162 



THE STRIPED BASSE. 



quently shorter ; vanishing unequally in their progress. Belly 

 a fine mixture of silver and white. Scales adhere firmly. 



" This fish is very highly prized by the New-Yorkers. He 

 is savory and excellent beyond the generality of fishes. His 

 common abode is the salt water ; but he migrates to the fresh 

 streams and recesses to breed during the spring, and for shel- 

 ter in winter. 



" He takes the hook, especially when baited with soft crab, 

 Small ones are catched by the boys, from the wharves and 

 boats every where near the city. 



" Their greatest run is late in the fall. Instead of going 

 away on the approach of winter, the striped bass seeks refuge 

 in bays, ponds, and recesses where he may remain warm and 

 quiet. Here the fishermen find him, and make great hauls 

 during the coldest season, when very great numbers are 

 brought to market in a frozen state. At this time it is usual 

 to take some very large and heavy ones. Yet I have seen a 

 dozen at a time, of the weight of fifty pounds each, in Oc- 

 tober, while the weather was very mild. 



" He is also taken in seines during the summer, and in au- 

 tumn. Indeed, there is no fish that stays more steadily with 

 us all the year round, than the rock ; and he is found of all 

 sizes, to suit all sorts of palates." 



The basse has been believed, as stated at the commence- 

 ment of this article, to be a native of this country, and was 

 supposed first to have been noticed by Mitchill ; but the fol- 

 lowing from Smith, would lead to a different conclusion. 



" By what authority Dr. Mitchill gave his own name to 

 the striped bass, ' Perca Mttchilli,' we cannot divine : he 

 might with equal propriety have tacked his name to the white 

 shark, or to the bones of the mastodon, and the last would 

 have savored less of vanity, than affixing his cognomen to a 

 common table fish, known from time immemorial all over 

 Europe." 



