104 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 4, lfifig. 



to the tender care of the cougars before I would under- 

 take to ford that stream in its present condition." 



Voorhes laughed, and without replying touched his 

 horse with his spurs and they started across. Voorhes 

 was slightly in advance of Ingalls and before he reached 

 the middle of the strea m his horse was straining his every 

 muscle to counterbalance the momentous force of the 

 rushing flood. Suddenly the horse lost his footing and 

 in a moment horse and * rider were struggling helplessly 

 in the merciless current. Ingalls hurried back but we 

 were all powerless to aid Voorhes in the least. Like two 

 straws horse and man were hurled down into the seething 

 caldron below the rapid. Once Voorhes reached out des- 

 perately but vainly for the end of a log that protruded 

 out over the stream from the further bank. Before we had 

 fully realized that the man was down and at the mercy 

 of the torrent, Voorhes, despite his heroic struggles, was 

 in the swirl of the deep pool and sank to be seen no mure 

 alive. 



"Not even a Took from out, the liquid grave 

 Lifted its point to save, 



Or showed the place where strong despair had died." 



Aimlessly we ran along the bank for half a mile or 

 more looking for some vestige of him, but the "cruel 

 Molalla had claimed him for its own. After an hour's 

 vain searching we sorrowfully retraced our steps to 

 Moody's, and soon the sad intelligence of Voorhes's fate 

 had spread among the settlers. 



Next day Moody took us to Oregon City, and thus 

 ended the first chapter of my fishing experience in the 

 Molalla country. S. H.Greene. 



Potjti.and, Oregon. 



SOME CHINESE FISHES. 



WE are indebted to Mr. E, G. Blackford for the follow- 

 ing interesting notes on some fishes of China: 



CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES OE AMERICA, AT A.MOY, 



China, Sept. 23, 1892. Him. Eugene, O. Blackford, President JSTrne 

 York Fish Corn-mission, JJ. 8. Fiili Commission, etc.: Dear Sir— 

 At the suggestion or our mutual friend, Vice-Oonsul W. E. S. 

 Falee, I have the pleasure of submitting to you various notes I 

 have made upon subjects of ichtnyologic interest here in the far 

 East. Hoping that they may prove of some use to you and the 

 learned societies you so ably represent, I have the honor to be, 

 Vonr obedient servant, Edward Bedeoe, XL. SI Consul. 



I. THE SAM-LI. 



The best fish on the China coast from a gastronomic 

 standpoint is the sam-li (Fig. 1). It is a member of the 

 Alosa genus and bears a striking resemblance to its Am- 

 erican cousin, the shad. It seems to have a wider range 

 than the latter, being caught all the way from the Gulf of 

 Tonquin to the Yellow Sea. 



This, so far as mere distance is concerned, is about equal 

 to a line from Nova Scotia to Trinidad on the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States and West Indies. Still greater 

 is the difference in temperature of the waters in which it is 

 found. The Gulf of Tonquin is as warm as the Gulf of 

 Mexico, while the Yellow Sea is about on a par with the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence. On the Pacific a corresponding 

 marine habitat would reach from Nicaragua to Alaska. 

 There seems no reason why this fish can not be trans- 

 planted and raised successfully on both the Atlantic and 

 Pacific coasts. It would be a notable addition to our food 

 supply. The sam-li is thicker and heavier than the shad; 

 its flesh slightly tends to a yellowish tinge owing to its 

 fatne?s; it is equally delicious, and its bones, larger than 

 those of the shad, are more easily detached and removed. 

 It is a great favorite in the East, bringing 20 cents a 

 pound, where commoner sea food is Bold fori and 2 cents 

 per pound. 



11. BAMBOO OYSTERS. 



At various points on the China coast, and more espe- 

 cially at Foochow, Amoy and Taiwanfoo in Formosa, the 

 natives raise an oyster which is called the bamboo oyster 

 on account of the manner in which it is grown and which 

 is famous for its delicacy and flavor. It obtains its best 

 results in tidewater streams, where the bivalve attains its 

 finest development. Bamboo stakes about 5ft. long are 

 driven into the sandy or mud bottom so as to project a 

 foot a,t low tide. To each stake are fastened two or more 

 old oyster shells. The stakes themselves are arranged 

 six or eight inches apart in parallel rows a foot apart. 

