eighteen, or less than sixteen feet ; the longer is apt to be a little cumbrous, and deftly to wield a double-handed Salmon-rod, during a whole summer- day, requires no small practice of the muscles. The best wood for the butt, which should be very stout and solid, is well^seasoned maple, which is both light and strong ; the second joint of ash, the thu'd of hickory, and the fourth or top joint of equal parts of lance-wood, or split bamboo, carefully spliced together. Many experienced anglers prefer to have their Salmon-rods manu- factured without metal joints, but with neatly-cut and accurately-fitted scares, which are adjusted and firmly spliced together with strong waxed-end when at the river-side. The supposed advantage of this method is the greater certainty of the rod's holding together during a severe struggle, in the course of which a joint will sometimes be disengaged from the socket ; and a greater equability of pliancy throughout the whole length, from the butt to the end, which is supposed to be in some degree impaired by the metallic ferrules into which the heads of the ferruled joints are inserted. In the present improved state of the manufacture of all sporting articles, I must however admit that these objections are, in my opin- ion, very fanciful, and that the trouble of splicing and unsplicing greatly exceeds the benefit derived from the practice. Nothing can be more beautifully regular and equal throughout their whole length, than the springy bend of the best English, Irish, Scot- tish, and American Salmon-rods ; and I may here record it as my THE IMPLEMENTS OF SALMON FISHING. 241 deliberate opinion, that the best rods in the world are now manufac- tured in the city of New York, and that Conroy is superior, as a fly-rod maker, to either Chevalier or Martin Kelly, of universal reputation. David Welch, too, has few equals, if superiors. The reel should be very large, capable of containing one hundred feet of twisted line, composed of hair and silk intermingled, and tapering gradually from the centre to each end, where it should be neatly looped to a bottom of the best and stoutest Spanish silk-worm gut, as thick, if possible, as the 32nd of an inch, to which the hook- links of the flies should be fastened. The hook-link for Salmon fishing should be of the best strong gut. The casting-line, of the best Salmon gut, is to be looped to the reel- line, and must taper thence to the hook-link. The loops must be whipped securely on both sides with best waxed silk. The casting-line is to be three yards in length without the addition of the fly -link. Every knot on the casting-line should be what anglers term the water-knot^ which is merely a common knot made by passing the ends to be secured three times around each other ; the ends to be well whipped as before. The casting-line is to terminate with a loop, and the fly is to be knotted with the water-knot, to a link also looped, and secured by waxed line, which is then to be loopc-d on. the casting-line. One fly only should be used for Salmon fishing. The best method of attaching the hand fly and the second fly to the casting line for trout-fishing, when three flies are to be used, as is often the case, is entirely diflferent from anything hitherto stated. There is but one knot which will allow these flies to hang truly, and that is fully described with a cut at page 63. It is very desu*able that the gut should by dyed, in order to deaden its silvery glitter, which is too conspicuous in the water, and often scares the fish. The best preparation for this purpose is dark green tea, which brings it nearly to the color of water, when slightly discolored by rain, at which time the fish are most apt to bite freely. Too much attention cannot be paid by the angler to the quality and condition of his gut-lengths, or to the proper adjustment of the knots and loops by which it is fastened. These can scarcely, indeed, be too narrowly or jealously scrutinised, as gut is a material which is 242 AMERICAN FISHES. easily frayed and cut by its own friction, and the slightest imperfection will often cause the loss of a very heavy fish. The great beauty of gut is, to be correctly round and perfectly equal in thickness, which enables it to stand a strain which, if it were une- qual, would cause it to give way. The reel should be of brass, which I prefer to German silver. bushed and rivetted with steel. It should have a balance handle, and a click, which is of great use, as preventing more of the line than is required from running off it while in the act of casting, before a fish is struck ; but a catch or stop must on no account be used, as it will frequently stop the line at the very moment when it should run the fastest. I had almost forgotten to add, that the simple reel is vastly preferred by all truly scientific anglers to the multiplier, which in fact is now almost exploded. The fly-hooks should unquestionably be of the Limerick bend, and oven for spinning with the parr, or fishing with the worm or the deadly roe-bait, all of which are very killing to the Salmon, the same form is the preferable. The great size and weight of the Salmon renders the use of the landing-net impossible, and it is, moreover, at the best, a clumsy and unportable machine. For it, therefore, the angler substitutes the gaff — a sharp, unbarbed hook, of convenient size, which screws securely into the head of a stout ashen shaft, the butt of which may conveniently be hollowed so as to contain spare fly-tops, as it is inad- missible to subtract from the weight of the rod-butt by hollowing it. With this hook, so soon as the flsh is sufficiently exhausted to be drawn within striking, held in the right hand while the rod is trans- ferred to the left, he gaffs the fish steadily and sharply in the solid portion of the tail below the abdominal cavity, which gives it a firm hold, and enables the lucky sportsman to pull out even a forty-pounder with but little trouble. It is not a b*id plan to have a stout knife-blade, with the inner edge sharpened, hinged on the back of the gaff, which will often be found of use in cutting away any twig or other obstacle which may entangle the fly. A creel is of little use to the Salmon fisher, as in order to carry any number of these noble fish, one would be requisite of the size of a THE IMPLEMENTS OF SALMON FISHING. 243 clothes-basket ; and such is the weight of the fish, that, if you expect to be successful, an attendant is indispensable. With thess instruments, then, a well-filled fly-book in his pouch, and perhaps a spare gut foot-length round his hat, the fisherman may deem his outfit perfect. A suit of plain dark clothes, a pair of stout nailed shoes, and heavy loose trowsers of the coarse Scottish plaid worn by the shepherds, is the best attire for the sportsman. India-rubber boots are an abomi- nation, unwholesomely confining the perspiration, and excessively uncomfortable from the intense heat which they create ; besides, an angler is hardly the sort of person to care much about wet feet or a soaked jacket. Having now equipped and rigged him, we will conduct him to the marge of limpid lake or rapid torrent, and see how best his scaly prey he may ensnare. In order to become a fly-fisher, I think that something of an especial genius is necessary — I mean a fly-fisher in the highest sense of the word, and regarded in the same light as the sportsman whom we can deservedly term a crack-shot. Still, although something of a natural and inherent aptitude is necessary, practice, experience, and a love of the art, go so far that no one who really desires to attain eminence in this skill need despair, for perhaps no one very keenly desires it who has not that aptitude, though perhaps latent, and even of himself unsuspected. To teach a man, as I have said before, by writing or even by oral instruction, unless coupled with active practice and example, how to make a fly, how to cast a fly, how to hook a fish, or how, when hooked, to kill him, is to my apprehension impossible. Yet without some instructions on this subject, a work on Fishing would justly be deemed imperfect, and perhaps even impertinent. After the first slight skill is attained which enables a fisherman to cast a fly at all without whipping it off the hook-length, the great points to be acquired are, precision in casting, and neatness in deliver- ing the fly. In Salmon fishing with the double-handed rod, all these things are somewhat more difficult than with the light twelve-foot Trout-rod, and more practice is requisite before perfection can be gained ; yet the M4 AMERICAN FISHES. mode is identical, and the instructions which alone can be given arc alike few and simple. The first thing to be observed is, that the rod must not be firmly grasped, but held with a loose and delicate play of the thumb and fingers, as a cue should in billiard playing, or a foil in fencing. Secondly, that in throwing out the fly, nothing like a jerk or snap should be performed, such as is done with a four-horse whip in flank- ing a leader. It is very difficult to explain, except by comparison, what that movement is ; but it may perhaps be described as by a sudden checking of the propelling power, or as almost a retroversion of it at the moment of its greatest impetus, somewhat such as that which is termed spinning, or Englishing, a ball at billiards. The rod being held lightly in the fingers, the butt of it must be so moved in front of the person, with all the muscles of the arm relaxed, the elbow and the wrist free and pliant, that the tip shall describe a complete circle above and something behind the head, and it will be not amiss for the tyro to practise this motion without attempting to cast as yet any line. Secondly, it must be remembered, when the line and fly is brought into play, that by the circular motion of the tip, the whole line, with its cast of flies, must be made to stream out at full length, and to describe a semicircle, so that at the instant previous to propulsion, if we desire to throw directly forward, the flies shall be at the whole length of the extended line, exactly b3liiiid us ; when they must be thrown out by a direct and even motion, without any jerk, and yet must be in some sort checked rather by a gi*adual holding up or cessation of the impelling force, than by any sudden stop or retro- gression. The mode of casting which I have endeavored to describe for a forward throw, must be used in all cases ; if to the right, the line must stream out, and the flies be extended at full length to the extreme left, and vice versa ; and this is the method by which accu- racy and precision in casting can be acquired, and by perseverance in which, with experience, the fisherman will ultimately succeed in throwing his stretcher, or last fly, with certainty into a smaller circum- ference than that of his own hat. This it is which we call precision. THE IMPLEMENTS OF SALMON FISHING 245 By neatness, we intend the knack of so delivering the line that each one of the cast of flies shall alight upon the surface of the water singly and severally, and as lightly as the thistle-down, without any portion of the foot-length, much less of the line, bagging or falling in a bight upon the stream. This delivering of the cast at the end of a perfectly straight, yet perfectly easy line, is the first great thing to be obtained. If we attempt to throw the flies, except after having made them describe a full semicircle in the direction opposite to the purposed cast, we shall throw them nowhere. If we fling out the whole line loosely, it will fall in a baggy bight upon the water, probably striking the surface in advance of the flies, and certainly making a splash and scaring away the fish which we desire to allure. If we check it too suddenly, or jerk it back at all, we shall snap off all our flies with a loud crack, and so remain disarmed and useless for the nonce. In practising, the novice should use but a short line, five or six yards at the utmost, and a single fly — and when he can throw that with certainty into a space of a few feet in circumference, he may gradually let out his line till he has reached fifteen yards, which I regard as the extreme length that can be managed with certainty, neatness, and precision, and add to the stretcher his first and second droppers, more than which are wholly useless. Having said thus much of the mode of casting the flies, we will suppose our angler clad in the plainest and least obtrusive colors, at the margin of the stream, if it be such as he can command with his double-handed rod, or wading it if not too deep, or in his boat if it be too broad to be cast over successfully. First, he shall go down stream ; for the motion of the water will so keep his line taut, the benefit of which hereafter ; and he will also have fewer casts to make, and find less trouble in giving a natural and easy movement to the artificial insect, which he must keep ever floating on the surface. Furthermore, the fish are wont to lie, especially in swift waters, with their heads up stream, and will therefore perhaps take the fly most readily when cast down, and drawn gently over them. Secondly, he must on no account fish with the sun behind his back, 246 AMERICAN FISHES. for, if he do, the shadow of his body, with his arms thrashing the air, and the counterfeit presentment of his long rod vibrating aloft, will be thrown on the bright surface of the waters in such a manner as will undoubtedly alarm the fish ; which, however much doubt there may exist as to their powers of auscultation, no one will deny to be capable of quick vision. Thirdly, he shall not so draw his fly along the surface as to give it the appearance or reality of floating up stream ; for flies do not in natui-e float up stream ; nor do the Trout or Salmon, although they may never have studied logic, and are probably incapable of deducing consequences from causes, lack the ability to discern what i«, from what is not, natural. Across the stream he may bring it gently and coquettishly home, with a slow whirling rotatory motion, letting it swim down in the swifter whirls of the stream, and float round and round in the eddies, with this special observance, that he shall, in so far as he can, keep it ever at the end of a tight line, for so only will the fish hook itself, without any movement of the hand on the angler's part — an end most desu'able to effect. Both Salmon and Trout lie in wait for their prey, for the most part, rather than swim in pursuit of it in schulls or companies. They are often, I would say generally, found in pairs, and therefore, after killing one in any favorable pool or eddy, it will be well not too soon to desert the spot, even although it may have been disturbed by the bustle and hurly of the first captm-e. The tail of swift rapids, where some large stone breaks the force of the current, and causes a lull, or, as one would say of wind, a lee, will always be found a likely spot wherein to cast ; and in pools, be- tween two rapids or cascades, the head and the foot, immediately above the one and below the other descent, will generally each hold a fish. Still clear deep reaches will again be found to contain many times the most, and often the largest fishes, especially of Brook Trout ; and these places require the neatest and the finest fishing, for two very sufficient reasons j first, that the transparency of the water enables the fish clearly to discern the angler, unless he stand well back from the margin of the bank ; and, secondly, that its stillness allows all the i THE IMPLEMENTS OF SALMON FISHING. 