The black bass has the appearance of an elongated perch—to which class of fish it properly belongs. The upper part of the body is of a dark olive-green hue, while the belly is tinted with pink. The dorsal fin is a dark grey mixed with blue; the anal fin and tail are marked with irregular spots of greyish black.

A MAN who has been shooting either with rifle or shot-gun for weeks, without any other sport, is apt to think hunting tedious, and to be envious of the disciples of gentle Master Walton, of piscatorial notoriety; and many a hunter, after a month's camp-hunt, desires no better sport (for a day or two), than to catch a few fish.

The sea along the coast, as well as the rivers that water the interior of Texas the beautiful, are provided with fish as plentifully as the forests and prairies are filled with furred and feathered game.

Scarcely any water in the world produces a greater variety of fish than the Gulf of Mexico. Along the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, there is an abundance of deep-sea fishing, which would well repay the piscator for the inconvenience of roughing it a night or two on board a half-decked boat.

The splendid Red-Fish stands at the head of the saltwater list, as the black bass takes the first place amongst the river and lake fishes.