112 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



any small fish that it is able to receive into its mouth, and in 

 pursuit of which it ascends fresh-water rivers quite a long dis- 

 tance. During September, 1879, I saw large numbers of Sil- 

 ver Fish eight or ten miles up the Apalachicola River, and 

 am told that that was not an unusual occurrence. They go up 

 the Homosassa River in Florida, and several of the Te.xas 

 rivers, so I have subsequently learned. The Tarpum will 

 take a baited hook, but it is difficult to handle and is seldom 

 landed. The Pensacola seine-fishermen dread it while drag- 

 ging their seines, for they have known of persons having 

 been killed or severely injured by its leaping against them 

 from the seine in which it was inclosed. Even when it does 

 not jump over the cork-line of a seine, it is quite likely to 

 break through the netting before being landed. I have secured 

 several specimens, the smallest of which weighed thirty 

 pounds, and the largest about seventy-five pounds." 



Since the publication of "The Fisheries and Fishery Indus- 

 tries of the United States," in 1884, much valuable literature 

 in connection with the Tarpon has been furnished the peri- 

 odical press of the country. A^'et the ichthyology of the Tarpon 

 is far from complete, and there remain many facts relative to 

 his habits, habitat, etc., to be, and which it is hoped will be, 

 in time, unfolded. 



I consider Tarpon-fishing the grandest sport with the rod 

 and reel to be had upon the globe; and the study, therefore, 

 of the ways and peculiarities of the fish is an absorbing one. 

 After taking a Tarpon on light tackle, other forms of angling 

 become tame sport. His magnificent vaults into mid-air, 

 wonderful spurts, and powerful dashes for liberty, allied to 

 his remarkable beauty, quickly converts the tyro in this form 

 of angling into an enthusiast. His weight varies, according to 

 my observations, between fifteen or twenty pounds and one 

 hundred and seventy-five, and in length they reach as much 

 as seven feet and over. Their build intlicates great power, 

 and a generous and dainty fare. In shape they are very sym- 