247 imperfections of the artificial fly, and perhaps the gnt to which it ia appended, to be discovered by the intended victim. In nothing is piscatory skill more distinctly evidenced, than by the instinctive accuracy with which, in whipping a stream, the practical angler will discern what places to fish closely, accurately, neatly ; which to pass over lightly — in other words, which are more and which are most unlikely to hold the objects of his pursuit ; and this skill, this power, like that of casting the fly, or even in a greater degree than that, can be gained only by dint of long practice and accurate obser- vation. As I had occasion to remark, not once, but many times, in my " Field Sports," ceteris paribus of eye, hand and nerves, on which almost everything depends, the closest observer of nature, the most diligent inquirer into the actions, the habits, the prey, the haunts, the every-day life of the bird or beast which he is pursuing — in other words, the best natm-alist — will be the best and most successful sports- man ; and so it is, and perhaps even more so, in the case of the angler. And, indeed, after years spent in this exciting and yet gentle pursuit, the angler will ever find that he has something still to learn, that he has gained something daily, if he keep his ears, his eyes, his mind open to the sounds, the sights, the beautiful provisions of nature. In large lakes, which must be fished from boats, the vicinity of the chores, the edges of shoals, and the holes in the close neighborhood of large rocks or boulders which cause eddies, and above all the entrances or outlets of streams, brooks and rivers, are the likeliest places in which to find Salmon, but not reedy banks or weed beds, as is the case with the Pickerel and Mascalonge ; and such spots as these deserve the utmost care and attention of anglers. And now, I believe that I have said all that I can say about the casting of the fly, and the places into which it should be cast in order to ensure the first success, the getting a rise, I mean, from this noblest of fishes. Little is done, how- ever, in getting this rise, unless we know how to strike, and how to kill him when he has risen. On this head, perhaps, it might be said that- the art of striking a fish, or so handling the rod that the barbed hook shall be bm-ied securely and quickly, or ere the fish has time to dis- cover that the gaudy bait is an unreal mockery, without substance or eavor, consists in knowing what is not, rather than what is to be done 248 AMERICAN FISHES. Very certain it is that the fly must not be jerked or twitched away quickly, as is done by ninety-nine hundredths of novices, who thereby instead of fixin^ Small Pearch will serve to make water-souchy thus :v Scale, gut, and wash your Pearch ; put salt in your water ; when it boils put in the fish, with an onion cut in slices, and seperated into rings ; a handful of parsley, picked and washed clean ; put in as much milk as will turn the water white ; when your fish are done enough, put them in a soup dish, and pour a little of the water over them, with the parsley, and the onions ; then serve them up with parsley and butter in a boat. Large Pearch may be crimped and boiled in the same way. Soyer's Receipt for Pearch a la HoUandaise. Have three middling-sized fishes ready prepared for cooking ; then put two ounces of butter, two onions, in slices, one carrot, cut small, some parsley, two bay-leaves, six cloves, and two blades of mace in a stew-pan ; pass it five minutes over a brisk fire, then add a quart of water, two glasses of vinegar, one ounce of salt, and a little pepper ; boil altogether a quarter of an hour, and pass it through a sieve into a small fish-kettle ; then lay the fishes into it, and let them stew twenty or thirty minutes over a moderate fire ; dress them on a dish without a napkin, and pour a sauce HoUandaise over them. APPENDIX. C. 33& Pearch a la Maitre d'' Hotel. Prepare and cook your fish as above ; then put twenty tablespoons- ful of melted butter in a stew-pan, and when it is upon the point of boiling, add a quarter of a pound of Maitre d'Hotel butter, and pour the Sfauce over the fish, which dress on a dish without a napkin. Small Pearches en icater souchet. Cut four small fishes in halves, having previously taken off all the scales, and proceed precisely as for Flounders en water souchet. Small Pearches frits au beurre. Scale and well dry six Pearches, and make incisions here and there on each side of them ; then put a quarter of a pound of butter into a saute-pan, season your fishes with pepper and salt, put them in the saut^-pan and fry them gently, turning them carefully ; when done, dress them on a napkin, garnish with parsley, and serve without sauce. In my opinion, they are much better cooked in this way than boiled or stewed ; large fish may also be done this way, but they require more butter, and must cook very slowly. HOW TO COOiK CARP. Izaak Waltori's receipt. But first, I will teli you how to make this Carp, that is so curious to be caught, so curious a dish of meat as shall make him worth all your labor and patience. And though it is not without some trouble and charges, yet it will recompense both. Take a Carp — alire if possible ; scour him, and rub him clean with water and salt, but scale him not ; then open him, and put him with his blood and liver, which you must save when you open him, into a small pot or kettle ; then take sweet marjoram, thyme, or parsley, of each a handful ; a sprig of rosemary, and mother-of-savory ; bind them into two or three small bundles, and put them to your Carp, with four or five whole onions, twenty pickled oysters, and three anchovies. Then pour upon your Carp as much claret wine as will only cover him ; and season your claret well with salt, cloves and mace, and the rind of oranges and lemons. That done, cover your pot, and set it on a quick fire till it be sujQ&ciently boiled. Then take out the Carp, and lay it with 340 APPENDIX. C. the broth into the dish, and pour upon it a quarter of a pound of the best fresh butter, melted and beaten with a half-a-dozen spoonsful of the broth, the yolks of two or three eggs, and some of the herbs shred ; garnish your dish with lemons, and so serve it up, and much good to you. Soyer^s Receipt for Carp en matelote. Have your fish ready cleaned, and make four or five incisions on each side ; then put two sliced onions, three sprigs of thyme and pars- ley, and half-a-pint of port wine in a stew-pan, or small fish-kettle ; season the fish with pepper and salt, lay it in the stew-pan, add four pints of broth, and place it on a slow fire to stew for an hour — which will be sufl&cient for a fish of five pounds weight — or more, in propor- tion to the size ; when done, dress it on a dish, without a napkin ; drain it well, and serve a matelote sauce over it ; only use some of the stock from the fish, having previously taken off all the fat, instead of plain broth, as directed in that article. Carp a la Genoise. Prepare your fish as above, and lay it in your fish-kettle, with two ounces of salt, half a bottle of port wine, two onions, two turnips, one leek, one carrot, cut in slices, three bay-leaves, six cloves, two blades of mace, and a sprig of parsley, cover the fish with white broth ; stew it as before, dress it without a napkin, prepare a sauce Genoise and pour over it. » Stewed Carp a la Marquise. Cook the fish as above, and when done, dress it on a dish without a napkin, and have ready the following sauce : put twenty tablespoonsful of white sauce in a stew-pan, reduce it over a fire until rather thick, then add a gill of whipt cream, two tablespoonsful of capers, and two of chopped gherkins ; pour over the fish, then sprinkle two tablespoons- ivl of chopped beet-root over it, and serve. Carp vnth caper sauce. Cook the fish as above, and dress it without a napkin ; then put twenty-five tablespoonsful of melted butter into a stew-pan, and when APPENDIX. C. 341 nearly boiling add a quarter of a pound of fresh butter ; stir it till tli4 butter melts, then add four tablespoonsful of capers, and pour over. This sauce must be rather thick. Carp fried. Open the fish down the back with a sharp knife froD* the head to the tail, cutting off half the head, so that the fish is quite flat ; break the back-bone in three places, but allow the roe to remain ; then dip the fish in flour, and fry it in hot lard ; dress it on a napkin, garnish with parsley, and serve plain melted butter, well-seasoned, in a boat. HOW TO COOK EELS. Eels fried. Cut the Eels in pieces about three inches long, dip them in flour, egg and bread-crumb, and fry them in very hot lard, dress them on a napkin, garnish with parsley, and serve shrimp-sauce in a boat. Eels a la Tartare. Cut the Eels and fry as above, have ready some Tartare sauce upon a cold dish, lay the Eels upon it, and serve immediately ; should the Eels be large, they must be three-parts stewed before they are fried ; dry them upon a cloth previous to bread-crumbing them. SpitchcocJced Eels. Take the bones out of the Eels by opening them from head to tail, and cut them in pieces about four inches long, throw them into some flour, then have ready upon a dish about a couple of handfuls of bread- crumbs, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a little dried thyme, and a little cayenne pepper, then egg each piece of Eel and bread-crumb them with it, fry them in very hot lard, dish them on a napkin, and serve shrimp-sauce in a boat. Stewed Eels. Cut the Eels in pieces as before, and tie each piece round with pack- thread, then put them into a stew-pan with an onion, a tablespoonful of white wine, three cloves, three whole allspice, a bunch of parsley, thyme, and bay-leaf, and a little white broth, sufficient to cover them ; 342 APPENDIX. C. place them over a moderate fire, and let them stew gently for half an hour or more, if requu'ed — according to the size of the Eel — take them out, drain them on a napkin, dish them without a napkin, and have ready the following sauce : put a teaspoonful of chopped onions into a stew-pan with four tablespcJonsful of white wine, and eight ditto of brown sauce, let it boil gently for a quarter of an hour, keeping it stu-red, then add a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies and a little sugar, and pour over your Eels. Eels en matelote. Stew the Eels as above, dress them without a napkin, and pour a sauce matelote over them. They may also be served with a sauce a la Beyrout. HOW TO COOK SHAD. Broiled Shad. Scale, clean, cut off the head and fins, split down the back, broil quickly over a charcoal fire ; broil the roe separately in the same manner ; serve on a hot dish, garnished with the roe and fried parsley. Eat with drawn butter, anchovy, or shrimp sauce. To Boil Shad. Scale, open, clean, and wash your fish ; boil him quickly, wrapped in a napkin, in boiling water ; serve upon a napkin, garnished with fried parsley ; eat with caper sauce. Sea-shore receipt for Roasted Shad. Split your fish down the back after he is cleaned and washed, nail the halves on shingles or short board ; stick them erect in the sand round a large fire ; as soon as they are well-browned, serve on what- ever you have got ; eat with cold butter, black pepper, salt, and a good appetite. This is a delicious way of cooking this fine fish. HOW TO COOK TAUTOG. Clean, score, and broil your Black-Fish quickly ; lay it in a stew- APPENDIX. — r 343 pan, with a bottle of port wine, two sliced onions, six or seven cloves and a few pepper-corns ; add an eschalot and some cayenne ; pour in a quart of weak veal-broth, stew gently for an hour. HOW TO COOK SQUETEAGUE. Boil when cleaned, and serve with shrimp sauce, precisely as Salmon or Trout. HOW TO COOK SEA BASS. Boiled. Boil plain, as above ; serve with shrimp sauce, caper sauce, or parsley and butter. Broiled. Broil quickly over a charcoal fire ; serve with matelote sauce, as follows : Sauce Matelote. Peel about twenty button onions, then put a teaspoonfiil of powdered sugar in a stew-pan, place it over a sharp fire, and when melted and getting brown, add a piece of butter the size of two walnuts, and your onions, pass them over the fire until rather brown ; then add a glass of sherry, let it boil, then add a pint of brown sauce and ten spoonfuls of consomme, simmer at the corner of the fire until the onions are quite tender, skim it well ; then add twenty small quenelles, ten heads of mushrooms, and a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, one of catsup, one of Harvey sauce, and a little cayenne pepper. Serve where directed. HOW TO COOK KING-FISH. Broil over a quick fire, serve plain, eat with anchovy or shrimp sauce. Fry in olive oil, serve plain, eat with salt and red pepper. HOW TO COOK sheep's-head. Rub it over with salt and lemon before putting it in the water. To every six quarts of water add one pound of salt. Boil a ten-pound 344 APPENDIX. C. fish about twenty minutes. Serve on a napkin, garnish with parsley, eat with shrimp or lobster sauce. HOW TO COOK HALIBUT. Soyer's Receipt for Halibut to hoil. A Halibut must be well rubbed over with salt and lemon before it KS put in the water ; have ready a large Halibut-kettle half-full of cold water, and to every six quarts of water put one pound of salt, lay the fish in, and place it over a moderate fire ; a Halibut of eight pounds may be allowed to simmer twenty minutes or rather more ; thus it will be about three-quarters of an hour altogether in the water ; when it begins to crack very slightly, lift it up with the drainer, and cover a clean white napkin over it ; if you intend serving the sauce over your fish, dish it up without a napkin ; if not, dish it upon a napkin, and have ready some good sprigs of double parsley to garnish it with, and serve very hot. Halibut a la Creme. Cook the Halibut as above, and dish it without a napkin — but be caieful that it is well drained before you place it on the dish, and ab- sorb what water runs from the fish with a napkin, for that liquor would spoil your sauce, and cause it to lose that creamy substance which it ought to retain ; this remark applies to all kinds of fish that is served up with the sauce over it ; then put one pint of cream on the fire in a good-sized stew-pan, and when it is nearly simmering add half-a-pound of fresh butter, and stir it as quickly as possible until the butter is melted, but the cream must not boil ; then add a liaison of three yolks of eggs, season with a little salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, pom* as much over the Halibut as will cover it, and serve the remainder in a boat ; or if not approved of, dish the fish on a napkin, garnish with parsley, and serve the sauce in a boat This sauce must not be made until the moment it is wanted. Halibut Sauce homard. Cook the Halibut as before, then take an ounce of lobster spawn and pound it in a mortar with a quarter of a pound of fresh butte-^ rub it through a hair sieve with a wooden spoon upon a plate ; have APPENDIX. — -C. 34U ready a pint of good melted butter nearly boiling, into which put the red butter, and season with a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, a little Harvey sauce, cayenne pepper, and salt, then cut up the flesh of the lobster in dice and put in the sauce ; serve it in a boat very hot. Halibut a la HoUandaise. Cook the Halibut as before, and dish without «, napkin ; then put the yolks of four eggs in a stew-pan with half-a-pound of fresh butter, the juice of a lemon, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter of one of white pepper ; set it over a slow fire, stirring it the whole time quickly; when the butter is half-melted take it ofi" the fire for a few seconds, still keeping it stirred, till the butter is quite melted, then place it again on the fire till it thickens, then add a quart of melted butter, stir it again on the fire, but do not let it boil, or it would curdle and be useless ; then pass it through a tammie into another stew-pan, make it hot in the bain marie, stirring all the time ; pour it over the fish or serve in a boat. The sauce must be rather sharp ; add. more season- ing if required. Halibut a la Mazarine, Cook the fish as above, then have all the spawn from two fine hen lobsters ; if not sufficient, get some live spawn from the fishmonger's, making altogether about two ounces ; pound it well in the mortar and mix it with half-a-pound of fresh butter, rub it through a hair sieve, place it upon ice until firm, then put it in a stew-pan with the yolks of four eggs, a little pepper, half a teaspoonful of salt, and four table- spoonsful of lemon-juice, place it over the fire, and proceed as for the sauce HoUandaise, adding the same quantity of melted butter, and two teaspoonfuls of essence of anchovy, pass it through a tammie into a clean stew-pan to make it hot, dish the fish without a napkin, soaking up the water in the dish with a clean cloth, and pour the sauce over it ; be careful the sauce does not boil, or it will curdle. This dish is one of the most elegant, and is the best way of dressing a Halibut ; for I have always remarked, that notwithstanding its sim- plicity, it has given the greatest satisfaction, both for its delicateness and appearance, causing no trouble — only requiring care. 23 3^46 APPENDIX. C. Halibut en matelote Normande. Procure a smallish Halibut, one weighing about ten pounds would b« the best ; cut off part of the fins, and make an incision in the back, but- ter a saute-pan, large enough to lay the Halibut in quite flat, and put three tablespoonsful of chopped eschalots, three glasses of sherry or Madeira, half a teaspoonful of salt, a little white pepper, and about half-a-pint of white broth into it, then lay in the Halibut and cover it over with white sauce, start it to boil over a slow fire, then put it into a moderate oven about an hour, try whether it is done with a skewer ; if the skewer goes through it easily it is done ; if not, bake it a little longer, then give it a light brown tinge with the salamander, place the fish upon a dish to keep it hot, then put a pint of white sauce in the saute-pan and boil it fifteen minutes, stirring it all the time, then pass it through a tammie into a clean stew-pan, and add a little cayenne pepper, two tablespoonsful of essence of anchovies, two dozen of oys- ters, blanched, two dozen of small mushrooms, two dozen quenelles, six spoonsful of milk, and a teaspoonful of sugar, reduce it till about the thickness of buchamel sauce, then add eight tablespoonsful of cream and the juice of a lemon, pour over the Halibut ; have ready twenty cortltons of bread cut