42 NEW SOUTH WALES 
“The bait for these fishes are star-fish, squid, mackerel, yellow-tail, 
mullet, tailors, and a variety of other fishes; the whole of these at 
particular times will be readily taken, but when the schnapper appears 
dainty, mackerel and squid may tempt him when all others fail, In 
their young stage, such as red bream, lean beef, for amateurs, is about 
the usual bait, and which answers in the absence of fish tolerably well. 
Thousands of what would be the future schnapper are destroyed in this 
harbour alone, either by the line or net, or by the combination of both, 
from the very smallest of the genus, and in their earliest stage they 
appear willing to take the bait. 
“It may be fairly presumed that this fish is known to almost everyone 
in the Colony, and often recognized in the adult state, and when just 
caught is the beau ideal of a fish, representing beauty to the eyes, sport 
to the fisherman, firm, palatable, wholesome, and nutritious food to the 
multitudes. Cook it whichever way you may please—by the primitive 
and impromptu method frequently adopted by fishermen, of roasting it 
before a fire, elevated an inch or so from the ground by the aid of a 
couple of forked sticks, which answer the purpose also of turning the 
fish by lifting them from the ground and reversing their position. No 
preparation is necessary in the first instance, save to take out the inside 
and wash the part clean ; when sufficiently cooked, the scales will come 
off from either side in one flake, leaving a firm, beautifully white and 
tempting dish. Then for the table, boiled entire, and served with egg 
sauce, in fillets or as a curry, all are excellent, and as a general rule the 
schnapper may be ranked as one of the first favourites. No party of 
amateurs who go out for a day’s general fishing think their basket com- 
plete without schnapper being among their number,—that name floats 
uppermost in calling over the day’s sport, and covers many defects in 
other fishes which may happen to be in the list of the day’s catch, and 
indicates, as a rule, that the sport was fair or good.” 
In the frontispiece is given a figure of an old male schnapper, with 
the peculiar hump on the head. It is formed by an egg-shaped mass of 
bone at the summit of the high crest of the supra-occipital. The 
frontals and ethmoid also become enormously thickened, and there is 
frequently a large egg-shaped mass on the end of the first interneural 
spine. The aboriginal name of this fine fish is ‘“ Wollomai.” 
The Tarwhine. 
(Plate TX.) 
CHRYSOPHRYS comprises the Tarwhine and Black Bream of the Sydney 
fishermen.—This genus only differs from Pagrus by the upper molar 
teeth, which are in at least three series, while in true schnapper they are 
only two. The air-bladder is notched or has small appendages in bream, 
whereas the other genus has the same organ quitesimple. Some twenty 
species are known in tropical seas and the warmer parts of the temperate 
zone. The common species of the Mediterranean is C. awrata, rarely 
found on the south coast of England, where it goes by the name of 
Gilthead. It was known to the Greeks by the name of Chrysophrys 
(golden eyebrow), and the Romans, as-Aurata, or golden, and the French 
name Dawrade appears to be a translation of the same. According to 
Columella the Awrata was one of the fishes reared by the Romans in 
