CHAPTER X. 



OP THE STRIPED BASSE, OR ROCK-PISH 



THIS noble and highly prized fish is peculiar to our own 

 country, and to particular parts of it. As an object of sport, 

 for perfect symmetry and beauty of appearance, and as a 

 dish for the table, it is considered second only to the salmon. 

 They are found in the rivers, bays, and inlets, from the Capes 

 of the Delaware to Massachusetts Bay, and also in the rivers 

 and bays of Florida. They appear in the greatest abundance 

 in the Chesapeake Bay,* and in the rivers, bays, inlets and 

 creeks in the vicinity of New- York, and are taken in large 

 quantities, from the size of a common trout to the weight of 

 upwards of a hundred pounds. 



In addition to the above described names, they are some- 

 times called Perch. The late learned and distinguished Go- 

 vernor De Witt Clinton, who was a member of the Philoso- 



* A friend who angles in Chesapeake Bay, below Baltimore, says that 

 he h:is seen them as long as a crow-bar! This is not quite so bad as be- 

 ing as big as a lump of chalk, as the crow-bar was in sight at the time, 

 and measured about five feet six inches. 