triangularly from the crust of a French roll, and fried in butter ; place them round the dish, and pass the sala- mander over it, and serve. Halibut en matelote vierge. Boil a Halibut as before, dish it up without a napkin, and have ready the following sauce : chop two onions very fine and put them in a stew-pan with four glasses of sherry, a sole cut in four pieces, two cloves, one blade of mace, a little gi*ated nutmeg, some parsley, and one bay-leaf; boil altogether five minutes, then add a quart of white sauce, boil twenty minutes, stirring all the time, then put a tammie over a clean stew-pan, and colander over the tammie, pass the sauce, take the meat off the sole and rub it through the tammie with two spoons into the sauce, add half a pint of broth, boil it again until it ia rather thick, season with a teaspoonful of salt, one of sugar, the juice of a lemon, and finish with half-a-pint of cream whipped, mix it quickly and pour over the fish ; garnish with white-bait and fried oysters, that have been egged and bread-crumbed ; or if there is no white-bait, smelts will do. APPENDIX. C. 347 Halibut a la Religieuse. Dress the Halibut as before, and cover with Hollandaise sauce ; chop some Taragon chervil, and one French truffle, which sprinkle over it ; garnish with hard-boiled eggs cut in four lengthwise and laid round. Halibut a la Creme ; gratini. Put a quarter of a pound of flour in a stew-pan, mix it gently with a quart of milk, be careful that it is not lumpy, then add two escha- lots, a bunch of parsley, one bay-leaf, and a sprig of thyme tied toge- ther, for if put in loose it would spoil the color of your sauce, which should be quite white, then add a little grated nutmeg, a teaspoonful of salt and a quarter ditto of pepper, place it over a sharp fire and stir it the whole time, boil it till it forms rather a thickish paste, then take it off the fire and add half-a-pound of fresh butter and the yolks of two eggs, mix them well into the sauce and pass it througe a tammie ; then having the remains of a Halibut left from a previous dinner, you lay some of the sauce on the bottom of a dish, then a layer of the Halibut, without any bone, season it lightly with pepper and salt, then put another layer of sauce, then fish and sauce again until it is all used, finishing with sauce ; sprinkle the top lightly with bread-crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese ; put it in a moderate oven half an hour, give it a light brown color with the salamander, and serve it in the dish it is baked in. Halibut a la Poissoniere. Boil a Halibut as before, and take it up when only one-third cooked, then put in a large saute-pan or baking-sheet forty button onions peeled and cut in rings, two ounces of butter, two glasses of port winO; the peel of half a lemon, and four spoonsful of chopped mushrooms, then lay in the Halibut, and cover with a quart of brown sauce, set it in a slow oven for an hour, then take it out and place it carefully on a dish, place the fish again in the oven to keep it hot, then take the lemon-peel out of the sauce and pour the sauce into a stew-pan, reduce it till rather thick, then add twenty muscles, (blanched,) twenty heads of mushrooms, and about thirty fine prawns ; when ready to serve add one ounce of anchovy butter, a tablespoonful of sugar, and a littl, s S3 13 "in "3 !!! '5!I! 'rt =-1 >-> §*^ ^^ -I ^ Ja §■1- [5 a-^ W B^ W '3 O Q Ph w r pa t::)?.-; rg«„- . .2 .2 a .2 §1 3 M en 'B pi ^ P3 P3 s- -C S3 o o^ cr CT' o- cr S » be tH p5 c f3 c P3 ^ • o J3 c o O .2 .2 o O ^O o J ^ H § •-a 3 1 1 1 CO ^ ti •■g^ 2 02 m 02 OQ 02 02 02 pi! O o M < g o o 1 i & o -s cfc! B o a a a a < § o «2 § J s s 3 pq n o a" o «2 ^ o ■§ •s o 9 •2§ si ^1 Sa IS 31 o 1 ^ 1 1 1 iJ g 5 a O . a § OS 9? ^ ■s a O t ^ ^ 1 c2 c2 1 i 1 h:i fu o CO CO § § na o pq o 1^ 3 s o o -M § o <1 H a o o 1— t i 1 o M 2 ^ «» ^ ;• «o o ft P^ f-< 00 « 1 1 43^ S 1 1 1 s 1 a" g 1 1 g -3 & a 1 s s € <2 TABLE OF TACKLE, &C. 437 o < > < O O pq +3 O 00 1=5 55 o I— I o --In o ^ o ■^1 o C "73 O H le^ I 0.2 ^ o . !i W, rG CB lys p"^ s>> ^ -a m M CI 53 ■g h s z 'S.'^ 2 Eh ^ ;=3 2 ^ & 43 ^ ^ QQ 1 " P -% 1 4 c 1 1 § 3 ^ c W s w 1 Oh Q » m i/J 488 AMERICAN FISHES. .2 p'S S-g-^ §&5 >^ p4 p i < Q < H fa O w o o fl M ^ ■+-' *"' H C es C 13 > o H p § ce pq J - fl o fo fa ^ ^ -43 fafl o C3 :S OQ O o 1 lii: H c£ • ^ g (D ^ < PP 1^ fl rC S-l O ^ 020 0202 fcb bh bb fci Si [SHING. UMN BAITS, 1 .3 < i s 1 .9 1 .3 < 1 O fl h H H ^ . rO ^ o ^ 5 5 pq ■«■§ SJ fcJo bo fci) c" 1— 1 CO Pi W 15 A . HI 1^® ^ o o &* .a ^- M a i % 1 1 s ^.-s* -J1 s s .a .a m .3 00 .a 51 <1 < < fl -^ w '(Sl, ^ Ph I'S ^ H 3 s .s ^ 1 ^ ^ 3 03 1 o Oh 02 si P^ A TREATISE ON FLY-FISHIISTG-. BY "DINKS," OBISINALLY FURNISHED FOB Jranh forester's Jis^ anb Jisl^htg; CONTAINING COMPLETE AND ELABORATE DIRECTIONS FOR EVERY THING CONNECTED WITH THE ART AND SCIENCE OF THE MATERIALS, MODE OF TYING, COLOKS, SEASONS, AND TJ8E8 OF ALL THB MOST KILLING VARIETIES OP ARTIFICIAL FLIES; THE USE OP THB ROD, THE VAKIOUS METHODS OP CASTING, THB BEST FORMS OP TACKLE, THE TRTTB MODE OP RISING, HOOKING, PLAYING, AND KILLING YOUR FISH, ETC. SUPPLEMENTARY TREATISE FLY-FISHING. Fly-fishing may well be considered the most beautiful of all rural sports. For, in addition to the great nicety required to become pro- ficient in the art, it is also absolutely requisite, for its successful attain- ment, to study much and long — how to adapt and blend the various materials used in the construction of a fly ; how to construct the fly on certain defined rules ; and, lastly, how to select your flies, thus carefully and correctly constructed, in accordance with the state of the sky, the color of the water, and the peculiar habits of the fish in dif- ferent rivers. The two first are tolerably easy to acquire ; the last by far the most difiicult of all. A lifetime devoted to it would barely render a man decently knowing, for scarcely do two rivers present the same appearance, two skies the same shadows, or the fish of two rivers the same tastes, and consequently no particular rules can be laid down or plan devised which shall everywhere be infallible. In this last section, then, of the first part, it is not to be expected that more than a general enumeration, of errors to be avoided, plans and practices found useful, can be given. Each angler must study for himself the peculiar habits of the fish in the various rivers in his sec- tion of the country, where he may hope to be after a while a respect- able angler; while, perhaps, on an expedition to a distant river, he 29 442 AMERICAN FISHES, would in all probability be beaten by a much inferior fisberman. But so it is, and so in all probability it ever will be ; and that man will be tbe best angler who is the readiest at taking hints from those living on the waters he wants to whip. There is, I regret to say, amongst fishermen an unaccountable dis- like to impart knowledge to a brother disciple, and with many an almost insuperable objection even to show their cast of flies, still less the favorite nooks for the best fish ; the last one can understand and think little about, for if we did want to know, we could either watch unknown and unseen for a day, or we could, by carefully fishing every part of the river for one day, select the best for another ; but for flies we should be at a loss. Luckily all this class of men are approachable in an indirect way ; a quiet chat by the river side, after a casual meeting (regularly planned by you), about the state of the water, weather, bad- ness of gut now-a-days (a very catching topic by the way), producing your point by way of a clincher : " "lis the best that I can get," say you ; " how do you manage — for I find the greatest diflSculty now in getting it anywise decent ; yours seems very strong and good, pray where do you obtain it?" will generally produce to your eyes the casting line. A casual examination of it, a particular one of the flies, done quickly, interspersed with praise on their construction, etc., will probably gain a trifle more knowledge for you ; a present of a killing fly or two on a strange water will gain you as many useless ones. But a sight of the stock — this will render you au fait to the style of fly in use ; you must then add up all your gains, and manufacture accord- ingly. Invariably have I noticed that the most successfiil local fisher- men are the most difiicult to draw ; and I always held, and do hold, that any means are fair to circumvent them. We will now proceed to enumerate the various articles requisite for fly trying. On the following page you will see the plan of a most con- venient and portable box to contain all these articles in store, and also a portable case for short items. Of floss silks — such as ladies embroider ottomans and such-like things with — you require every shade almost; of Berlin wools, the same ; of pig's-wool, or mohair, various colors and tints ; of furs, you require Musk-Rat, Field-Mouse, Black Squir- rel, Mink, Marten, young Fox-cub, ditto Coon, Green Monkey, Por- cupine-belly, Red Squirrel, the ear of the English Hare, and ditto Polecat. FLY-FISHING. 443 PLAN OF FISHING-CASE. This may be made of any wood, according to fancy. Inside must be red cedar, to keep motlis away. a c, heijrlit, fifteen inches ; c d, width, fifteen inches ; / I, depth, eleven inches; i ^, are drawers of equal size; j j, are two drawers half larger than ii\ k k, are two pigeon-holes ; ^ and h are folding-doors shutting in centre, bolted top and bottom on one side, locked on the other. The drawers i i have all shallow trays fitting inside them ; two in each are sufficient. The top trays of the top drawers are divided into three I compartments each; the one by two longitu- dinal strips of wood, the other by two transverse ones, thus. The transverse ones should have lids in. There you keep your hooks and tinsel, a & / e is a movable top fastened with hinges at n n, to be turned over on to the doors g and h, lined inside with parchment. On this lid and the other half of the top of the box you place your feathers, &c., to dress your flies on. The lower figure represents the top opened out; they do not quite touch one another when shut up, as a slight rim runs all around both boards to raise them. In this cavity you can always keep your mixed wings, or pieces of lead to keep the feathers from blowing away. At m or m, you fix your movable vice, taking it off when you shut 444 AMERICAN FISHES. up ; ^ ^ is where you lock it up. Chenille of various substance and colors is continually needed. The following is a representation of a very convenient and portable form of book to hold an assortment of feathers, &c., for a short fishing tour. The feathers must be tied up in bunches, each sort by itself, and the quill end inserted into a compartment. The most convenient size is eight and a half inches long by five and a half wide, when folded up ; when opened, however, it is twenty-eight inches loiig by five and a half wide, not including the flaps. This is folded up, however, one turn over the other. It is best made of parchment, a b represent transverse slips of same material. These are stitched through the back at regular distances, to hold the feathers, and at the ends, c, is FLY-FISHING. 445 where each fold is. d d d, are the flaps to wrap over all when folded upon e, for convenience of holding hooks, tinsel, silk, etc. It is best to have a couple of pockets, one over the other, covering e. The mouth of one is represented at f. You can also, if requisite, have a pocket to each flap at the back of the four flaps, the opening being downward, as represented in the additional cut, which shows the first or lowest flap partly turned up on the second. In this book it is best to put the largest feathers in the bottom row of slits, and smaller ones in the upper row, as it does not matter if the larger ones hide the smaller ones. In the second row I have shown how the feathers are stowed away. The lines c are merely to mark the turns over, as the above is only of one sheet of parchment, save the cross pieces and pockets. Of feathers you require an infinite variety. Wild Turkey tail and tail coverts, also the neck feathers, may be useful. The tail of the American Ruffed Grouse ; the neck and tail of the English Grouse ; the yellowish-tinged neck feathers of the Ptarmegan ; the tail of cock and hen Pheasant, neck of both and wing coverts of hen ; of the duck tribe you require the black, white, brown and white-barred feathers from under the wing of the Gray, Wood, Canvas-back, Mallard, Teal, and Widgeon ; of the Peacock, the neck and tail ; the neck feath- ers of various colored cocks (commonly called hackles), black, red, yellow, gray, marled, and white, for dyeing blue, green, plum, claret, brown, &c. ; also Woodcock, starling, and Landrail wings. Wren's tail, Guinea-Fowl tail, tail coverts and neck feathers. Macaw feathers of various colors, tail of the Macaw, blue and yellow under, blue and red under side ; Cock of the Rock's neck ; Golden Pheasant-neck toppins and tail ; Great African Bustard tail, tail coverts and neck ; Golden Plover rump coverts ; Argus Pheasant neck and tail feath- ers; English Jay wings; Parrot tails of every color, neck ditto; also topknots of American Kingfisher, skin of English one ; tail and wing feathers of Capercailzie, those deeply and closely barred with white; Guinea-Fowl feathers dyed green, orange, and claret colors; Ostrich feathers, the thickest and best, of various colors ; tame Turkey tails of various tints ; Scarlet Ibis ; three or four barred feathers from the quail's tail ; tail of Long-tailed Thrush, &c. These are all that at present occur to my mind. They are tolerably numerous certainly, but all extremely useful ; many of them every day. 446 AMERICAN FISHES. Doubtless many more might be added from the birds of America, but these are sufficient for general purposes. HOOKS. The hook requires particular attention. It is bad enough to make a good fly on a bad hook, but to lose a good fish in consequence, is far worse. The best hooks undoubtedly are O'Shaughnessey's Limerick, when to be had. There are also the Kendal or Kirby Sneck, and Carlisle hooks, of some celebrity ; also Kelly's Dublin ; and Bartlett's, of Redditch. KENDAL OE SNECK BEND. HOLLOW POINT LIMii KICK O SIIaUGUNESSEY. OR KELLY'S HOOK. O'Shaughnessey used to make his hooks as here described : " Tliey are at first small straight bars of the best iron, of the requisite length, with a rude kind of head at one end. They are first barbed, sharp- ened and rounded with a file, and then bent with circular pincers to the proper degree of curvature ; they are next steeled by the applica- tion of fire and charcoal ; and then, after a little final polishing, are placed on a smoothing iron heated to 580 degrees of Fahrenheit, and are, lastly, immersed in grease to preserve them from rust." (See Angler in Ireland.) Of these you require every size, from the largest to the least. Bartlett of Redditch manufactures the best now-a-days, as regards shape and temper, having more of the form of the real Limerick — now I believe no more, the original makers of them being dead. AMiat were and are usually called Limerick hooks are very far from them in appearance. KOUND BEND CARLSLE. KIRBY BEND CAKLISLB. BARTLETT 8. Of gut you require the very strongest for 'Salmon, and very fine for FLY-FISHING. 447 Trout, that is, where you choose to use a single-handed rod and small flies. When, however, you use Salmon-flies for them, you must use Salmon gut and rod. Of tying-silks, you require yellow, red and orange, of three or four diff'erent substances ; for fine, the ravellings of a lady's dress will do ; for the other sizes, you can purchase small reels of required colors of China silk. Of tinsel, you require flat gold and flat silver of various sizes, and also gold and silver twist. Some few flies require a crimped kind of flat, broad gold and silver. You now require a vice to screw on to your stand, to hold your hook firm while you dress your fly, and a pair of tweezers to hold on to the end of a hackle, thread, or silk, etc., while you use your hand for any thing else ; small flat pieces of lead, to prevent your feathers being blown away ; a pin or two ; cobblers' wax, and a bottle of copal varnish, or liquid wax still better. % a M 1 1 A "-t^ IT _ 1 E DIACIIAM OF THE VICIi RtQLlHKD Here is the pattern of a portable vice : a is the frame which is se- cured on to the table by e ; b is a movable vice inserted into frame through square holes at c and d. The upright pillar b is squared so as to fit into c and d ; f g is a screw running through the upper part so as to tighten the vice, the back side of which has a hinge unseen at i. H is the top of the vice showing the position in which the fly is held. TO DRESS A FLY. " The art of fly-trying requires the rarest combination of manual skill, judgment and fancy, and the happiness of invention with which these gorgeous deceits are often devised, and the neatness with which they 448 AMERICAN FISHES. are executed have ever greatly won my admiration." So writes the " Angler in Ireland." And hear again what the ^poet Gay has to say on the subject: " To frame the little animal, provide All the gay hues that wait on female pride ; Let nature guide thee — sometimes golden wire The shining bellies of the fly require ; The peacock's plume thy tackle must not fail, Nor the dear purchase of the sable's tail. Each gaudy bird some slender tribute brings, And lends the glowing insect proper wings. Silks of all colors must their aid impart ; And every fur promote the fisher's art; So the gay lady with extensive care Borrows the pride of land, of sea, of air ; Furs, pearls, and plumes the glittering thing displays, Dazzles our eyes, and easy hearts betrays." EXPLANATION OF FIGURES ON OPPOSITE PAGE. No. 1 . Hook with waxed string, a, taking four turns round it. No. 2. Gut, 6, fastened on. No. 3. Hackle, c, fastened on with single turn round. No. 4. Tinsel, c?, fastened on, with another single turn round. No. 5. With silk, e/, showing position preparatory to wrapping it on; e being wound over/; kept in its place by a finger. No. 6. With silk body wound on, and fastened at g by single turn of waxed end ; a, end of silk being cut off close. No. v. With c?, tinsel wrapped on, and confined at g by single turn of a. No. 8. With hackle c wrapped on, fastened at g by triple turn of waxed end a, looped; h represents the triple row of hackle close together for shoulders, and i the legs. No. 9. With/, the wings in position, secured by triple turn of a; k represents the stumps of wing not cut off. No. 10. Represents the fly all finished. No. 11. A single loop. No. 12. The triple invisible; one end, a, being passed through loops 6 c c?, each being afterward tightened. No. 13. A pair of tweezers. No. 14. Prepared hackle clipped at sides, at l. FLY-FISHING. 