EPISODES 513 



hook it, for if this is not done the first time it touches the 

 bait, you rarely succeed afterward ; and I have seen young 

 hands at the game, who, in the course of a morning, sel- 

 dom caught more than one or two, although they lost per- 

 haps twenty crays. But now that I have afforded you 

 some information respecting the habits of the White Perch, 

 allow me to say a few words on the subject of its favorite 

 bait. 



The Cray is certainly not a fish, although usually so 

 styled ; but as every one is acquainted with its form and 

 nature, I shall not inflict on you any disquisition regarding 

 it. It is a handsome crustaceous animal certainly, and its 

 whole tribe I consider as dainties of the first order. To 

 me " Ecrevisses," whether of salt or fresh water, stripped 

 of their coats and blended into a soup or a " Gombo," have 

 always been most welcome. Boiled or roasted, too, they 

 are excellent in my estimation, and mayhap in yours. 

 The cray-fish, of which I here more particularly speak — 

 for I shall not deprive them of their caudal appendage, lest, 

 like a basha without his tail, they might seem of less con- 

 sequence — are found most abundantly swimming, crawl- 

 ing at the bottom or on shore, or working at their muddy 

 burrows, in all the southern parts of the Union. If I mis- 

 take not, we have two species at least, one more an inhabi- 

 tant of rocky streamlets than the other, and that one by far 

 the best, though the other is good too. Both species swim 

 by means of rapid strokes of the tail, which propel them 

 backwards to a considerable distance at each repetition. 

 All that I regret concerning these animals is that they are 

 absolutely little aquatic vultures — or, if you please, Crus- 

 tacea with vulturine habits — for they feed on everything 

 impure that comes in their way, when they cannot obtain 

 fresh aliment. However this may be, the crays somehow 

 fall in with this sort of food, and any person may catch as 

 many as he may wish, by fastening a piece of flesh to a 

 line, allowing it to remain under water for a while, and 



VOL. II. — 33 



