341 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



BLACK bass; centropristes nigricans —bed fish — 



WEAK FISH. 



The black bass has the appearance of an elongated perch — to 

 which class of fish it properly belongs. The upper part of the 

 body is of a dark olive-green hue, while the belly is tinted 

 with pink. The dorsal fin is a dark grey mixed with blue ; 

 the anal fin and tail are marked with irregular spots of greyish 

 black. 



A MAN who has been shooting either with rifle or 

 shot-gun for weeks, without any other sport, is 

 apt to think hunting tedious, and to be envious of the 

 disciples of gentle Master Walton, of piscatorial noto- 

 riety ; and many a hunter, after a month's camp-hunt, 

 desires no better sport (for a day or two), than to catch. 

 a few fish. 



The sea alonof the coast, as well as the rivers that 

 water the interior of Texas the beautiful, are provided 

 with fish as plentifully as the forests and prairies are 

 filled with furred and feathered game. 



Scarcely any water in the world produces a greater 

 variety of fish than the Gulf of Mexico. Along the 