449 No. 1. d No. 2. b 450 AMERICAN FISHES. No. 14. Naia We will now, as w^ell as we can, describe how ta dress these different styles of flies, commencing with the easiest ; and we would recommend the novice to practice at No. 1 until he can produce something pre- sentable ; for, for some time it will be any thing else, despite his best en- deavors to master the difficulty. Select a tolerable-sized hook, No. 3 for instance ; fix it firmly point downward in the vice, which screw tight to the edge of a table placed in front of the window or under a skylight. Wax your silk well. To do this properly, you must stick a pin in your trowsers knee ; take two or tliree turns of the silk round the head and point alternately to prevent is slipping; hold a small round bit of wax, not much bigger than a pea, between finger and thumb ; well wax every part, beginning at the bottom, taking care not to put your fingers on the silk, else it is apt to break. Take three or four turns along the bare hook some distance apart, to within a triflt, of the head ; select your gut ; bite the thick end a little up and down as far as the hook will cover ; take eight or ten tight turns of the silk close together round both, the gut being on the under side of the hook, and then whip on loosely to a point opposite the barb. Now with one turn round all make fast a cock's hackle, we will suppose. This hackle requires preparing. It is done thus : at the quill end the fluff" or woolly matter must be stripped off"; at the other end with a fine-pointed scis- sors clip away close to the end two or three fibres on each side of the quill ; this prevents the end tied on being too thick and clumsy. Now, to return to the fly ; next with another turn fasten one end of tinsel FLY-FISHING. 4i,l or twist, as the case may be ; next take a turn round an end of wool or peacock's tail or ostrich, and with a couple of turns round the shank pass the waxed silk to the head. If the body be of floss silk, with the finger of one hand press one end of the silk on the shank, twisting the other over the shank and over the silk end also ; take a second turn round, draw tight, and wrap evenly to the head, secure with tweezers for the present. When a wool, mohair or fur body is to come on, you twist a portion of them round the waxed l^hread and work it evenly up to the head ; pull off the superfluous dubbing ; make fast ; twist on the tinsel slantingly from heel to head at regular distances ; three to four turns round generally suflSce; fasten with a turn of the silk; next pass the hackle alongside of the tinsel, close to it all the way, and the same way. If across (some flies are tied so), the teeth of fish cut through the fibre, and the fly does not look so well ; if close alongside, the teeth are not so liable to cut the hackle, and take two or three turns with it round the upper end of the shank close together to form the legs and shoulders. Now take a couple of turns of the waxed silk, to fasten all on tightly ; passing the end of the silk through the last turn, pull it tight; this forms a knot and secures it. Select your fibres of feathers for wings, observing not to make them too heavy or too long ; one half way between the point of the hook and the extreme end of the bend is long enough. Holding on to the root end of the wing, pass it between your lips to moisten it ; fit to the proper length over the hook, holding it there with one hand, while with the other you take two or three turns of the silk tightly over the wing as close as possible to the legs. Draw back (^. e. toward the head) the wing ; pass the silk twice close behind the wing, between it and the eye and shoulder hackle, to give it a correct set ; then pass forward ; cut off the stump of the wing as close as possible ; finish off with four or five turns of the waxed silk over the cut off part. Make a couple of knots as above described, or invisible knot ; then break off the silk, and you have your fly all complete. To render the above more plain, I have made a set of drawings of each process, accompanied with letters and notes, so that with a little attention a very correct idea may be formed how a fly should be tied. When a tail is used, it must be set on before the tinsel or hackle, with a couple of turns of waxed silk, and cut off quite close. 452 AMERICAN FISHES. EXAMPLE I. No.1. No. 2. Here No. 1 represents the body wound on, and the tinsel (if any), with the hackle b and buzzy wings, c, fastened and ready to wrap on. No. 2. As above, with b wrapped on up to e, and there tied; after which c is wrapped on alongside of b, after b reaches it, fastened on also at E, by waxed end, a, tied off with invisible knots. example II. No. 1. No. 2. FLY-FISHINO. 453 Here are represented two ways of making a palmer. No 1 represents the body fastened on as above (plate 1, No. 1); a being tlie waxed end, b the hackle, to be wound on, finishing off at c. N. B. — Palmers are made with very long, thick hackles. No. 2 represents another sort of palmer; two hooks are fastened back to back, as shown in example, b represents a Peacock's harl, or other substance, for the body to be finished off" at f, {a. No. 2). c and D are two hackles set on the reverse way, i. €,, quill end tied on first. B is wound along past hackle d, fastened down at f. Hackle c is wound along pretty closely, waxed end a being alongside, or a may be carried on to f/ with the harl and there left. Hackle c is fastened down at f/ and cut off close, as also waxed end a. Hackle d then is wound on to f. where it is tied down by waxed end {a No. 2), ends all cut off close. EXAMPLE III. Example IH. represents a real salmon -fly ; a h horns ; c head of ostrich ; d tail ; e gold tag behind the tail. This plate gives nearly the representation of a real Limerick (O'Shaughnessey) hook. The above is pretty nearly a general fly, omitting only the head, which consists generally of a trail of ostrich turned round the head after the wings are clipped close, and two horns put on either outside or just under^the head lying on top of the wings. There is what is called a buzzy fly and a palmer, represented in examples I. and H. Example IH. is a perfect salmon-fly, and in these also directions are given. 454 AMERICAN FISHES. Wc trust tliat these directions will enable any one to manufacture for himself, after patience, practice, and perseverance. But we would particularly advise any one so "beginning to take a few lessons from a practised hand, where he will see all the minute dodges we cannot de- scribe. Finnegan of New York would doubtless give lessons in this beauti- ful art, and, to judge by his flies, no one is more competent to do so. They have that peculiarity about them that bespeaks them Irish, and are most neatly manufactured, though without any appearance of stiff- ness or eye-serving about them. Having described the method as practised by ourselves, we will for the present pass over the different sort of flies in vogue, and show how your gut casting-line is to be made. Select for salmon eight or ten of the very strongest gut you can pick out, prove each link separately — one end between your teeth, the other round a finger ; pull till it breaks. Try it again, and if it resist considerably put it into a basin of water. Serve the rest in the same way, then take out two pieces of about equal thickness; place the thick end of one to the thin of the other, let them once lap an inch or tw<^ ; holding them so, take the short end of one, pass it over the other long end ; bring it underneath, and, passing it twice through, the loop is formed. The same wdth the other short end ; pull the knots tight and draw the two ends together ; this knot never gives. Observe the following figures : Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Figure 2 is the single knot, but it is liable to slip. Keep adding to these two links, either thicker at one end or thinner at the other, till you get the required length of foot-line. To the thick end may be added two or three lengths of double and treble gut, if you like it, it is rather better. To twist gut, you must wet it and put one or two in each quill, with a stick to keep it from slipping, then plait one over the other, drawing it out of the quills as you proceed. I have mentioned this, not because I thought it necessary — for I presume every school- FLY-FISHING. 455 boy knows liow to plait a line — bnt for fear I might meet with a littie abuse if I did leave it out. I always buy my links already plaited, as they are better done by machine, and it saves much bother. Hair points for trout-fishing are also made in a similar way to the double and treble gut, by increasing or diminishing the number of hairs ac- cording to the substance required. The next article that deserves our attention is the line. It is a point of much dispute among fishermen, whether hair, hair and silk, or hemp lines are best for Salmon ; for all seem to agree that for trout- fishing proper (and I mean always in thus naming it, such as is carried on with suitable trout-flics and a one-handed trout rod), there is nothing better than a mixed hair and silk line tapered at either end, to reverse, in case of accidents. This is the best ; hair is next best. For Salmon, however, the case is different. You require weight to propel the line against wind, and also great strength. I have always used one hundred and fifty yards for a line, one hundred of which was hemp steeped in boiled oil, dried and well rubbed in, and fifty yards of heavy black or gray country hair-plait line, as being stronger and better than any thing else. I use it still; it is infinitely better than hair and silk. I prefer it to all hair, as it reels up closer than hair alone would do. When last in England, there was great talk about new discoveries in the line way. I have never tried them, and consequently cannot vouch for the performance of them, but several friends of mine, who are by no means contemptible fishermen, spoke strongly in their favor. From the appearance, it is evident that they are dressed over with more than boiled oil, with the use of which as a preservative of hemp lines I have been long familiar; they present just such an appearance and smell as 4 mixture of boiled linseed oil and soluble India-rubber would — and ■jf that I doubt not the composition is made. The following receipt will be found to answer every purpose, with- out pretending, however, to be " the one :" Best boiled linseed-oil, four ounces (one-fourth of a pint), saturated solution of India-rubber in naphtha, four ounces ; mix well together, rub with a brush over the line stretched in the open air; when dry, repeat the dressing, and leave exposed to the air till stiff. Care must be taken to rub it on thinly, yet evenly all over, and avoid touching it till dry. Lines thus prepared, they teii me can be thrown further than any 456 AMERICAN FISHES. other. If so, of course they are tlie best, but I prefer tlie hair, know- ing that when wet it acquires such a weight that you can cover twenty yards with it readily. We now come to the consideration of reels, which we shall dismiss in a few words. There are only tvvo sorts that are fit for use, the plain^ and the click ivheel.\ The others are downright impostors, always getting out of order or getting you in trouble, whichever sort you have of them. For Salmon, the most convenient size is one four and a half inches diameter by one and a half inches wide inside. For Trout, two and a half inches diameter by three-fourths of an inch wide. Tliey should have a long, fiat brass base to fasten to the rod by means of slides, and are more convenient with the new patent handle, the ivory knob of which screws and unscrews, allowing a hinge to work so that the knob can either be put inside and kept there by a notch cut m the rim of the outside plate, or else in the proper position for reeling up. EEEL WITH PATENT HANDLE. IHli A. Plate of wheel with cut in it. * The catch of a cHck wheel, unless well made and kept oiled, is apt to refuse to work sometimes. When it does this in running out, it overshoots the line and fouls. Take off the cap and give the steel dagger a blow with a hammer or any iron substance ; this generally corrects the defect unless the cogs are too much worn, in which case they must be renewed. f Never buy a plain or any other reel with a stop, 'tis the devil's invention, to cause you to lose many a fish, and thereby *' swear a few." It constantly slips, and brings the line up taught, and snaps when running out fast. FLY-FISHING. 457 B. Handle. c. Pin to fasten in the other joint. D. Of handle. E. The ivory knob. The handle c, by means of the screw represented on d, is screwed down on to b, which keeps the whole in its place, and presents the same appearance as the common immovable handle, over which it pos- sesses the great advantage of freedom from breakage while traveling. We now come to the consideration of the material to be used for reels. Brass used to be thought good enough ; now German silver, if not silver ones, are in fashion. As long as they work well, it is no great consequence what the material be. I have used brass for fifteen years and more, and as long as it acts as well as it has hitherto done, I must say that nothing need be better. THE ROD. The next article deserving our notice is the rod, on the goodness of which as much as any other part of the turn out, depends our success. Some men never in their lives could make a rod. An old fisherman makes the best always ; he knows exactly where they should be stiff, and where limber. There are various styles in rods to suit varioii3 tastes, and for the following purposes : No. 1. Twelve-feet single-handed trout-rod; two pieces spliced, six feet each. No. 2. Fifteen-feet double-handed trout or sahnon; three pieces spliced, five feet each. No. 3. Eighteen -feet double-handed salmon-rod; three pieces, one ferule, one splice, six feet each. No. 4. Twenty-feet double-handed salmon-rod; two pieces spliced, thirteen and seven feet each. No. 1 is the most magnificent rod I ever handled ; it throws an extraordinary length of line, was made by Edmundson of Liverpool, and cost ten shillings sterling. It is moderately limber, with heavyish top. No. 2 is at present on the stocks, and ought to be good ; if it is not, it will travel and let another take its place. No. 3 is a fair rod by the same maker as No. 1 ; cost thirty shillings sterlmg ; but I fear the ferule ; more are worse than better than it. 458 AMERICAN FISHES. No. 4 is a country-made bottom, witli an old Edmundson salmon- top ; it is an extraordinary performer; very heavy and stiff; most inconvenient to carry about ; consequently sucb a rod is not fit foi other than those living on the river banks. I would never advise the construction of one except in that case. For most men twenty feet is too long and heavy ; if so, eighteen is the size for a salmon-rod foi them. Fifteen is only a double-handed trout-rod, but will kill a salmon if need be. For a moderate fisherman Nos. 1 and 3 will be quite sufficient. For an occasional one. No. 3 may serve. For your inde fatigable man, twenty or twenty-one, three pieces spliced, is all ht l-oquires; for your salmon-fisher seldom bothers the poor trout. Every rod ought to have a spare top, and any one going on any fishing expedition of more than three or four days' duration, should provide himself with a spare rod in case of accidents to the one he generally uses. Thus, for instance, a No. 1 and No. 2 rod, and Nos. 3 and 4, or Nos. 2 and 3, would render a person indifferent to a breakage. We next come to consider the best wood to be used in the manufacture. Many makers use ebony or rosewood for the butt, to get the weight at the bottom. It is, to my mind, not necessary. The best rods I have ever seen were those made by country fishermen. They beat the best London rods to eternal smash. These rods were all of English ash, butts and middle pieces, and lancewood tops. The greatest secret in the making of a rod, is to get perfectly clean, straight-grained wood, seasoned for two or three years, and in the six-feet tops to make two splices glued and whipped over with fine, well-waxed silk. Another plan, also a very good one, for tops, is to glue four pieces of lance- wood together, and work the top out of the centre of the mass. Tops so made always spring back after using. They also hav^e generally three splices in the top piece. In a succeeding page I shall have to describe a method of throwing a salmon-line, adopted on the wooded banks of the Spey, for which a different kind of rod is required, so that I may as well describe it in this place. About half-way up the middle piece it fines off rather suddenly, that is to say, out of the proportion salmon-rods are built on ; and again, half-way up the top piece, that is, thence to the point it does not fall oft* in the regular proportion ; this gives a great spring in the centre, and causes the top to appear too heavy, which, however. FLY-FISHING. 