68 



THE TROUT. 



game a fish as the ordinary trout, neither do they possess 

 as fine a flavor for the table. They are supposed to take their 

 color from the quality and color of the water, which has gene- 

 rally a dark smoky appearance, occasioned by the decayed 

 leaves and timber which there abound. Many of the streams 

 in the western and mountainous parts of Pennsylvania, contain 

 this species. They are found also in great abundance, in the 

 wild and uninhabited parts of Hamilton county, New-York, 

 and in some parts of New-Hampshire and Vermont. 



Of the Sea Trout, the writer is enabled to give a better 

 and more satisfactory description than his own. Smith says : 

 " They are found, as may be inferred from the name, in the salt 

 and brackish waters of tide rivers, inland bays in various parts 

 of this * and the adjoining states. When taken from the salt 

 water early in the spring, they are in high perfection, and 

 nothing can exceed their piscatory symmetry. The general ap- 

 pearance of the skin is of a silvery brightness ; the back being 

 of a greenish and mackerel complexion, the spots of a vermil- 

 ion color, mixed with others of a faint yellow, and sometimes 

 slightly tinged with purple, extend the whole length on each 

 side of the lateral line ; the fins are light in col^r and firm in 

 texture, and together with the tail are rather shorter and more 

 rounded than the common trout. They have a firm compact- 

 ness of form from head to tail, which accounts for the superior 

 sprightliness of their motion ; the head and mouth are very 

 small, and the latter never black inside like the common, or 

 fresh water trout ; the flesh is even redder, or rather we would 

 say, more pink colored than the salmon, to which, by many, 

 they are preferred as a delicacy, having, like the salmon, 

 much of what is called the curd or fat between the flakes. 



" A fish of a pound weight measures about 11 inches in 

 length. Their average size is considerably larger than the 

 fresh water, or brook trout — having been taken in the waters to 



* Massachusetts. 