 The young fry attach themselves first to the old shells 

 and afterward to the stalk of bamboo. They are removed 

 when they have grown to be not less than a half inch in 

 diameter. The smallest Bize in the market (of the oyster, 

 not the shell) is that of a cherry pit. From this the sizes 

 run up until they are equal to the Bluepoint. The best 

 or rather the most popular are those of the size of a peach 

 stone. From the alternation each day of salt and fresh 

 water they become very fat and tender, and grow much 

 more rapidly than those found in natural beds. The bam- 

 boo stakes are very durable and last oftentimes twenty 

 years. The gradual growth of the bivalves causes the 

 top of the stake to become imbedded in a ball of shells 

 and debris, which in the course of a decade is frequently 

 as big as a man's head. The effect at low tide is striking 

 and rather comical. In every direction are thousands of 

 rough black balls, supported on thin pegs that look for 

 all the world like one of those murderous festivals of the 

 King of Dahomey, in which a thousand Senegambians 

 were decapitated and their wooly heads set upon poles. 



III. CHINESE CARP. 



Swatow, in the province of Quantung, is noted for the 

 skill of its fishculturists. They fatten fish for the wealthy 

 mandarins, and more particularly the bright-colored 

 members of the goldfish family. They raise Chinese 

 carp and enjoy a lucrative industry in selling the young 

 fry to different parts of the Empire. The more skilful of 

 the cultivators practice artificial fecundation in the same 

 general way as is done at Cold Spring, N. Y. They have 

 been doing it for 2,000 years. The hatching is effected 

 with but little trouble on account of the excellence of the 

 climate. When the fry are a half inch long they are 

 ready for the market, and are sold by the hundred, thou- 

 sand", ten thousand of fifty thousand. How they count 

 them I could never find out. The average price is about 

 ten for a cent, or one cash apiece. The purchaser trans- 

 ports the fry to pools, ponds or fountains, and there grows 

 them until they weigh from a half pound upward. It is 

 found more economical to sell them at this stage than at 

 any other, because the growth, though very rapid up to 

 this point, becomes suddenly very much slower. In 

 transporting the fry long distances by sea a very ingeni- 

 ous system prevails. The young fish are put into large 

 tu bs on the upper deck that resemble brewery vats, and 



are filled with fresh water. From a working-bar across 

 the top of the tub four strings connect the bar with as 

 many wooden plungers, that float on the water in the 

 tub. A half turn of the bar causes two plungers to rise 

 and the other two to fall and strike the water with 

 enough force to stir it up, and at the same time to force 

 into it fresh air. The return of the bar brings down the 

 first two plungers and raises the second couple. The bar 

 is worked by coolies day and night, and enables the pur- 

 chaser to keep the fish alive five or six days without any 

 change of water. By changing the water it is said that 

 they can be preserved three weeks, and in that way be 

 safely transported to any part of the Chinese coast. 



' Edward Bedloe. 



We have been informed by Mr. Ho, of the Chinese 

 Legation, Washington, D. C.,that sam-li is the Cantonese 

 name of the shad. In the central provinces of Cbina, in- 

 cluding the Yang-tse-kiang River region, the fish is known 

 as <•//<• i/d. which means "time" fish or ''periodical" fish, 

 referring to its anadromous habit. Mr. Ho says the shad 



THE SAM-LI. 



arrives in the Yang-tse-kiang about the end of March or 

 early in April, and runs about two months. The shad of 

 this river are reputed to be the finest in the empire, and 

 grow very large, sometimes weighing 7lb3. About forty 

 years ago a wealthy Cantonese official, named Woo, the 

 Tas-tai, or Superintendent of Customs, in Canton , started 

 the custom of paying a high price for the first shad 

 brought to him by a fisherman — the reward was 50 tales, 

 equal to about 80 American dollars. The favorite mode 

 of cooking the shad in China, according to Mr. Ho, is 

 steaming without removing the scales. The flavor is said 

 to be better preserved than by any other style of prepara- 

 tion. 



According to Dabry de Thiersant, from whose work the 

 figure of the ehe-yu or sam-li was copied, the fish arrives 

 as late as June in some Chinese rivers; the scales are used 

 in making artificial pearls, and some doctors regard the 

 oil as a sovereign remedy for certain ulcers. 



INTRODUCTION OF BLACK BASS INTO 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



O INCE writing the letter which appeared in Forest 

 and Stream, Dec. 24 last, under the caption "A 

 Back Cast," I have been indulging in an exploration into 

 dark closets, upper shelves, and out-of-the-way corners 

 for old books, reports, papers and forgotten memoranda. 

 It resulted chiefly in raising dust and a mild remonstrance; 

 caused soiled linen and frequent ablutions, and yet there 

 was some meat among the husks. 



1 have previously contended that the interior waters of 

 New York State were not the original habitat of the black 

 bass, but that they were introduced from Lake Erie 

 through the Erie Canal, built in 1825. I did not, how- 

 ever, know (or if I did 1 have forgotten it) that through 

 the building, or rather digging, of this canal black bass 

 were introduced into Massachusetts; but such is the case. 

