218 



THE BASS. 



and last rays ; the second dorsal and the pectoial are pale brown, and the tail and other tins 

 are bright red. 



The fine fish so well known under the name of Bass, or Sea-Dace, or Sea-Pekch, is 

 common on many coasts, and is considered by anglers as affording good sport. 



It seems, from the accounts of practical sportsmen, to bite with readiness at a bait, but to 

 be a difficult fish to secure, on account of its tender mouth, its ingenious stratagems, and its 

 great strength. When hooked, it leaps, plunges, and swims with such force and swiftness, 

 that the captor is forced to exercise the greatest skill in preventing it from breaking 

 away. One of its favorite ruses is to double back under the boat, in hopes of cutting the 





GIANT PERCH AND COMMON PEUCti. -Liiciopeira sandia et Perca ftiiiiali/is. 



line against the keel, or gaining a fixed point by which it may be able to drag the hook from 

 its mouth. 



Even when fairly tired out, and drawn to the edge of the boat, it is by no means secured, 

 for its scales are so hard that a very shai'p blow of the gaff is needed to fix the hook in its 

 side, and its gills and fins are so formidably armed^ that it cannot be grasped with impunity. 

 The spines of the dorsal fin, in i)articular, are strong and sharp as packing-needles, and the 

 various portions of the operculum are edged with projecting teetli tiiat cut like lancets. Many 

 are the wounds that have been infiicted by the sudden twist and wriggle of the Bass, when 

 grasped in a careless manner. When lifted into the boat, the hook is not to be taken from 

 the mouth without some risk. 



It is a voracious fish, and derives its name of "lupus," or wolf, in consequence of its 

 insatiate appetite. It feeds upon other fish and various inhabitants of the sea. Mr. Couch 

 states that it is very ff)nd of wood-lice, and is bold enough to venture among i-ocks in a tem- 



