FISHING TO THE HEART'S CONTENT. 447 



which mark, if the fish has not already been named, I would 

 call it Labrax bimaculatus the two-spotted bass. In size I 

 found it here from three to ten pounds, but am told that it 

 frequently is taken weighing from forty to fifty pounds, and 

 has been seen of nearly one hundred pounds. We also found 

 the scup* and the sea catfish at Musquito Inlet ; the latter 

 like the fresh -water catfish of the great lakes, but a hand- 

 somer fish in shape and color weight, from two to ten 

 pounds. f There are also plenty of sharks, rays, and the saw- 

 fish, sometimes ten or twelve feet long, with a saw of four 

 feet in length. "We find here the green turtle very com- 

 mon, and oysters of the best quality every where for the 

 picking up. 



"At Musquito Inlet the redfish were generally about from 

 three to six pounds in weight; but we were told that in 

 Indian River we should find them of great size, and that there 

 was in that river quite a variety of sporting fishes. So, being 

 rather weary of catching the sheepshead, my friend and I 

 hired a sail-boat and boatman, put on board a tent, blankets, 

 and camp equipage, with some provisions, and started for In- 

 dian River. These rivers, as they are called in Florida, are 

 like the bays on Long Island ; wide, shallow reaches of salt 

 water, separated from the ocean by a narrow sea-beach. J We 

 sailed one hundred and twenty-five miles south to the inlet, 

 where we camped, and fished for some days. We found here 

 the redfish and channel bass in great numbers, and took them 

 with mullet bait, cut up as you cut menhaden for the striped 

 bass. They were from five to thirty pounds, and full of 

 fight and vigor, so that we lost a great many large ones 

 from the parting of our lines, which were the best hand-lines 

 used by the Newport fishermen. Our hooks were broken, 

 our hands were cut to pieces, and we frequently came off 

 second best in our battles with these copper-colored kings 

 of the river. With rod and reel of the right sort, the sport 



* Porgee. f See Estuary Cafftsh, p. 440. t Like Fire Inland. 



