THE INLAND STREA3IS OF TEXAS. 345 



this fish is not called bass in the Southern States, al- 

 though he bears that name in the lakes and rivers of 

 the North. The men of Texas and Louisiana call him 

 the trout. The best way to catch bass is to spin with 

 a minnow, or ' shiner,' a little fish something like a 

 dace. This sport will thus remind the Texan angler 

 of the cold clear streams of England. 



The Black Bass is not black, but of a very dark 

 yellow-green colour, shading off into a pink hue be- 

 neath the belly. He generally bites well and makes 

 a good stubborn resistance when hooked, and the 

 pleasure of eating almost equals the pleasure of 

 catching him. 



They will not (nor will any other fish in Texas, so 

 far as I have been able to discover), rise at a fly, though 

 I have spent many an eveniug in whipping the waters 

 of some likely-looking streams in the upper country. 

 Yet, I think, it was not from want of knowledge or ex- 

 perience in fly-fishing that I was thus unsuccessful, for 

 in my young days I was much addicted to the sport. 



The scenery upon some of the streams far inland is 

 very beautiful. The sky overhead is blue and bright, 

 the banks ornamented with groups of live oak trees, 

 which reflect their graceful forms in the clear stream, 

 while wild grape-vines hang their leaves, and, at proper 

 seasons, their purple clusters, right over the sparkling 

 waters. Here and there, a stately cedar tree casts a 

 dark shadow over the silvery river, while further on is 



