314 AMERICAN FISHES. 



in anywise deserve it, as, both for durante vita and post-mortem ex 

 cellence, he deserves all honor. 



He is to be caught most easily with the rod and tackle before de- 

 scribed, under the head of the Squeteaque, or Weak-Fish, except that 

 a smaller hook should be used, the mouth of the King-Fish being 

 small. The best bait is the shedder-crab. 



In a former portion of this work, devoted to the consideration of 

 the natural history of fishes, I have quoted an anecdote, published in 

 the New York Commercial Advertiser, of July 6, 1827, recording the 

 capture of four hundred and twenty-two King-Fish, by a boy and a 

 man, in the space of six hours, in Jamaica bay, off Rockaway ; and I 

 find it stated in the American Angler's Guide, that twenty or thirty 

 are often taken in a single *tide. 



The first feat is unsurpassed, and probably never will be equalled ; 

 the second is of most rare occurrence, so much so that now-a-days the 

 angler justly holds himself favored by the marine deities, who kills his 

 half-dozen King-Fish in a day. 



All this, however, may be changed at any moment; for the comings 

 and goings of all migratory animals are more or less and those of 

 migratory fishes, most irregular. 



Their visits are like those of angels, few and far between. The 

 King-Fish, the Lafayette, the Blue-Fish, nay, even those scaly cus- 

 tomers, the Prawn and the Lobster, will swarm this year, disappear 

 entirely the next, and after an absence, longer, perhaps, than Jacob's 

 double courtship, will again gladden the hearts of their lovers by re- 

 turning in numbers innumerable. 



In New York harbor, the flats from Bergen Point to Jersey City, 

 within the fortified islands, and the big rock called Black Tom, and 

 opposite Communipaw, are the best waters for the King-Fish. But 

 in the Passaic bay, and off Elizabethtown Point, and also in the 

 lagoons of Long Island, they are taken often in great numbers. 



May they soon return to us as thickly as of yore, and remain as 

 long as it suiteth them. They shall be welcome. 



