THE STRIPED BASS. 125 



basin, but equally killing for this his congener. It has 

 four large wings, two of the Scarlet Ibis, and two of the 

 Silver Pheasant, with a scarlet chenil body. On the St. 

 Lawrence it is sure death. 



Of squidding at night with hand-lines as thick as your 

 little finger, and a live squid of a pound's weight at the 

 end of it, I speak not ; for, although in the Harlem 

 River, in little Hell-gate, and about Hog Island, the fifty 

 and sixty pounders are taken in that fashion, it is much 

 harder work than fine sport ; and, as is the case, I think, 

 with most game fish, the largest neither give the most 

 sport to the fisherman on the hook, nor to the epicure on 

 the board. The gamest fish for the one, and the most 

 delicate for the other, is the fellow that runs from seven, 

 or, by'r lady, five to ten pounds weight, and he will 

 work you on the line, or please you on the platter. 



Of that size, boil him, and serve him with anchovy or 

 shrimp sauce and the squeeze of a lemon ; or roast him, 

 stuffed with bread-crumbs, suet, sweet herbs, lemon peel, 

 and oysters, and basted with anchovy-butter, and if you 

 don't say he's good, you may take my best rod and line. 



If he's a little fellow, score his sides, pepper and butter 

 him, and boil him or, if you've a lot of them, with a 

 bunch or two of silver Passaic eels, pork, onions, pota- 

 toes, oysters, &c., cut them in chunks, and make a 

 chowder of them, with the oysters on top, and don't 

 forget to throw in a pint of dry champagne when it boils 

 up, or to think of Frank Forester, after the first plateful. 



After the striped Bass has had his own fun with the 