459 it is not. I trust, ere this plan is commented on — as I know full well it will be, by those who pretend to know a great deal — it will be tried. I have seen and taken too particular notice of these rods to be mistaken, and have seen these in a Spey man's hands send a line that would frighten most people to look at. These rods, when you have acquired the knack, will throw ten yards more line than a common rod ; and against wind they are superb. We ought to have stated that twenty feet is quite long enough for this rod ; it is also much stouter and heavier than an ordinary salmon- rod. To make ourselves better understood respecting it, we will sup- pose it to consist of three splices. These should be carefully and closely wrapped on arriving at your fishing ground ; and, if circum- stances admitted, might be kept so until leaving the place altogether. Divide this eighteen feet by four, and you get four feet six inches as the quarter. Thus, the third quarter, i. e., nine feet from the butt, is where the great play is in this rod, and which, as I said above, is reduced rather more than the proportion ; while the fourth quarter is not so much ; care, however, must be taken not to run into the oppo- site extreme, for a slight increase in the size of the top would naturally throw the play elsewhere ; and the slightest fining off of the next quarter confines the play there. So much value do I put on this rod, that I am writing to the banks of the Spey for a veritable one, the which I shall have great pleasure in submitting to any tackle-maker desirous of the pattern ; for of all rods in the world it is the one best adapted to the uncleared banks of all our best salmon rivers, where frequently you are unable to get your fly in by any other method than as it is termed " switching." The great fault that most rod-makers commit, is not knowing where to make the rod give. This should be at a point below the first splice, according to the size of the rod, sufficient to keep the strain from it, and also to prevent the natural stiffness caused by the splice from interfering with the play ; again on the second splice, it must give from the foot, as far distant as the yield is from the top of the butt- piece ; and again about the same distance from its top. The top piece also gives at the distance laid down for the top of the middle piece. I learnt this from watching the play of a Blackwater rod, for which the maker was deservedly famous, so much so, that his rods sold for more (plain though they were) than Martin Kelley's salmon- 460 AMERICAN FISHES. rods. I should not, however, advise any one to make his own rods, unless he has a taste that way, when probably, after spoiling twenty or thirty, if he is a practical fisherman he might hit on the real thing. The least shave too much will spoil the casting of a rod ; so that it is extremely difficult to know when to stop. Another great secret in taking the most out of your rod, is to balance it well. Generally speaking, rods are made with a groove and sliding ring to pass over the foot of the rod ; this should never be fixed unless by actual ex- periment you have ascertained the exact point where it best suits with the reel and line you mean to use. When you have discovered this spot, pin down one ring and cut your groove for the foot of the reel to fit in. For a beginner I would recommend a light rod — it will not fatigue him nearly so much ; he will learn to throw a fly cleaner with it than the heavier one. The Whippy rods are far more difficult to use artistically than the others, but for fine-weather fishing they are elegant tools. I trust I have said enough on this subject to make myself understood. To one that knows nothing whatever on the subject, I have only to say — go to some respectable tackle-maker ; ask for a good rod ; tell him you don't understand the matter, and request his advice and choice ; for his own credit as a judge he dare not give you a bad one, lest you should show off his knowledge some other day. He who would do this to you must either be a fool or a rogue — either of which aspersions on his fair fame would not be pleasant. Our next articles of equipment are a landing-net and gaff, or clip, as it is sometimes termed. I have brought them on the tapis together because the same staff does for both. The best landing-net is made of hickory steamed and bent into a circle ; on the outside of it, for six or eight inches, an iron plate is whipped on with waxed fine twine ; in the centre of this plate is a knob, on which is worked a male screw of the size to fit the top of the landing-pole, which has a female screw on it. Tlie net can be either of silk or fine whipcord, pretty baggy, to prevent the fish from flopping out. LANDING-NET HOOP. Around the outer edge of this hickory bow a groove is run (suffici- ently deep to hold the cord by which the net is fastened on), having imall holes bored through it every three-quarters of an inch ; this is by FLY-FISHING. 461 far the best net I have ever seen ; some there are made of iron or steel, jointed, and some of wood, with sockets &c., like a rod, very pretty and handy, but liable to get out of order. The clip ought not to be too small, it should be two and a half inches wide, the point slightly bending outward, and about three inches from the lower part of the bend to a line perpendicular to its point. The pole (landing) should be about four feet six inches long, with a couple of rings lashed on to it eight or ten inches or a foot from its top and about eighteen inches from its bottom ; to these, when you have to carry the clip yourself, you fasten a cord and sling it behind you. Trouting, you would hold it in one hand ; salmon-fishing, you cannot, since you require both hands to work the rod. FISH-BASKET. The most convenient thing to carry trout in is a wicker pannier, fitting to the back, with a hole in the lid — these are to be bought at any tackle-shop — in the back of it are holes for the strap to run through; let me advise every one to use, instead of leather, a fine horse-girth of proper length, with leather at buckle and for the strap inside the bas- ket; this girth does not cut the shoulders, nor does it stretch when wet. SALMON-BAG. The best article for salmon is a bag of moleskin, lined with fine silk oil-cloth, two feet long by twelve inches deep, with a strap to it. I never carried one, but fancy it won't go good with five salmon in it, though it will hold them ; I prefer having some one else to tote the sack along, though, if obliged, I certainly would use one of these — they keep the fish clean, fresh, and nice, especially if you put a little wet grass into it ; the inside requires washing occasionally. To kill your salmon you kick him on the head. To serve out trout, put your thumb into his mouth and bend back the head till you hear a crack. Besides the humanity of the thing, it is unpleasant to hear the brutes flopping about in your basket, and still more so when they are brought to table to see their mouths wide open. Those that are necked keep their mouths shut, and tell no tales ; the others gape most awfully, and speak loudly of your cruelty. What, now, is the best contrivance for carrying your flies in ? is a very frequent question. Some use a tin box, either oval or circular, 462 AMERICAN FISHES. with several pieces of card-board fitted inside, between which they bestow their flies, casting-lines, &c. Others, again, and they are by far the most numerous, use pocket-books — many of them so volumi- nous that they require a donkey to carry them. A selection of a dozen salmon-flies and two dozen trout-flies are ample for the day's use ; the balance of the stock may be left at home. Here you have the plans and dimensions of a salmon and trout-book. The salinon-book was made to my order some years ago, and has been very much adopted in England since. Its great advantages consist in your being able to stow away a large number of flies ; to keep the gut straight (for the ends all hang out at one end) ; and, at the same time, not to be too cumbersome. The flannel between each layer of hooks prevents rust. The trout-book is one of many years' standing, and I do not know a better one. Fig. 1. EXAMPLE FOR A SALMON-FLY BOOK. Fig. 1 represents the leaves, which are of parchment, with cross-bars of strong silk, knotted through at the point of intersection of the cross-lines ; the other side of the leaf presents the same appearance, the two folds of parchment being stitched together at the edges ; between each leaf is one of parch- ment incased in flannel — this absorbs the moisture and prevents rust. Size, eight and a half inches long by four inches wide, the outside case of Russia leather, on the one side, containing three capacious pockets to hold casting- lines, spare gut, &c. ; the other side, with a band of leather stitched across the inside to hold a pair of scissors, knife, gafl", and a spare place for any odd matter, as lancet, &c. Fig. 2 represents the plan of hooking in a fly, the barb of which is passed under one strand and brought down to the angle over the other strands ; six or seven of these double leaves are ample. The one outside must have a wide flap reaching half-way down the other side and closed with a wide buckle and strap to fasten the hook by (kept in its place by two keepers on the flap, the other on the back). Fig 2. FLY-FISHING. 463 :1^ KXAMPLE OF A TROUT-FLY BOOK. Here you have the plan of two leaves of a trout-book. The right side forms a pocket with a flap. It is, of course, double to the turn of the leaf, stitched up the sides. The left side is also double, its reverse side presenting the same ap- pearance as the one shown. O, are fine, thin bits of cork to prevent the flies being crushed, a, a, a, a are four slips of stiff parchment with pointed ends passed into a slit at B, B, B, B. To secure the flies you draw out the end of a ; put your flies under and slip it ?gain into slit b. Three of these leaves, forming six pages, to fasten flies in, with the pocket between each to prevent entanglement of flies in each compartment, and four leaves of flannel, to put your wet flies in,. are suflficient. The back of this book should be like the salmon-book, with similar pockets on one side, and the band of leather also. The most con- venient size is four inches wide by six inches deep. A buckle and strap round the outside are far handier than strings. Having now got through all the various implements necessary for the fly fisherman, it only remains to notice the different flies best adapted for general purposes ; for more than that we cannot do unless it be to specify the materials and colors. We will divide our flies into three classes : trout-flies proper, white or sea trout flies of three sizes larger, and salmon-flies. To render these lists as plain as possible, we will here give a list of terms used : tag, ?. e., whatever is placed to- ward the heel of the hook outside the tail ; tail-hody ; tinsel is flat gold or silver; tioist is round ditto; hacMe is whatever feather is fastened on at the tail and wound headward ; Ze^5— these are put on close to the head and under the wing; they will not be mentioned where tackle and legs are formed of one article; ivings ; horns; TROUT-FLIES. No. 1. Red Fly. — Body — Dark red squirrels' fur equal part claret mohair, most claret toward tail, worked round brown silk wings. Wood-drake's ginger-dun feather. Pea-hen has same-tinted featliGrs. X^/7S— Claret-stained hackle. To make it buzzy, a copper- tinged dun hackle is wound on above the body. Hook — No. 6. 464 AMERICAN FISHES. No. 2. Red Spinner. — Body — Brown silk, ribbed with fine gold twist ; British officers' epaulet size. Tail — Two whisks red cock hackle. Wings — Wood-drake's feather, as above. Hook — No. 6. No. 3. Great Dark Drone. — Body — Mole fur, or black ostrich wound round. Legs and ivings — Blue dun hackle. Hook — No. 5. No. 4. Cow-dung Fly. — Yellow mohair, or camlet, mixed with little dingy brown fur of bear left rough, spun on light-brown silk. Wings Landrail wing. Legs — Ginger-colored hackle. Hook — No. 7. No. 5. Peacock-Fly. — Body — Brown peacock's harl, dressed with mulberry-colored silk. Wings — darkest part of starling's wing feather. Hackle — Dark purple (stained), appearing black, but when held up to the light of a dark tortoise-shell color. Hook — No. 9. No. 6. March Brown. — Body — Fur from English hare's face, ribbed with orange silk tied with brown. Tail — Two strands of English par- tridge tail. Legs — Feather (tied on hackle fashion only close under wings) from back of English partridge. Wings — Under part hen pheasant's wing. Hook — No 6. No. 7. Sand-Fly. — Sandy-colored fur from English hare's neck spun on same colored silk. Wings — Landrail made full. Legs — Light- ginger from hen's neck. Hook — No. 7. No. 8. — Stone-Fly. — Body — Hare's ear, mixed with yellow mohair, ribbed over with yellow silk, and showing most yellow toward tail. Tail — Two strands mottled English partridge tail. Wings same as March Brown. Legs — Hackle, stained greenish-brown. Horns — Two rabbit's whiskers. Hook — No. 11. No. 9. Raccoon-Fly. — Body — raccoon's fur (belly),wound round yel- low silk. Wings and legs — Landrail's wing, buzzy. Hook — No. 13. No. 10. Gravel-Bed. — Body — Lead-colored silk, wound on very fine wing — under side of woodcock's wing. Legs — Blackcock's hackle, rathei- long, wound on only twice round the shoulders. Hook — No. 11. No. 1 1 . Yellow Dun. — Body — Yellow mohair, mixed with blue fur of mouse, or yellow silk, well waxed, to give it an olive tint. Wings — Li oil Lest part of the starling's wing. Legs — Light-yellow dun hackle. Hook — No. 6. FLY-FISHING. 