LONG ISLAND TKOUT FISHING. 341 



" In Canada, and in the British Provinces to the eastward of 

 Maine, it is true that Sea Trout, or Salmon Peel, are taken of 

 large size in the St. Lawrence, and in the rivers falling into the 

 bays of Gaspe and Chaleurs ; but although occasionally con- 

 founded with the Trout proper, this is in truth a totally different 

 fish, and one, so far as I know, which is never taken in any of 

 the waters of the United States. 



" In appearance, the Brook Trout of America and Great 

 Britain are to my eye almost identical ; both presenting, in well- 

 fed and well-conditioned fish, the same smallness of head, depth 

 of belly, and breadth of back ; the same silvery lustre of the 

 scales, the same bright crimson spots. The flesh of the Ameri- 

 can fish, when in prime order, and taken in the best waters, is, 

 I must confess, of a deeper red hue, and of a higher flavour, 

 than that of any which it has been my fortune to taste at home 

 — and I have often eaten the Thames Trout, which, rarely taken 

 below ten pounds in weight, are esteemed by epicures the very 

 best of the species. 



" We travel now, be it observed, by railroad to our fishing 

 stations, but for the convenience of reviewing the country, and 

 scanning the waters, in regular succession as we pass eastward, 

 I will suppose that, as in the pleasant days of old, we are rol- 

 ling along in our light wagon, over the level roads, on a mild 

 afternoon in the latter days of March, or the first of April. 



" We have started from Williamsburgh or Brooklyn, after an 

 early dinner ; passed through Jamaica ; rolled over the plains 

 towards Hempstead ; and, passing through it without stoppage, 

 have turned suddenly to the right towards the bays, beyond 

 which lies the beach, with the incessant surge of the Atlantic 