 Four years before the birth of this journal, four years to 

 a day, namely Aug. 14, 1869, Mr. S. T. Tisdale of East 

 Wareham, Mass., told in the Albion how he introduced 

 the black bass into the waters of the Commonwealth in 

 which he resided; and in this account additional evidence 

 is given of how intimately Saratoga Lake, in the State of 

 New York, is associated with the general distribution of 

 black bass, and what an important part she has played in 

 making this game fish known to anglers in New England. 



I have related in these columns, and elsewhere, how 

 Saratoga Lake waB stocked with black bass from the 

 lower Hudson, and how in turn that lake stocked a large 

 area of northern New York with the same fish. 



While I have a very indistinct recollection of previously 

 seeing Mr. Tisdale's name in connection with a transfer 

 of black bass, I never had seen his statement before I 

 came across it a few days ago. He noticed that because 

 of the expansion of the manufacturing interests, the in- 

 creased facilities offered by the railroads for transporta- 

 tion, and the growing desire of the people to engage in 

 angling as a recreation, that the trout streams of Barn- 

 stable and Plymouth counties had become depleted until 

 they no longer repaid the effort to resort to them. "This 

 depletion of the trout streams led me to consider the sub- 

 ject of stocking the lakes and ponds of this vicinity with 

 some game fish as a substitute. With the aid of a veteran 

 angler and friend I decided upon an effort to introduce 

 the celebrated black bass of the Northern lakes. I allude 

 to Preston Hodges, then verging upon seventy years. He 

 proposed to undertake and accomplish the effort at my 

 expense. This was the result of a conference at my house 

 one evening in May, 1850, after an unsuccessful raid for 

 trout near Agawara. Saratoga Lake was selected as the 

 best location to obtain bass. In June he was upon the 

 spot, where he remained some two weeks, and, aided by 

 a 1 henchman, captured some forty fish, thirty of which 

 were kept alive. With these, seeking the mo3t expedi- 

 tious means of transit by rail, he started for Agawam, 

 via Boston. They were placed in a large cask of water, 

 properly cooled with ice, and reached Springfield only to 

 die! This waB in June. Undaunted he retraced his steps, 

 and was soon at the lake, and, with his trusted hench- 

 man, again catching a fresh supply of fish. The mortu- 

 ary result of the Springfield route led him to discard its 

 second attempt. 



"By the first of July he was once more'ready to start for 

 Agawam with twenty-eight live fish. These were divided 

 and placed in two boxes, 4ft. long and some 15in. square. 

 He came to Troy, and started for New York by steam- 

 boat down the Hudson River, making a night passage, 

 and reaching New York in the morning at 8 o'clock. 

 During the night himself and the henchman were con- 

 stantly watching, watering and icing the fish — they 

 began to droop and their loss seemed inevitable. They 

 were carried to the Fall River steamboat, apparently- 



gasping their last. A change of water, from a Croton 

 tank, well iced, restored them, only one dying. This 

 change and cooling was kept up during the day and 

 through Long Island Sound until they reached Fall 

 River, and from there, via railroad, to Agawam, 

 two large casks of Croton water having been 

 brought the entire distance for this purpose. For two 

 days they were watched, watered and cooled, without a 

 moment's intermission, and on the arrival of the cars at 

 Agawam, at 11 o'clock A. M., the 4th day of July, Anno 

 Domini, 1850, twenty-seven live black bass from Saratoga 

 Like were placed in Flax Pond, ad joining my residence, 

 thus stocking it forever. This, I believe, is the pond firs! 

 stocked in this State, if not in New England, Vermont 

 probably excepted. Nor could T rest here. The Founda- 

 tion had been laid at Saratoga Lake for a further supply 

 at a later season of the year. Of this I availed myself in 

 November, and through a person employed there 1 had 

 one hundred more live fish brought over the same route 

 to Agawam and distributed in several ponds of larger 

 size within Plymouth woods, among these White island 

 Pond, which is seven miles in circumference; Great 

 Sandy Pond, a mile long: Great Herring Pond, Pickled 

 Pond, Agawam Mill Pond, and Sturtevant's Pond. This 

 was repeated in 1851 and 1852, and from these and their 

 progeny more than thirty ponds in this region have been 

 stocked by other gentlemen of Plymouth devoted to 

 angling. The waters of Massachusetts are destined to 

 teem with this superior fish, the first planting of which 

 was in beautiful Flax Pond." 



