168 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



was from four to six inches in length, and in less than three weeks 

 had grown upwards of an inch. 



This, I must confess, notwithstanding I had implicit confidence 

 in their making a rapid growth, astonished me much. I had always* 

 been a believer in heavy feeding, and felt satisfied that the amount 

 of growth that would be derived in a certain time depended mainly 

 upon the quantity of feed that had been consumed. This led me 

 to speculate where these Bass obtained their food, confined as they 

 were in a very small body of water containing some eight hundred 

 fish, and immediately below my ponds containing some 40,000 sal- 

 mon, young and older. For the purpose of ascertaining this, I 

 made my Bass frequent visits, and by remaining quietly secreted 

 on the banks, soon discovered the source of their food supply. 



One day as I was thus occupied, in company with my eldest boy, 

 he .called my attention to the fact that a snake ( Tropidonotus grahami) 

 was leisurely swimming through their midst. At first I felt inclined 

 to pursue the snake, fearing that he might in some manner injure, 

 if not destroy, a large portion of my native stock. My fears were, 

 however, speedily terminated by one of my larger Bass making a 

 rapid dart at the snake with open mouth, and nearly severing its 

 head quite close to the body. The scene that then ensued beggared 

 description. Never shall I forget it such a floundering and splash- 

 ing! The surface of the water for an instant seemed literally cov- 

 ered with perpendicular tails enveloped in foam. So great was the 

 commotion that we were compelled to retire to a greater distance 

 in order to avoid being thoroughly drenched. 



After the disturbed waters had become somewhat calmed, we 

 resumed our former position in order to make further observations, 

 and found our large Bass hero, with one end of the -snake in its 

 mouth, rapidly making away with it, and a smaller, but not less 

 pretentious brother, at the other end, endeavoring with all his might 

 and main to eat even with him. Thus these gamey lads continued 

 for some time, swimming up and down the stream, like two boys 

 running with a rope. The distance between them, however, rapidly' 

 diminished. 



This had continued for some time, when we saw emerging from 

 under a log at the edge of the banks one of my pike (Esox lucius). 

 At first he came slowly but steadily, when he made a rapid dart, 



