THE PERCH FAMILY. 1^7 



the Thousand Isles, is by the New York Central Eailroad to 

 Rome, thence to Cape Vincent, and early next morning by 

 steamboat to Alexandria Bay ; where Rowe Brothers have 

 quarters that would have delighted Father Izaak himself, and 

 where boats and oarsmen can always be procured. Anglers 

 from all the towns of New York on the Central Railroad 

 come in large numbers to this place, and have immense sport 

 amongst the Bass, Pickerel, and Mascalonge. 



Like the other fish of this genus, the Bass is esteemed for 

 the excellence of its flesh, though I think it is somewhat 

 overrated. 



This fish differs from the Oswego Bass, to which it bears 

 so close a resemblance, in having a smaller head, and its 

 belly less protuberant, though the position of the fins, their 

 shape, and number of spines and rays, are almost identical. 

 It spawns in the spring on the breaking up of the ice, when 

 many of the largest fish are speared on their spawning-beds. 



An officer of the United States Engineer Department, who 

 had charge of the construction of a fort or lighthouse on Lake 

 St. Clair, some twenty years ago, informed me that on several 

 occasions he took scores of Black Bass by trolling with a 

 hand-line from a boat ; the average size was four pounds ; he 

 showed me the artificial bait he used, which was a large Lim- 

 erick hook about an inch and a quarter across the bend, with 

 a white feather whipped to the back of it. 



