162 
THE STRIPED BASSE. 
quently shorter ; vanishing unequally in their progress. Belly 
a fine mixture of silver and white. Scales adhere firmly. 
“ This fish is very highly prized by the New-Yorkers. He 
is snvory and excellent beyond the generality of fishes. His 
common abode is the salt water ; but he migrates to the fresh 
streams and recesses to breed during the spring, and for shel- 
ter in winter. 
“ He takes the hook, especially when baited with soft crab, 
Small ones are catched by the boys, from the wharves and 
boats every where near the city. 
“Their greatest run is late in the fall. Instead of going 
away on the approach of winter, the striped bass seeks refuge 
in bays, ponds, and recesses where he may remain warm and 
quiet. Here the fishermen find him, and make great hauls 
during the coldest season, when very great numbers ai'O 
brought to market in a frozen state. At this time it is usual 
to take some very large and heavy ones. Yet I have seen a 
dozen at a time, of the weight of fifty pounds each, in Oc- 
tober, while the weather was very mild. 
“ Ho is also taken in seines during the summer, and in au- 
tumn. Iudeed, there is no fish that stays more steadily with 
us all the year round, than the rock; and ho is found of all 
sizes, to suit all sorts of palates.” 
The basse has been believed, as stated at the commence- 
ment of this article, to be a native of this country, and was 
supposed first to have been noticed by Mitchill ; but the fol- 
lowing from Smith, would lead to a ditFerent conclusion. 
“ By what authority Dr. Mitchill gave his own name to 
the striped bass, * Perea MUchilli ,’ we cannot divine: he 
might with equal propriety have tacked his name to the white 
shark, or to the bones of the mastodon, and the last would 
have savored less of vanity, than affixing his cognomen to a 
common table fish, known from time immemorial all over 
Europe.” 
