A^otts and Queries 



of Indiana to the plains and mountains of the 

 West. No sportsman ought to die until he has 

 caught a tarpon. You know when you have 

 got him and you know it when 3'ou iiave him 

 landed. He is the tiger of the water. He 

 seems to have seven lives, and he pays them 

 out with the utmost economy. He seizes the 

 bait as a cat its prey, but it is not till he finds 

 himself hooked that the fight for his life begins, 

 and he seems to bring to it a reasoning intelli- 

 gence. After a few bold plunges he will sud- 

 denly take slack and thrust a large part of his 

 body erect out of the water and strike his head 

 faster than \ovl can count, and with the greatest 

 violence. In fact, it looks as if he would shake 

 his head off, if need be, to free himself, which 

 he will invariably do unless held taut. 



"He seems to divine the intelligence that 

 baffles him and will charge the fisherman's 

 boat and hurl himself in it. So it is dangerous 

 for the skifl^ to be unguarded. He will continue 

 this programme sometimes three hours, charg- 

 ing rapidly and in the most unexpected man- 

 ner, and when landed his agony is over, for he 

 is practically a dead fish. His beautiful scales 

 are of the exact appearance of burnished silver, 

 and his ferocious, bulldog head marks the tar- 

 pon as at once the most beautiful and cour- 

 ageous denizen of the water. No matter whether 

 you hook a young or an old one, it is all the 

 same, you catch a tartar every time you catch 

 a tarpon. 



' ' Aransas Pass is the veritable home of this 

 fish the year round, and in the seething waters 

 of the inlet, caused by the ebb and flow of the 

 tides, he makes his playground. The unvary- 

 ing temperature of the gulf stream keeps him 

 at his best and the numbers are seemingly un- 

 limited. They are often caught in the bays 

 and at the wharves. A gentleman recently 

 landed one eight feet three inches long, weigh- 

 ing 209 V^ pounds. Messrs. Wallis and Bull, 

 President and Secretary of the J. I. Case plow 

 works, and Mr. Lewis, of the Mitchell & Lewis 

 Company, recently caught twelve tarpon in one 

 day, ranging in length from three feet ten 

 inches to five feet eight inches, and aggregat- 

 ing S50 pounds. Tarpon fishing there exceeds 

 the dream of any one who has not tried it. 

 Ducks and geese are there in untold millions. 

 The waters are black with them and when they 

 rise the noise is like a cyclone and can be heard 

 for miles. The sportsman runs his boat in a 

 blind made in the shoals of live oak boughs 

 and shoots till he gets tired of the slaughter. 

 I knew one gun to bring down 167. Over 50,- 

 000 ducks were shipped from there last Winter. " 



An Inexcusable Blunder. 



In the last issue of The American Axgi.er 

 our proof reader was guilty of a gross over- 

 sight which we hasten to correct. The word 

 silence was allowed to take the place of science 

 in the line, " On her unwritten pages Science 

 looks," as contained in Dr. C. T. Mitchell's de- 

 lightful verses on Canandaigua Lake. 



A Continuation of Good Words. 



" The Fishes of North America " is the title 

 of a magnificent work now being issued by the 

 Harris Publishing Co., of 19 Park place, New 

 York City. It is from the pen of Mr. Wm. C. 

 Harris. There has been a great demand for a 

 work of this kind and it is remarkable that the 

 want was not filled years ago. Now that Mr. 

 Han is has undertaken it, it is but just to say 

 that there is no one on this continent better 

 fitted to handle such an important subject. As 

 a forcible writer, an editor for many years, an 

 angler of world-wide repute, and an icthyol- 

 ogist of authority, it is little wonder that the 

 "Fishes of North America" is ifnmediately 

 accepted as a standard. It is indispensable to 

 the student of a most fascinating science, while 

 to the angler it becomes at once a guide and 

 fruitful source of enjoyment. The publication 

 is the culmination of a life-work and every- 

 thing connected with it is the best that can be 

 secured. One of its most attractive features is 

 the illustrations. The}' are full-sized pictures 

 of the various fishes in their original tints, as 

 seen when freshly taken from the water. These 

 pictures number nearly one hundred. The 

 author has expended 850,000 to place the work 

 before the public. — The Times- Union , A\ha.ny , 

 N. Y. 



Ten parts of " The Fishes of North America " 

 are now ready for delivery, and other numbers 

 will follow each other much more rapidly than 

 was the case with former issues. The parts 

 now ready contain twenty plates (each 12x19 in-) 

 of typical American fishes colored as in life. 

 Subscribers to the work can order one or more 

 parts as issued, on payment of $1.50 for each, 

 or by paying $50.00 in bulk, will be entitled to 

 the complete Avork (40 parts So colored plates) 

 thus saving $10.00 on the cost and the annoj^- 

 ance of " frequent remittances. Descriptive 

 booklets sent free. Address, The Harris Pub- 

 lishing Co., 19 Park Place, New York. 



A Pleasant Business for an Angler. 



I desire the co-operation of a gentleman to 

 take charge of the business department of my 

 book, "The Fishes of North America," which 

 has broadened so rapidly, within recent months, 

 as to tax my dual duties, as editor and pub- 

 lisher, beyond my powers. Such a person will 

 have not only a lucrative future, but a pleasing 

 task, as it will bring him in connection with the 

 most congenial class of men — the angling fra- 

 ternity. He can a:ssume exclusive charge of 

 the entire business department, or, if located 

 in the West, I will make liberal arrangements 

 with him for managing the large territorj- lying 

 between the Alleghany Mountains and the 

 Pacific slope. " W.m. C. Harris, 



Editor, The American An(;i.er, 

 19 Park Place, New York. 



