PROTECTION OF FISH. 189 



the wounded spot suck out the little life that is left. 

 There are many streams of New Jersey which, by 

 persistent gigging, as it is called, have been divested 

 of every swimming thing, so that they are abso- 

 lutely uninhabited. Not only trout, but catfish, eels, 

 and suckers, have met the same untimely fate, and 

 now boys and men search vainly for their prey. 



By fair fishing no stream or pond can be entirely 

 exhausted ; when trout have the privilege of biting 

 or not, they will exhibit sufficient circumspection to 

 perpetuate their species ; but when they can be fol- 

 lowed during the hours of darkness to their retreats, 

 and exposed by the glare of the jack, are liable to 

 death by the fatal spear, or in case they may be 

 enveloped by the all-devouring net, they have no 

 defence or escape, and must soon disappear entirely. 

 Their numbers, instead of helping them or delay- 

 ing the catastrophe, excite the cupidity of the 

 poacher, and accelerate instead of deferring their 

 destruction. 



Interested parties in various sections of the coun- 

 try, endeavor to convince themselves and others 

 that trout change their nature in these favored 

 localities, and either spawn from time to time as 

 fancy dictates, or postpone the performance till 

 winter's frosts have driven profitable visitors to their 

 city homes. The proprietors of the frontier taverns, 

 where sportsmen congregate in search offfinny prey, 

 boldly assert that there are several kinds of brook 

 trout, of which one variety spawns in September, 

 another in October, and so on in such manner that 



