THE STRIPED BASS. I43 



fish-baskets laying in their stock of shedder crabs, shrimp, 

 and sand-worms, not forgetting a string or two of soft clams, 

 for Bass are capricious in their taste, and will sometimes 

 take the plebeian clam in preference to the aristocratic and 

 high-priced shedder. At this season of the year the waters 

 of Newark Bay, Staten Island Sound, and the Kill von Kull 

 will fairly teem with small Bass, rarely reaching five pounds 

 oftener ranging from three-fourths to one and one-half 

 pounds each and will be dotted with the small boats of an- 

 glers eager in the pursuit of the gamy little fish. 



A day at one of these favored spots with a genial compan- 

 ion, or, if alone, spent in those delicious musings and self- 

 communings into which one easily falls from pure idle enjoy- 

 ment, broken occasionally by the tug of some prying unfortu- 

 nate who attempts to purloin the bait and comes to grief on 

 the treacherous barb, is one to be treasured in the memory 

 and marked with a white stone forever. 



As our boat swings lazily with the current, we note the 

 wondrous witch-work which the frosts have wrought upon 

 the foliage of the neighboring hills, the russet browns, and 

 vermilions, and yellows mingling boldly with the dark green 

 of the cedars, while the soft haze of the Indian summer mel- 

 lows and blends the brilliant dyes into a mass of harmonious 

 coloring, giving them an indistinctness which makes it hard 

 to realize that we are not in dream-land. Emerson asks, 

 "Who can guess how much firmness the sea-beaten rock has 

 taught the fisherman? How much tranquillity has been re- 

 flected to man from the azure sky?" We give it up; we feel 

 in no mood to answer such questions; we know only that the 

 hours glide by with a fleetness unusual, and that every mo- 

 ment brings with it its measure of pure and unalloyed con- 

 tent. 



What matters it if our catch does not rise above the dig- 

 nity of pan-fish, or even if the proverbial "fisherman's luck" 

 should fall to our lot? we have a day spent in the glorious 