465 No. 12. Little Yellow May Dun. — Body — Pale-ginger fur from back of hare's ear, ribbed with yellow silk. Tail — Two whisks from dun hackle. Wings — Mottled wood-drake, olive tint. Legs — Light dun hackle, yellowish stain. Hook — No. V. No. 13. Black-Gnat. — Body — Black ostrich harl. Wings — Dark part of starling. Legs — Black hackle. Hook — No. 12 or 13. No. 14. Oak Fly. — Orange floss silk, tied on with ash-colored silk, showing at the tail and shoulders. Wings — Outside woodcock's wing. Legs — A furnace hackle, i. e., red cock's hackle, with a black list up the middle, and black tinge at the extremities of the fibres. This hackle must be warped all down the body at regular distances, and the fibres snipped off till close up to wings, leaving enough for legs. Hook No. 4 or 5. No. 15. Turkey Brown. — Body — Dark-brown floss silk, ribbed with purple silk. Wings and legs — Buzzy ; dark-grain hackle. ^00^— No. 7. No. 16. Little Dark Spinner. — Body — Mulberry- colored floss silk, ribbed over with purple silk. Tail — Two strands of hackle for legs. Wings — Starling wing feather. Legs — Stained tortoise-shell purple-tinted hackle. Hook — No. 7. No. 1 7. Grannom, or Green-Tail. — Raccoon's belly wrapped on brown silk ; green tag at end of tail to represent egg-bag. Wings very full, fi*om partridge wing. Legs — Pale-ginger hen's hackle. Hook— No. 12. No. 18. The Soldier or Fern-Fly. — Body — Blood orange floss silk. Wings — Darkest part of starling. Legs — Red cock hackle, or made-buzzy with furnace-hackle on above body. Hook — No. 5. No. 19. The Sailor Fly. — Body — Dark-blue floss silk. Wings and legs same as above. Hook — No. 5. No. 20. Alder-Fly. — Body — Peacock's harl, tied with black silk. Wing — Brown hen, or inside of woodcock's wing. Legs — Deep amber- stained hackle, or black May ditto. Hook — No 4. No. 21. Green Drake. — Body — The extremities are of brown pea- cock's harl ; middle of pale straw-colored floss silk, ribbed with silver twist. Tail — Three rabbit's whiskers. Wings and legs buzzy. Wood- 4(56 AMERICAN FISHES. drake wliite bar clipped off, or mallard tinged olive, if in a state of rest, wings as above, legs pale-brown bittern's hackle, or partridge or ptarmigan feather. Hook — No. 3 or 4. No. 22. Gray Drake. — Body as above. Tail as above. Wings and legs — Buzzy; mottled mallard stained faint purple; if at rest, wings of same colored mallard feather. Legs — Dark purple-stained hackle, wrapped over the above colored body. Hook — No. 3 or 4. No. 23. Marlow Buzzy (the celebrated cock-a-bonddu). — Body — Black ostrich harl twisted with brown peacock's heel. Wings and legs — a furnace hackle, buzzy. Hook — No. 8. No. 24. The Dark Mackerel or Brown Drake. — Body — Dark- mulberry floss silk, ribbed with gold tinsel. Tail — Three rabbit's whiskers. Wings — Brown mottled mallard. Legs — purple-dyed tortoise-shell hackle. Hook — No. 4 or 5. No. 25. Pale Evening Dun. — Yellow martin's fur, spun on pale fawn-colored silk. Body — a fine-grained feather from starling's wing, stained rather light-yellow. Legs — Pale dun hackle. Hook — No. 12. No. 26. July Dun. — Body — Blue mouse fur and yellow mohair mixed and spun on yellow silk. Wings — Dark starling stained darker with onion (vide receipts). Legs — Dark dun hackle. Hook — No. 12. No. 27. Wren-tail. — Ginger-colored fur, ribbed with gold twist- hare's neck will do. Wings and Legs — Buzzy wren's tail. Hook — No. 12 or 13. No. 28. Red Ant. — Body — Peacock's harl, tied with red brown silk. Wings — Light part of starling's wing. Legs — Red cock's hackle. Hook— No. 12 or 13. No. 29. Black Ant. — Body — Peacock's harl and black ostrich mixed. Wings — Darkest part of starling's wing. Legs — Black cock hackle. Hook — No. 12 or 13. No. 30. August Dun. — Body — Brown floss silk, ribbed with yellow silk. Tail — Two rabbit's whiskers. Wings — Feather of a brown hen's wing. Legs — Plain red hackle stained brown, made buzzy with grouse (English) wound on above body. Hook — No. 8. No. 31. Orange Fly. — Orange floss silk, tied on with black silk. FLY-FISHING. 467 Legb — A furnace hackle. Wings — Hen blackbird or dark starling's wing. Hook — No 12 or 13. No. 32. Cinnamon-Fly. — Body — Fawn-colored floss silk. Wings — American robbin's, or better tbe long-tailed thrush, buzzy. Grouse feather, or red hackle stained brown with copperas, on above body. Hook— 'No. 10. No. 33. Blue-Bottle. — Bright blue floss silk, tied on with light- brown silk, showing the brown at the head. Wings — Starling's wing feather. Legs — Black hackle wound on slightly from tail. Hook — No. 6. No. 34. Willow-Fly. — Bodg — Mole's fu ', or blue mouse. Wings — A dark dun cock's hackle, strongly tingec a copper color. Hook — No. 8. These are the best flies used in England. They are derived from " Ronald's Fly-fishers' Entomology," with colored plates ; a very ex- cellent work. The only variation I have made has been to substitute the feather of an American bird whenever I knew any suitable. Un- fortunately this is not the season for palmers or caterpillars ; and, not having the insect or patterns, I am unable to give as many as I could wish, as they are excellent trout-killers, especially after a flood. PALMERS. No. 1. The Red Palmer. — JBodg — Peacock's harl, with red cock's hackle wound over it, tied with dark-brown floss silk ; two hooks are used, vide plate of flies (Ronald's). No. 2. Brown Palmer. — Mulberry-colored worsted spun on brown silk, brown cock's hackle wound over it (Ronald's). No. 3. Black Palmer. — Black ostrich harl, ribbed with gold twist, red cock's hackle wound over it (Ronald's). No. 4. Yellow Palmer. — Pale straw-colored worsted, wound on same-colored silk. Pale straw-tinted cock hackle over body. No. 5. Green Palmer. — Pea-green worsted on green silk body, hackle steeped in onion dye. No. 6. Fawn-colored Palmer. — Fawn-colored worsted ou pale- red silk body. Fawnish-red hackle wound over body. 468 AMERICAN FISHES. The following receipts are also taken from Ronald's works abo\'c mentioned, and are excellent. RECEIPTS. To DYE White Feathers a Dun Color. — Make a mordant, by dis- solving a quarter of an ounce of alum in a pint of water, slightly boil the feathers in it, taking care that they be thoroughly soaked with the solution ; then boil them in other water with fustic and cop- peras till they assume the proper tint. This for yellow dun — sumac and copperas for blue dun tint. The greater quantity of copperas used, the deeper will be the dye. To turn Red Hackles Brown. — Put a piece of copperas the size of a half-walnut in a pint of water, boil it, and while boiling, put in the red feathers ; let them remain until by frequent examination they are found to have taken the purple color. To DYE Olive Dun. — Make a very strong infusion of the outside brown coatings of onions, by allowing it to stand twelve or twenty-four hours by a warm fire. If dun feathers are boiled in this they become an olive-dun ; if white feathers, they become yellow ; if a piece of copperas be added, the latter color becomes a useful muddy-yellow, lighter or darker, as may be required, and approaching a yellow olive- dun, according to the quantity of copperas used. To dye Mallard Feathers for Green Drake. — Tie up the best white and black barred feathers from under the wing, in bunches of a dozen; boil them in the mordant, as directed in No. 1, to get out the grease ; boil them in an infusion of fustic, to procure a yellow, and add copperas to the infusion, to subdue the brightness of the yellow. To dye Feathers Dark-red and Purple. — Hackles of various colors boiled (without alum) in an infusion of logwood and Brazil-wood dust, until they are as red as they can be made, may, by putting them into a mixture of muriatic acid and tin, be changed to a deeper red. As the solution is not to be a saturated solution of tin it must be much diluted ; if it burns your tongue much it will burn the feathers a little ; by putting the feathers, after the first process, into a warm solution of potash, they will become purple. FLY-FISHING. 469 To DYE Feathers various shades of Red, Amber, and Brown. — Boil them in the alum mordant above, then in an infusion of fustic (table-spoonful to a pint of water), to bring them to a bright yellow . then boil them in a dye of madder, peach or Brazil-wood. To set the color, put a few drops of dyers' spirit (to be procured at any silk-dyer's) into the latt-mentioned dye. To stain Gut. — Put the gut into an infusion of onion-coatings (above) ; when it is quite cold let it remain until it becomes as dark as may be. Gut may be stained in an infusion of cold green tea. A cold dye of logwood will turn it to a pale blue. After a little practice you will be enabled to do wonders with your feathers ; perhaps, also, with your hands, which, if you operate exten- sively on all the colors, will become quite a nondescript color. FLIES continued. We inserted the foregoing receipts in this place in preference to the end of the trout-flies, inasmuch as, being copied from Ronald's work, and having reference chiefly to his style of tying flies, which, by the way, is the most correct, since he gives you a colored representation of the fly, and then below it a colored one of his imitation. To this list I have added thirteen more and three palmers, the raccoon being one, and the three last of the palmers, before enumerated, and the ten following ones : I need hardly observe that palmers are nothing more than caterpillars. Saclde. Red twist, No. 1. Orange floss silk, 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Black Yellow Rat's fur, Mouse fur, Pale iron-blue mo- hair with pale yel- low mixed, Green goeling mohair, Black, Red Red ' Black ' K I Red ' Gringer ' Red ' None, (legs pi None, Red, Silver, Gold, None^ Wmgs. "Woodcock out- side wing Partridge. Landrail. Silver, it Starling. None. (( SHver, Partridge. None, Landrail. Silver, Starling. Grouse buzzy of body.) None, Sea-swallow. (( Partridge 4*70 AMERICAN FISHES. The foregoing lists are ample for all trouting purposes. Ronald's patterns are given with the addition of the number of hook ; and, I may add, these are full two sizes larger than English fishermen gen- erally use ; the dozen last enumerated may vary in size from No. 6 to No. 10, but of this more anon. We now come to the Sea-Trout Flies — from Nos. 1 to 4 we may set down as the regular size for America, Nos. 2 to 6 being those in use in Ireland, where they most abound. They are made much more gaudy than trout-flies, and yet not so expensively as salmon-flies ; bodies all floss silk : Body. Tail. Tinsel Tag. Hackle. Wings. Head. Pale blue, ] ^^S S? [ Silver, Black ostricl. Black, Starling, \ ^^^^^l. Yellow, " Gold, Blue peacock, " " None. Red orange, Blue parrot, " Gold, Eed, " " Orange, Guinea-fowl, " None. Black, | ^^^^^^ I " These below have fur or pigs'-wool bodies, ^'r w^ I S=, [ S"-, orange sUk, Claret, | B™- | Blaclc ^ Dark blue, | t'^^/S; [ Gold, " Black, Mixed, " Yellow and ) Pale green V " mixed, ) The above are half-a-dozen of the very best flies used at the Bally- nahinch river, in Ireland — the best river in the world for sea-trout. I have given them here, confident that they will not disgrace the country where they were bred and born. I have only to observe further, that of all fish in the world they are least particular, rising equally well to salmon or trout flies. Before describing salmon-flies, it will be necessary to explain what is meant by mixed wings, and how they are made ; also, what is meant by a tag. A mixed wing, as its name implies, is one composed of vari- ous feathers, and also of various hues — at one time greenish, at an- other blue, at another red, &c. ; but still the basis and the method of constructing it are the same. Before commencing to tie your flies,it is better to assort the feathers for the wing. You take a quantity of brown mallard fibres, cut close to the hen, teal, drake, or widgeon, golden pheasant's neck, guinea-fowl, par- FLY-FISHING. 471 rot, green and blue, cock pheasant's tail, bustard, wood-drake ; separate the fibres of one lot, laying them on your table, with a space be- tween each; then take up another lot, and lay a fibre down on each of the others ; and so on with each bundle, except golden pheasant, of which you use about one-half as much as the others; and parrot, one- quarter, guinea-fowl three-quarters, English pheasant one-quarter. When all are sorted out, roll them into a bundle, and draw them out several times between your fingers, to more perfectly blend them. This is your ordinary rich wing ; nothing can be more beautiful or better. Your fly always wears an even appearance and not blotchy. When you require an extra colored tint to your wing, add more of the color, but take care to blend the fibres you add well with the stock color. A tag is whatever you wrap on the bare hook outside of the tail. And now we come to salmon-flies, of which we can only enumerate a few standard and well-known killers in the old country, and a few of this continent. We regret to say, for more reasons than one, that we have had no experience in salmon-fishing in America ; it is for this reason we crave the indulgence of our readers for the meagre lot of American standard flies ; what we have given are well-known killers in many waters of the old country, and are the standard flies of many and various rivers. I have little doubt but that they will be found as eff'ective in the new as they are in the old world. The first lot are all small flies, used in Ireland chiefly for salmon. They will, I doubt not, be effective here for sea-trout or river-trout. The size of hooks from which the patterns are taken vary from Nos. 2 to 6 ; on the smallest of them I have killed salmon ; they may, however, be made a couple of sizes larger. No. 1. Gold tag. Tail — Two fibres of hen pheasant's tail. Body — composed of fine red chenille, one-third; light bluish-green chenille, one-third ; pale-yellow straw chenille, one-third ; claret-colored cock's hackle for legs only, body being bare. Wings — Great African bustard, with four strands of green-blue peacock harl. Head — very long, of com- mon brown peacock's harl. (I state here, once for all, that I describe flies in succession from the tail end, whence they are commenced in the making.) An extraordinary killer, tricolored chenille body, claret hackle, bustard wings. 472 ^ AMERICAN FISHES. No. 2. Tail — Two fibres of brown mallard, two of red parrot, fine Binall turn of pale orange floss silk, next these. Body — Black floss silk ; the finest gold twist, wound on very close, i. e., eleven turns on No. 2 hook. Leffs — Of red cock's hackle ; body bare. Wings — Very thick, composed of small neck feather golden pheasant, and two fibres of the blue-green peacock above this brown mallard. Head — Black ostrich. Quite as good. Black body and red cock's legs ; gold tinsel. No. 3. Shanks — Black. Tag — Yellow floss silk. Tail — Two strands of pale-blue parrot ; the yellow floss tag is wound twice around beyond the tail quite close. Hackle — Gray cock. Body — The yellow floss run alongside of a black floss silk band. Legs — Partridge full. Wings — Teal drake. Head — Black ostrich. As good as the others. Shanks black ; partridge legs ; gray hackle. No. 4. The Foggy Fly. — Body — One-fourth green chenille, one- fourth pale yellow ditto, one-half purple ditto. A Marled Hackle — Root end first is wound over the body, the ends left projecting beyond the hook at least half an inch. Wings — Partridge tail. Head — Orange chenille. A very ugly but killing fly. No. 5. Gold tag. Tail — Teal drake. Red hackle — Gold tinsel. Body — Black floss silk. Wings — Mixed teal and mallard. Horns — Blue and gold macaw. Head — Black ostrich. Not bad. Black and red hackle. No. 6. Tag — Yellow floss silk. Tail — Mixed. Hackle Red — Silver twist, crimson floss silk body. Mixed wings, with golden pheasdnt- neck. Macaw horns. Head — Ostrich. Very good crimson and red hackle. No. 7. Tag — Gold. Tail — Three golden orange parrot strands, tin- sel gold. Hackle — Blue. Body — Blue. Wings — small golden pheas- ant neck, two blue English kingfisher's feathers (blue-bird might do), a fibre or two of bustard, ditto teal drake. Macaw horns. Head — Black ostrich. A lovely fly, blue body, ditto hackle, ditto wings. FLY-FISHING. 473 No. 8. Gold tac/. Toucan golden tail. Silver twist blue hackle Body — Two-thirds pale rose, one-third crimson floss silL Wings- ■ Mixed. Horns — Pale-blue parrot. Head — None. Great white trout-fly, rose and crimson or blue hackle. We now come to the larger class of salmon flies : No. 9, Broad gold tag. Tail — Mixed. Hackle — Red cock's, tin- sel gold. Body — Greenish yellow floss silk. Legs — English jay wing- ooverts. Wings — Rich, mixed. Horns — Macaw. Head — Black ostrich. Green yellow body, red hackle and jay legs. No. 10. Tag — Fine gold twist four or five turns. Tail — Golden pheasant neck, tinsel gold. Hackle — Black. Body — Pale blue. Legs — English grouse or argus pheasant. Wings — Of golden pheasant neck, teal and brown mallard, American widgeon, argus pheasant, bustard. Head — Black ostrich. Blue body, black hackle, grouse or argus legs. No. 11. Tag — Gold. Tail — Golden pheasant crest, then black ostrich two turns. Hackle — Long and black, tinsel gold. Body — Pale blue floss silk. Wings — Bustard on sides and teal drake in cen- tre. Head — Black ostrich. Blue and black hackle. No. 12. Tag — Gold and two turns crimson floss silk. Tail — Mixed. Hackle — Crimson orange. Body — Blood orange floss silk, tinsel gold. Wings — Rich, mixed with extra gold pheasant tail and neck. Horns — Macaw. Head — Ostrich. Orange body, hackle crimson orange. No. 13. Tag — Broad gold. Tail — Mixed, gold tinsel, and twist wound on side by side over. Body — Brown pale floss silk. Hackle — Red. Wings — Mixed, showing most guinea-fowl. Horns — Macaw. Head — Ostrich. Brown body red hackle. No. 14. Tag— GcoXdi. ^a?/— Golden pheasant 'neck and pale blue parrot, gold tinsel. Red hackle, yellow, orange body. Legs — Of English jay-wing (blue). TTmys— Rich, mixed. Head and horns as above. 