The rock fish,[56] drum and sheep’s-head are large fish, taken in saline lakes in the neighborhood of the gulf of Mexico. In size they correspond to the cod and haddock of the Atlantic, and are among the most common fish in the market of New Orleans. The fish of the gulf shore partake of the character both of salt and fresh water fish; this arises from their being taken in shallow lakes principally composed of fresh water, but having outlets in the gulf, through which in strong south winds the sea-water is forced in such quantities that they become salt. There are a vast number of craw-fish every where in the marshy grounds and shallow waters. By penetrating the bank of the Mississippi, they have more than once made perforations which have imperceptibly enlarged to crevices, by which the inundation of the river has been let in upon the country. The fish of the western rivers are generally less esteemed than those of the Atlantic waters; and in truth, fresh-water fish generally will not vie with those of the sea. The fishes of the Mississippi and its tributary rivers are for the most part coarse, tough, large and unpleasant in their flavor. ‘Except the trout, the small yellow cat-fish, the pike, the bar-fish and the perch,’ says Mr. Flint, ‘we do not much admire the fish of the western waters.’ Dr. Mitchell gives the following account of a gigantic fish of the ray kind, which he calls the oceanic vampire. It had been taken near the entrance of the Delaware Bay, by the crew of a smack which had been fitted out for the express purpose of capturing some sea-monster. After an absence of about three weeks, the adventurers returned with the animal to which we refer. It was killed after a long and dangerous encounter. The weight was so considerable, that after it had been towed to the shore, three pair of oxen aided by a horse and twenty-two men could not drag it to the dry land; the weight was supposed to be between four and five tons. Its length was seventeen feet and three inches, from the tip of the head to the tip of the tail. The breadth from the extremity of one pectoral fin or wing to the other, measuring along the line of the belly, was sixteen feet; when measured over the convexity of the back, eighteen feet.