SHEEPSHEAD FISHING. 149 



lie hooked, as lie supposed, a shark, and after play- 

 ing it some minutes, called to me that it was coming 

 up. I hurriedly caught up the spear, and trans- 

 fixed, not a shark but an enormous scale-fish, of a 

 description I had never seen before. With the aid 

 of the gaff and a loop, we hoisted him on board, 

 and I shortly after made for Bay Point with rny 

 prize. Its shape was nearly that of the fresh-water 

 perch known by the name of "wide-mouthed 

 perch " which, by the way, my friend, Professor 

 Holbrook, says, is no perch at all, but a u pomotis." 

 Its hue was a greenish black on the back, subsid- 

 ing into a faint yellow on the belly ; its mouth was 

 unfurnished with teeth, but had slender spikes 

 instead, with which it could hold its prey ; its eyes 

 were large and prominent ; its tail was large at its 

 insertion, and the paddle (caudal rays) small in pro- 

 portion to the size of the fish. It resembled, in fine, 

 an inhabitant of the fresh water, rather than the 

 sea ; was manifestly a heavy and dull swimmer ; 

 and it struck me as matter of surprise, that a fish 

 thus formed, could escape for a day being destroyed 

 by the sharks. I could only solve the difficulty, by 

 supposing that he was born and bred among these 

 rocks the crevices of which had sheltered him from 

 their attacks. 



Desiring to show so uncommon a fish to the good 