31 474 AMERICAN FIS.iES. Yellow orange body, red hackle, jay legs. No. 15. Tag — Gold twist. Tail — Mixed, gold twist (fine). Hackle — Black. Body — Black floss silk. Legs. — Dark guinea-fowl. Wings — Richly mixed with extra guinea-fowl. Horns — Macaw. Head — Black ostrich. Black body, ditto hackle, guinea-fowl legs. No. 16. Tag — Deep gold afterward orange silk. Tail — Golden pheasant neck, and ditto red tail feathers, fine gold twist. Hackle — Long black. Body — Black (bluish tint) pigs'-wool or worsted. Wings — Brown drake, guinea-fowl, with two or three flamingo fibres under wings ; over the legs and shoulders a little orange mohair (least quantity). Head. — Brown peacock harl. Blue-black body, wool-black hackle. No. 17. Tag — Gold, then crimson floss silk. Tail — Two fibres of muddled parrot. Hackle — Red gold twist. Body — Brown worsted. Legs — Partridge. Wings — Golden pheasant neck, guinea-fowl, teal drake, blue parrot. Macaw horns. Head — Red orange floss silk. Very plain but efi'ective ; colors brown. No. 18. Orange floss silk tag. Mixed tail. Gold twist. Hackle — Red cock. Body — Pigs'-wool, crimson, little black and claret colors well mixed. Wing — Golden pheasant neck, blue (pale) parrot and teal drake. Head — Black ostrich. Ballynahinch, County Galway, fly. No. 19. Gold tag. Mixed tail, extra, golden pheasant. Hackle — Red cock's, two fine gold twists, one each side, of broad silver wound on a claret-brown worsted body. Legs — Grouse. Wings — Teal drake, brown mallard, bustard and golden pheasant neck, heavy. Horns — Macaw. Head — Black ostrich. Clarety-brown worsted body ; red hackle ; grouse legs. No. 20. Tail — Golden pheasant crest, silver twist. Hackle — Long black. Body — Least bit yellow, then black one-half, then yellow the rest of pig's wool or mohair. Wings — Golden pheasant crest, brown mallard, bustard, teal drake, and guinea-fowl. Black and yellow barred body ; black hackle. FLY-FISHING. 4 75 No. 21. Tail — Golden pheasant crest, gold twist. Hackle — Gin- ger and long body, straw-colored mohair. Legs — English blue jay. Wings — Rich, mixed. Horns — Macaw. Head — Black os- trich. Straw-colored fur body ; ginger hackle. No. 22. Tag — Gold tinsel, rose and orange floss silk. Tail — golden pheasant neck with guinea-fowl, gold twist and tinsel. Hackle — Black and long. Body — Part rose floss silk one-third, then black and claret, red mohair, black predominating. Wings — Heavy, guinea- fowl, with bustard, golden pheasant-neck, brown mallard, blue parrot, ostrich black, and macaw Horns. Black and rose ; ditto, and claret body ; black hackle. No. 23. Yellow silk tag. Mixed tail, silver twist. Rich crimson body. Red hackle. Black legs. Mixed icings. Macaw horns. Os- trich head. Crimson body ; red hackle. No. 24. Gold tag. Mixed tail, gold tinsel, red, yellow, orange, claret and black mohair mixed. Body, red predominating. Guinea- fowl or partridge legs. Rich mixed Wings. Macaw Horns. Black ostrich Head. No. 25. Gold tinsel, then yellow silk tag. Tail — Of three strands guinea-fowl, and two of red golden pheasant tail. Hackle — Red cock's, gold (fine) twist. Body — Half brown, half red mohair warped on fine and close. Wings — Brown mallard and deep-dyed orange guinea- fowl. Horns — Red flamingo or scarlet ibis. Bodies and legs scored under. No. 26. Tag — Very long, of gold tinsel. Tail — Golden pheasant tinted scarlet, broad gold twist. Hackle — Blue. Body — Blue floss silk. Legs — Very bushy, of blue English jay, and over them a couple of turns of pale blue parrot. Wings — Two large golden pheasant crests, with ditto tail. Horns — Red macaw. Head — Black ostrich. No. 27. Tag — Gold tinsel and black ostrich. Tail — Golden pheasant neck, red tint. Hackle — Black and long. Body — One-sixth yellow 416 AMERICAN FISHES. pigs'-wool, four-sixths black ditto, and then yellow the rest. Wings — Bustard and caiDercailzie, or guinea-fowl. Horns — Macaw. No, 28. Tail — Golden pheasant crest, gold twist. Body — One- half orange and brown mixed, most orange at tail, one-half black, pig's-wool. Legs — Long black. Saddle hackle. Wings — A golden pheasant crest, with teal drake and brown mallard. Macaw horns, and ostrich head. No. 29. Tail — Yellow-orange worsted pricked out, broad gold tinsel. Hackle of three colors, one-fourth of crimson, warped on crimson body, next two-fourths nearly black hackle warped on black body, remainder pale-blue parrot on dark-blue body. Wings — Tame turkey's tail, black, with a white tip. Head — Black ostrich. No. 30. Gold twist tag. Tail — Yellow worsted, pricked out; gold twist. Hackle — Black cock, long. Body — Pale-blue worsted, the least yellow worked in under the wings and in front of the legs, and then pricked out. Wings — Dingy black and white turkey. No. 31. Tag — Yellow floss silk. Tail — Golden pheasant neck and guinea-fowl, silver twist. Hackle — Black cock. Body — Deep crim- son. Wings — Mixed. Macaw horns. Ostrich head. No. 32. Gold tag. Mixed tail, bluish tint, gold tinsel. Body — Yellow floss silk. Hackle — Red cock. Legs — Golden plover. Kich mixed wings, showing blue and red. Macaw horns. Ostrich head. No. 33. Gold tag. Golden pheasant crest. Broad gold tinsel. Red cock's hackle. Body — Reddish brown, orange and yellow pigs'-wool well mixed. English jay legs. Rich mixed wings. Shining red golden pheasant tail. Macaw horns. Ostrich head. No. 34. Gold tag. Gold tinsel, with gold twist along-side. Hackle — A red marled one, set on quill end first, and wrapped across the gold. Body — Thin, of yellow, orange, and reddish-brown worsted. Wings — Brown mallard and teal drake. If hackle much longer than end of hook, shorten a little ; ought to be half an inch longer. The next are large class flies, and must be tied on double or treble gut. FLY-FISHING. 411 No. 35. Gold tacf. Golden pheasant crest. Gold twist. Bodi/ — One-third deep crimson floss silk ; at the end of this, one turn of black ostrich harl ; then, on the back and belly of the fly, a small crest of the cock of the rock is fastened short on ; the next third is yellow floss silk, the gold warped over it, the ostrich at the end, and the crests above and below ; the last third is a deep-brown orange, with cock of the rock above and below. English jay legs, close on head- wards. Very rich mixed tviuf/s of golden pheasant. Tail — Both red, and other part and neck, teal drake, bright blue parrot. Macaw horns. Ostrich head. This fly could not be made under two dollars. No. 36. Gold tag. Tail — Light crimson worsted picked out. Gold twist. RacJcle— Long gray, ^orfy— Crimson purple worsted. Wings— A golden pheasant neck, dyed deep purple, reddish-brown teal drake, brown mallard, two harls of blue and two of brown peacock's tail. Macaw's horns. Brown peacock's harl for head. No. 37. Ta^— Brown peacock's harl. Tail—Tesd, red golden pheasant and blue parrot. Gold twist. Black Jiackle. Body— Two- sixths orange, one-sixth green, one-sixth orange, one-sixth green, one- sixth orange, floss silks. Z^'^s— Dingy black hen. TTm^^— Golden pheasant neck feather, cock pheasant's tail three fibres, teal drake, brown mallard, golden pheasant's centre tail feather. Brown pea- cock's harl for head. No. 38. Gold tag. Tail— Golden pheasant crest, broad gold tinsel nd gold twist along side. Black hackle. Dark-blue mohair body. ^^^^s_Golden pheasant neck and centre tail feather, brown mallard, wild turkey. A little deep scarlet wool is then worked in over the wings, picked out and clipped short. Macaw horns. No. 39. Tag— Gold tinsel. Golden pheasant crest. Tail — Heavy gold twist, with band of dingy orange floss silk warped along-side of it. Hackle— Long black saddle. Body— Fea-green floss silk. ^^•^,75_Guinea-fowl neck dyed deep orange. Red tail of golden pheasant, teal drake, brown mallard, and guinea-fowl. Four long bustard fibres for horns. Read — Dingy olive mohair. 41 8 AMERICAN FISHES. No. 40. Gold taff. Guinea-fowl and brown mallard tail. Gold tin- sel with brown floss silk worked along-side. Hackle — Long red cock'st Bodf/ — Deep crimson, mostly obscured by the brown. Lef/s — Par- tridge. Wings — Chiefly Guinea-fowl, brown mallard, and English cock pheasant tail, four or five strands. Macaw horns, and ostrich head. ' No. 41. Gold and thin crimson silk tag. Mixed tail, showing a good deal of deep blue. Broad gold twist. Dyed clarety-red hackle. Body — Fiery brown, i. e., red, brown, and purple, pigs'-wool mixed, brown predominating. Wings — Brown mallard, blue parrot, orange parrot, long-tailed thrush, and bustard. Head — Black ostrich. Such is the list of salmon-flies we have selected from many and various rivers of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Were I to attempt to enumerate them, it would almost be an endless job. There are yet a few more flies to be added, such as are fit for pike and black bass, "vhich we omitted to particularize in the early part of the work, and which, even now, we will consign to the end of the fly-fishing part altogether. Having now shown you, or rather attempted to show you, how to make your hooks, if you like so to do, and seriatim trout-flies, rods, casting-lines, salmon-flies, we must even follow up by endeavoring to explain the various methods of throwing and working the fly. This, however, it is difficult to do on paper. Far more will be learnt by practice, an ounce of which is worth a pound of precept. To commence, then, with trout-fishing, with a single-handed rod. When put together, the rings should all be in a line. Run one end of the line through each of these, the balance being reeled on to the winch, which is either screwed through or round the butt, or clasped on to it by a movable brass ring and catch. To quote Ronald : " It is advis- able to practise the art of throwing a fly on the grass," previously to attempting to fish. " Any open space free from trees," says he, " will do. A piece of paper may represent the spot to be thrown to. Taking the wind in his back, the tyro, with a short line at first, may attempt to cast within an inch or two of the paper; and afterward, by degrees, lengthen his line as his improvement proceeds ; he may then try to throw in such a direction that the wind may in some measure oppose the line and rod ; and, lastly, he may practice throw- FLY-FISHING. 479 ing against the wind. In this way a person may become an adept at throwing a fly much sooner than by trusting to the experience he may get at the water side ; for, his attention being then wholly engrossed by the hopes of getting a rise, &c., a bad habit may very easily be engendered, which will not be as easily got rid of. He should endeavor to impart to the line a good uniform sweep or curve round the head ; for if it returns too quickly or sharply from behind him, a crack will be heard, and the fly whipped off. There is some little difficulty in acquiring this management." So far, Mr. Ronald ; and now we will, perfectly coinciding in every particular, add a little to his instructions. In delivering or throwing the fly, the back of the hand must be upward, quite square. In drawing the fly toward you, the wrist must be gradually turned till the back is downward and the thumb pointing upward. This enables you to strike a fish by the simple motion of clenching your fingers, added to an almost imperceptible inward motion of the wrist down very quickly, yet gently. In drawing out the line for a new cast, you raise your arm, not your shoulder, pointing your thumb outward. 'Tis seldom necessary to raise your elbow much, unless in casting a very long line indeed, when your arm is bent as much as it can be. Rest a moment, to give your line time to straighten behind you. This prevents the crack ; delivering your line forward by turning the back of the hand upward and straightening out your arm. This imparts to your rod a sweep pretty much oval, and if you commence and continue this prac- tice from the first, you will soon get used to it. At first it fatigues the wrist a good deal, and you feel cramped, and as if set in a strait jacke|; but this wears off, use gives freedom and neatness to your ityle of throwing. Nothing betrays a fisherman sooner than the way 4e holds and handles his rod. Learn this lesson and the next well and thoroughly, and you are advanced a long way toward being a fish- erman, although you may never have had a rise. The other lesson you have to practise — is to stay your line just be- fore it touches the water, to prevent an awful splash. This is easy enough to do ; when you see your line within a foot of the water, you can either partly turn your hand so as to bring the thumb upward with a slight turn of the wrist, or you can move your wrist, keeping the back of the hand still upward. In either case, the motion must be very slight, so as only to check the downward force without stopping 480 AMERICAN FISHES. the direction of tlie line. Tliese are the two great dodges in throw- ing a fly. I wish I only had in my younger days as much told to me, as you have had in the last few lines ; many a year passed before I found them out. 'In fishing for trout, there are two styles adopted. One is, to throw your line nearly across the stream, letting it float down and gradually across, to your side. In this case, and particularly in salmon-fishing — for I shall not have occasion more apropos to mention it — care must be taken not to, as the term is, let the line "belly," which means, to let the stream carry a part of the line before the flies — which assur- edly it will do, unless, as soon as your flies are in the water opposite, you slightly draw the point of your rod up the stream. The other plan is called " whipping," which means making quick casts, not let- ting your line stay above a few seconds in the water; one style is practised as much as the other. For my part I adopt the first plan in swift-running water ; the latter when fishing a dead pool or in a lake. Three flies are sufiicient to use on one and the same casting- line; the last is the "tail-fly," or, as it is sometimes called, "the stretcher;" the other flies, which have about four inches or barely that of gut, are made fast to the casting-line or "foot" line two to three feet apart, and are called " droppers" or bob-flies. In the selec- tion of flies great judgment is required ; some days one sort, other days another sort; the beetle tribe, CoUoptera^ affect the hot days most. The Ephemera^ or fish-fiy, cold days ; the water-fly or Phryganea, cloudy days with gleams of sunshine. The Dyptera and other land- flies, windy days. He would do well to commence with a pahner as a stretcher, and the fly which seems most suitable for the da^ as a dropper until he can discover what fly the fish are actually rising at. The palmer is never out of season, and is a good fat haiV Again, a good deal depends on the state, size and color of the water, and the appearance of the weather. When the water is clear- ing off' from a flood, or is large, larger and lighter-colored flies may be used. AVlien it is very low, clear and fine, much smaller and darker flies are preferable. In dark, gloomy weather, also judging from the state of the water, you put on a bright fly, large or small, as the water may be. In clear weather, the one of darker hue. Avoid high places to cast from ; keep as low down to the water side as possible, if in it, all the better, as fish easily see you. Never fish with the sun at your FLY-FISHING. 481 back, as that throws your shadow down on the water you want to throw over. We will now suppose our tyro has managed to hook a half-pounder^ which will be quite as much as he can manage to get out. He must raise the point of the rod up, and bear gently yet evenly on him, never suflfering the line to get slack for a moment, lettiug him run out what line he feels disposed to take, simply keeping the forefinger over the line and pressing gently on the rod, so as in a slight degree to check him ; always endeavoring to take the fish down stream, reeling up line whenever opportunity occurs, increasing his strain as the fish appears to weaken, until at last he can pull him out on the bank or get him into the landing-net. The great secret is to keep the top of your rod well up, to bear an even strain on the fish, and to keep your line always tight. Bear these three points in mind, and but few fish you will lose. Of course if there are rocks or fallen trees in the way, for which places the fish always make, you must exert your utmost to prevent a lodg- ment, bodily and by main force if your tackle will bear the strain, if not, by manoeuvring him past the spot. Frequently, when I fish for trout, I use a single hair in place of gut, and even with it I do not much dread a snag ; as, if you cannot turn the fish away, you can prevent his fouling the line by being quick and lifting your rod well up. White or Sea Trout are very greedy brutes, striking the fly most generally when it touches the water ; conse- quently, whipping is the best for them. But, as in general you would use a dx^uble-handed rod, this becomes too laborious, and consequently you fish for them as if for salmon. But still, what you do for conve- nience sake is not always the best, which " whipping" decidedly is. I am afraid to say how many I have caught of these fish at the Ballynahinch river in an hour with a small trout-rod, "whipping' against the double-handed rods and invariably beat them. Never in my life did I ever see so many fish as these and probably never shall ao;ain. Every throw, the moment the flies touched the water, one, two and three sometimes rose at once to each fly. So troublesome, at last did they become, from often having three hooked at once, that I only left on one fly. That is the river, of all others, for White Trout. We now come to the consideration of Salmon-fishing, after which all other is poor. Be your rod what it may, you cannot hope for anv Man. 482 AMERICAN FISHES. sport with a less one than eighteen feet, and that is full short. Of course you use both your hands. But the position of the upper one is still the same as when you use a single hand for trout ; the turn of the hand and wrist (only you have to straighten your elbow more and raise your arm) is still the same — the same oval sweep to save your flies from cracking ; the same rest, only longer, when the line is behind you. • Every thing is the same, even the stay to save the splash, except that the back of the left hand, if you are right-handed (but this you ought not to be, left-handed fishing the right bank of the stream, right-handed when fishing the left) down, the left hand up. The right hand should be eighteen inches above the reel; Line. Shore. ^-[^^ \q{^ j^^nd within a few inches of the butt. After delivering your line, you may rest the butt against your hip or your groin. Mind, if you do this, to have the butt well rounded, or else you will soon establish a very fine raise ; you can rest your right arm now by taking hold with the left. You must fish more down the stream than for Trout, making an acute angle between a line from the opposite shore to you and the direction of your rod. Beware of " bellying" your line, as mentioned before ; keep the line at a stretch all the time, giving it a slight "undulating motion" up and down, and gradually yet slowly draw it toward the side you are on. Don't fish a longer line than you can manage. That is the way you are to act when all is clear behind you ; but may I be so bold as to inquire how you mean to manage under that high over- hanging crag with all those nice trees growing down to the water-side, 'tis a beautiful hole ^Un veriie,''^ and must be fished. "I really don't know," say you ; " my line will be fast in the trees if I throw behind me." That I also know, and, moreover, that you cannot bring it be- hind you up stream, if you mean in any ways to cast across it. But come, I will put you up to the spicy dodge I mentioned a while ago, and although your rod is not the thing, we can manage middling in- diff'erently with it. Mind, it is the most diflScult style of throwing, but is also, when learnt, unquestionably the best. It will astonish you with the length of line even your rod will take ; mine would throw fully one-third further. FLY-FISHING. 