The Sunfisb Family 61 



fisher. The novelty of the situation appeals very 

 strongly to the angler-naturalist whose experi- 

 ences have been on the clear, sparkling, tumbling 

 streams of the North. There Nature is ever 

 bright and joyous ; here she is quiet and sombre 

 and subdued. But the fishes know no north or 

 south or east or west, always the same crea- 

 tures of interest and beauty, and ever responding 

 to the wiles of the angler. 



I was once fishing on St. Francis River, in 

 Arkansas, where the warmouths were both large 

 and gamy. One day I went through the woods 

 and cane-brakes to the banks of Mud Lake, situ- 

 ated in the midst of a cypress swamp. The lake 

 was much smaller than it had been formerly, as 

 was apparent from the wide margins of the 

 shores, which were of considerable extent be- 

 tween the timber and the water. On this mar- 

 gin was a group of four cypress trees that in size 

 exceeded any that I had ever seen, and I think 

 worthy of mention. They were from twenty to 

 twenty-five feet in diameter, or sixty to sixty- 

 five feet in circumference, three feet above the 

 ground. They were buttressed like the wall of 

 a mediaeval stronghold. In comparing notes with 

 many naturalists and travellers, they have de- 



