AppEARANCE AND Hanrrs or Srrrren Bass. 47 
weight of nearly a hundred. Ihave captured but one which 
weighed over forty pounds, although I have angled for them 
every season for the past thirty years. It is great game 
when weighing any where from ten to thirty pounds. In 
muscular power the striped bass equals the salmon, but it 
lacks the caudal power for leaping, which is so palpable in 
the form of a salmon, back of its adipose fin, including its 
crescent-shaped tail. 
This fish is known south of New Jersey as the rockfish ; 
but as no two ichthyologists agree upon a classical name for 
the fish, it had probably best be called the name by which it 
is known where the greatest numbers are taken, and there it 
is known only as the srrirED Bass; and as there is no ether 
fish which at all resembles it, there is no chance of mistake. 
It approximates the Perea genus, the front dorsal fin being 
composed of seven spinous or spiked rays, and having two 
nearly concealed spines. Its scales are rather large, and of 
metallic lustre; gill-covers serrated and edges sharp. The 
color of the back is a blending of black, blue, and green, light- 
ing to bluish-gray at the sides, and to a satin white belly. 
The longitudinal stripes are usually seven or eight in number, 
and are like narrow black braids, sparkling with silver or 
diamonds and emerald. Its symmetry, marks, and satin sheen 
render it one of the most picturesque and interesting fishes in 
the world, independent of its great game, generous play, and 
luxury as a dinner fish. 
The striped bass is eminently domestic in his habits. He 
is not given to wandering or vagrancy. Te is generally to 
be found at home and in good condition. The female de- 
posits her eggs in fresh and brackish waters, but never in the 
sea. In November the bass shoal and congregate in brackish 
water-ponds, or back waters of tidal rivers, or in the bays and 
bayous of rivers which have an outlet to the sea, after which 
time it will not take bait until the following spring, after 
having spawned and returned to active waters. The ponds 
formed by the back water of the Seconnet River were, a few 