483 Now, observe, I will allow the liue to run down the current till it is at its full length. Now you will presently see me raise my arms (keeping the rod point upward) as high as I can, to release as much line a^^ possible from the water, and so to enable it to come back with- out exertion. As soon as this is done, the point of the rod is thrown back sideways up stream, at an acute angle to the body, about the level of the bent left arm, pretty much as you would bring back a scythe, only that the elbows are more crooked, and consequently have not the same swing. When so brought back, the back of the right hand is down, that of the left up; this motion drops the fly in the water just by your feet. After a second's rest to let your fly come safe to you and touch the water, and commence to float down stream, the wrists are sharply tiu-ned, accompanied by a circular motion of the arm, the left hand grasping the butt is brought in under the right arm, almost into the pit ; so that the right arm hes on the butt of the rod at full stretch, and pointing to the shore opposite you. In this movement the back of the right hand is upward, of the left down. I ought to have mentioned that the body is half-faced toward the river, so as to give as full command of the opposite side as possible ; 484 AMERICAN FISHES. and instead of tlie rod being thrown forward down the stream, it is pointed across as much as possible. I much fear that this description will be difficult to understand. I have, however, endeavored to make it as plain as possible, and ac- companied it with three such beautiful drawings of the three different steps, that unless the engraver touches them up considerably they will be almost as difficult to understand. In fishing a strange water, always endeavor to get the color of flies preferred there, and select accordingly; but in this country, where you may happen on scores of rivers where there are no fishermen, and perhaps no authentic account of wrhat flies are good, your best plan is to mount a gnat fly as dropper and a gaudy fly as stretcher ; as, for instance, the first six salmon flies, which are neither the one nor the other, may be used as droppers; 9, 10, and 12 as stretchers. If none of these suit, try a plain turkey's wing, with an iron-blue body and black legs, or No. 16 ; in fact, almost any fly I have named. I will undertake that more than two-thirds will rise fish in any river in the world. A combination of English jay is one of the most effective flies in the world, as it can be put into as gay a fly as you please, and also into as plain a one as you like. The same observations hold good for Salmon as for Trout, regarding appearance of the weather and water. Do not fancy too large flies ; for certain am I the Salmon don't except when the river is in flood. I do not know the numbers of Conroy's hooks after No. 1, but two sizes larger than that what Bartlett calls his 3s. are large enough. Kelly puts on his B.B.B., large size Salmon hooks, about equal to Bartlett's 4s. Remember that in spring fish- ing this rule won't hold good, for you then have to fish with a thing almost as big as a mouse, if the waters are any ways high. I have given one or two patterns of these gaudy spring flies amongst the Salmon flies, and amongst the Pike-flies may be found three with blue bodies, which are used in the Ness, in spring, for Salmon. Salmon do not often lie in the middle of a very strong rapid, either at the tail or in the very head of it ; they are very fond of an eddy^ though it may be in the very midst of a boiling torrent. But I have as often had sport at the tail, especially when it ran into a deep pool, in which case I generally had a rise on each side of the stream in the back water. FLY-FISHING. ' 485 In fishing a place of this sort, cast carefully over into the stream, at first only fishing the side you are on ; then, after that, wade in as far as you can, cast as far over ^s possible into the dead water on the other side of the stream, lifting your rod as high as you can, else the current sweeps away your flies before the fish have time to hook at them. I must not dismiss this part of my subject without saying a few words respecting the flies in use for Pike and Black Bass. For the former, the most successful fly I know of is made on a very large hook — Codfish or Lake Trout size. It has a mouse-colored fur body, with long, black, shiny hackle from the cock's rump, with two large eyes from the peacock's tail set on for wings. I have not the least doubt, however, that a fly tied to represent a young duck or gosling (if so be it can be called a fly) would be just as eff'ective, to say nothing of one like a mouse or a small water-rat. You must, how- ever, use gimp instead of gut for them, and a shorter and stifl"er rod. For Bass, the fifteen-feet two-handed trout-rod seems best adapted ; but I confess I have had no success in whipping for them, and there- fore do not speak very confidently respecting the best flies. My only chance for fishing for them has been where there has not been a sufiiciency of current, which is a great desideratum, unless you have a strong breeze. White Bass, however, rise well at almost any^ moderate-sized trout-fly (proper), and at times — that is to say, when they are in full run — you may by this means take a large number. They are an active fish, and play well ; so that, with a light rod, you can have very fine sport. Old General Gates, who served for many years in Canada, has often said that the very best fly for them was composed of a strip of a sol- dier's scarlet jacket wound on as body, long scarlet hackle for legs and wings ; indeed, a feather from the scarlet-dyed plumes in the soldiers' shakos of those days was what he used. I have seen a very beautiful fly from Conroy's ; the body of beautiful rich crimson-scarlet velvet, with long fibre — or pile, 1 believe, the more correct term is. The wings, of four feathers, two on each side, red fla- mingo or scarlet ibis inside, and a very pale barred mallard feather outside. I have no doubt but that the following flies would also answer well : Golden pheasant crest, tail, broad gold tinsel ; scarlet or red hackle ] 486 AMERICAN FISHES. body thick, of pigs'-wooi- Mood orange a lialf, yellow a quarter, and red a quarter, well mixed ; wings, blue peacock, three or four strands, and two golden pheasants' neck feathers ] horns, red and blue macaw. No. 2. Crest, tail, gold tinsel; red cock hackle; orange floss silk body; jay legs; wings as above; ditto horns. No. 3. Red golden pheasant tail, silver tinsel; red cock's hackle; yellow worsted body; legs, red parrot or flamingo; wings, flamingo, backed by golden pheasant tail. Very good sport may be had in the rapids of the St. Lawrence with fly, in the months of June and July. I omitted to mention in the proper place, that the only substitute of the golden pheasant crest, at all approaching to the mark, is a Billy-goat's beard dyed the proper color, and that is perfect. I have seen it in a fly, and could not tell the difference. And now we have got through the poetry of the art. Hitherto, things have gone happy as the marriage bell. I have cottoned to ray subject con amove. What follows is decidedly against the grain. I unhesitatingly declare, and I confidently appeal to my brother angler, whether he, a fly-fisherman, does not feel similarly. To me fly-fishing is a labor of love; the other is labor — alone. But notwithstanding such are my feelings, it by no means follows that every one else so fancies it. Every one to his taste. It is not given to each individual to be able to find the waters wherein to kill his Salmon or Trout ; and it cannot for a moment be supposed that, because the Salmon and Trout are not, he is to be debarred from joining in the pleasures of the flood. For this unfortunate class of people (I am at present one of the num- ber, and therefore, if I do slightly stigmatize the class, I trust, ha\ang placed myself in the same boat, that I may be forgiven) we will draw from the hidden storehouse of our mind sundry dark and dismal visions of things past. When, as a little boy, we delighted, with a hazle rod, float, and wriggling worm, to pull out many a perch, carp, tench, and slippery eel, our greatest delight then was to chuck them out, sans ceremonie, slap over our heads ; and now, at three times the age, our first fun in fishing is to catch minnow with a fine trout top and a pair of No. lY hooks. We will, however, proceed ; and, to do this satisfactorily, we will divide this part into two sections ; one, trolling or fishing with arti- ficial bait ; the other, with natural bait, merely resting a moment or two to define what we mean by the term trolling. FLY-FISHING. 487 Trolling, then, is of two kinds : one consists in letting a long line drag after a boat progressing at a slow yet steady rate, either by oar, sail or paddle. About three miles an hour is most proper. An- other kind of trolling is practised, either from a boat at anchor or from the shore. The rod used is one about eight or ten feet long, very stiff, with very large rings so as to check the line as little as pos* siblc. To make a cast, the line is coiled down by your feet, say fif- teen yards or more, wdiile only about four feet is left outside the rings. The rod is moved evenly two or three times backward and forward, with one hand cither across the body if you w^ant to make a cast to your right, or to the right of your body if to cast to your left, keeping your forefinger pressing your line to the rod. The motion must be even, equable, no jerking, else the cast w^ill be a mull. When you get sufficient impetus, withdraw your finger, as the rod top points in the direction you wish your line to go. Very little force is requi- site, more depending on knack than any thing else ; now, allow the bait to settle down in the water a little, and commence slowly drawing in the hne with your hand below the bottom ring, letting it fall in largish coils at your feet, and moving the point of the rod either up or down, according as you wish to direct your bait here or there. We shall now mention the various implements in use for trolling, either with a line or dead bait, the natural or the artificial : IMPLEMENTS FOR TROLLING WITH EITHER LIVE OR DEAD BAIT. No. 1,— The Kill-Devil. yh ^-^ No. 2 — Set ' F Hooks fok a Kilt -FtRVTi, 488 .MERICAN FISHE3. No. 3.— GLAfiS Bait. No. 4.— Flexible Minnow. No. 5— ftPODN, WITH CoD-FiSH Hook. No. 6.— Speino-Snap before Setting. No. 7. — Spring- Snap Skt FLY-FISHING. 489 No. 8. — ^DoTTBLE Gorge Hook. No. 9. — Baiting Needle. First, then, we will describe what is called a Kill-Devil, vide Fig. 1. This IS made of lead, shaped out something fish-ways. At the thick end it has a loop of wire soldered into it ; at the fine end, another wire passed over a triangular piece of horn to form the tail. This wire is either soldered into the lead or firmly whipped to it ; a piece of broad silver tinsel, witli largish silver twist on each side of it is now secured at the tail ; a very thick crimson floss silk is warped on closely over the lead; the silver tinsel is then wrapped on with a silver twist on each side of it, and close to it. The whole is tied closely at the head, and your Devil is made. Now it only remains to attach the hooks to it. These are set on gut, as in No. 2. First, a and 5, being separate from the rest, three hooks back to back on 5, two hooks ditto on a, ' At c there is a small loop which is inserted into the eye in the head of the Devil d. a is shorter than 5, and hangs below the Devil about the shoulders, h hangs on the opposite side, about where it is repre- sented, e is tied down just above the tail. / and .7 are beyond it. The Kill-Devil is an excellent bait for Trout ; quite as good as a live Minnow. Strike the moment you feel a touch. No. 3 is an Artificial Flexible Minnow. It is composed of cotton wool cased over with India-rubber, and painted to represent a min- now. The hooks are precisely similar to the " Kill-Devil," and set on in the same way, except that the long gut, Z, is passed clear through the body at a, instead of being fastened at the tail. This is an admir- able invention of late years, and a most undeniable killer. I have successfully used one against three men using the Live Minnow in the same boat, and come within three or four of the whole of them in a 32 490 AMERICAN FISHES. day's fishing. Black Bass, Pike, Rock Bass, Perch and White Basb seem equally to like it. No. 4 is an Artificial Glass Minnow — a plate of fluted glass some three inches long by three-eighths wide, is set into a back of German silver, the tail of German silver, hooks used as in the others, only larger and set on gimp instead of gut, tied down at the tail. It is extremely showy in the water, and well calculated for pike, which run at it greedily. No. 5 is a Spoon, with a large Cod-fish hook soldered on to it at the point, a hole being drilled through the shoulder end of it, to which usually a few links of chain are fastened. It is used with tolerable success for Black Bass, and also for Lake Trout. No. 6 and 7 represent a Spring Snap-hook, set and unset. I do not value them at all ; they are liable to got out of order, catch in the weeds, and tear your bait, which is hooked through the lips with the small hook, a, and tied with a thread at h. No. 8 is the Common Double Gorge-Hook on brass wire, leaded at a. This is baited by inserting the hook end of No. 9, called a baiting needle into the loop-hole at 5, passing it into the mouth of the fish and out of the vent, drawing the hooks close up to the mouth. This bait is generally used for night or lay-lines ; it will catch any fish almost, but is more particularly used for Pike or Eels. I have not thought it necessary to mention the common sort of Arti- ficial Minnow, because no one who can get the Flexible would ever use it. It is made of lead, and painted to represent the fish; is very clumsy and not worth having. We have now disposed of the artificial baits, and come to natural ones. Of these we shall enumerate only five — the Salmon Roe, Minnow, Worm, Maggots, Craw-fish and Frogs. Pieces of fish we look on only as a substitute for the Minnow. Salmon Roe, one of the most killing baits for Trout, Eels, Salmon, and I may say, all kinds of fish, is thus prepared, according to Blaine : " A pound of spawn taken from a Salmon some ten days or so before spawning, at which time it is in the best state, is im- mersed in water as hot as the hands can bear, and is then picked free from membraneous films, "S .a-a -* ^^ \''Mi3:^ ;i.2a?>;'^; 3 ->3>/- _3>r*;. \^ > .^•:>^.»^ /^^2)**' '- :) > > .>>2/> °I!]p* ^ ■" ■:%l^;m■ ,:■%'B■.^'■ %':- ••^ .T^ > ■5).v- >*'>,^;>o:>_ ^:>>>-^ y:^^-:^ ^r^ o 0^ n .' %.s^' ;^/^;^^ 's^^^i\^.^ ' ^ ,0 Oo. -.' .^-^^t^f^^*'' "'^^ ^ '\^' <.^^f!^/,, -e. ^■^u^- » 1 A .^^ ,^' ^^ ,0^ '^f^^'' ^^% 3 N V V ^ ^ , X ^ ^ 0^ X^^.