This is Mr. Tisdale's story of his introduction of the 

 black bass into Massachusetts waters, and he acted from 

 an honest desire to benefit his fellow anglers; but the 

 black bass business may be overdone, and because he 

 was successful it does not follow that the indiscriminate 

 planting of black bass is to be practiced or encouraged . 

 It is not always wise to put them into waters of good 

 size and never into small waters in which other fish are 

 expected to thrive. Mr. Tisdale discovered evidently 

 that all waters are not fit for black bass, for he says that 

 "in waters adapted to their growth they will increase as 

 rapidly as yellow perch." I venture to say that no fish 

 has been so generally introduced into waters wholly un- 

 fitted for them as the black bass. As if to emphasize 

 this statement, since I began to write I have had a request 

 to procure some trout to be planted in a little spring pond 

 on the top of a mountain most difficult of access, and the 

 trout are desired "because the bass are not doing 

 very well." It was a trout pond originally, but some 

 stupid fellow with the black bass mania managed to 

 climb up there with a few black bass and yellow perch 

 and leave them in the pond; and as they haVe not "done 

 well" it is considered time to plant trout. This man ex- 

 hibited less intelligence than a visitor that I had about a 

 week ago. He, too, wished me to get some fish for him 

 to stock an artificial pond. He thought about 100,000 

 trout fry would do because he had heard that that was 

 the number of young salmon I had planted for the Gov- 

 ernment last spring in streams near the village in which 

 I live. His pond was about 20 X 30ft. and from 18in. to 

 3ft. deep, and he had built it for the purpose of raising 

 trout for market. I told him that neither the State nor 

 the United States furnished trout fry for such a purpose, 

 and then devoted two solid hours to explaining patiently 

 and as clearly as possible some things that he did not 

 know about planting and rearing trout. He finally 

 said that he never had seen a trout in his life, but he had 

 a friend at court, or in other words "a pull," by which 

 he could get the fish in spite of the "regulations." Food, 

 depth, area and temperature of water, hiding places and 

 other conditions suitable for trout were as nothing com- 

 pared to his pull, which of course existed only in his 

 mind. 



Mr. Tisdale's statement does not end with the introdttc- 

 tion of black bass into Flax and other ponds, and I return 

 to it for other interesting information. The bass that he 

 procured from Saratoga Lake were the small-month 

 species, because the large-mouth was not introduced into 

 the lake until a number of years subsequently to the 

 organization of the New York Fish Commission. He 

 continues: "After stocking a pond no fishing should be 

 permitted for five or six years. This gives ample time 

 for a large increase. In six years after being spawned 

 they will reach three pounds, and gradually increase to 

 the maximum size, which may be set at five to six pounds 

 at the rate of about half a pound per year. Very many 

 fish from two to three and one-half pounds have been 

 taken from the ponds stocked in 1850 to 1852, and but few 

 comparatively of five or six pounds. One of seven and 

 one-half pounds was taken late in May, 1864, which I had 

 placed in,a new pond two years previous, then weighing 

 three and one-half pounds; but it was a female fish, from 

 which I took a sack of spawn weighing two pounds." 



There are no hard and fast rules by which the yearly 

 growth of black bass may be determined, as the condi- 

 tions may differ in different waters, but here is the record 

 of a seven and one-half pounds small-mouth black bass 

 caught in 1864, and yet when one was caught in other 

 waters thirteen years later, weighing but a few ounces 

 more, the weight and species were seriously doubted by 

 many anglers, simply because they never had heard of , 

 such' a fish; and several more years passed and a still 

 greater bass was produced in the flesh for examination 

 before the last doubter was satisfied that the small-mouth 

 did grow to seven pounds and over. 



Mr. Tisdale's observations upon the spawning habits of 

 the black bass are also of interest, although his deduc- 

 tions therefrorn are not in all instances correct, as viewed 

 from later and more extended observations. He says 

 that they spawn in May and occupy their spawning beds 

 for nearly two months. Their nests are accurately de- 

 scribed and also the watchful care of the parent fish. 

 "In embryo life they seem to come in a moment. From 

 close observation in a small pond where I placed some 

 fish in April and May, and where I could daily watch 

 their movements, beds were made by several pairs, over 

 which the females hovered continually. Here they re- 

 mained until the 24 th of June. EveTy hour I watched 

 them without any evidence of young fry. In the after- 

 noon of this day, after an hour's absence, I returned and 

 discovered several hundreds of minute young bass hover- 

 ing at the surface of the water, while the parent fish was 

 moving about her bed as usual. 



These fish were darting about with activity, about fin. 

 long, looking like black motes in the water. For three 

 or four days they kept in this position and then scattered 

 about the edge of the pond among the grass, a few being 



