A Day on the Panuco. 



299 



down with the sail, and hold her with 

 your paddles until we get this scaly 

 savage aboard. The line is slack, and 

 now he's running towards us shaking 

 his head. There he goes again. Give 

 him line, Kid, or you'll never see him 

 any more. Judge, you didn't have the 

 honor of hooking him, so you shall gaflf 

 him and haul him aboard. A forty 

 pound curel. " 



*' Hoist the mainsail, you copper col- 

 ored son of Neptune, and get her under 

 way. This lovely afternoon must not be 

 wasted. This isn't bad. Judge; sitting 

 in the shade of the sail and sniffing 

 the sea breeze tempered by the odor of 

 the forest. There goes your line; its 

 a sabala this time ; the tarpon, king of 

 brackish waters. Up into the air he 

 goes; his silvery scales shining in the 

 sun. He'll rush and jump again and 

 keep it up until he is dead or free. 

 ' Liberty or death ' is his motto. 

 Keep a steady strain on the line. 

 Down with the sail boys. You alone, 

 my learned Judge, shall have the 

 pleasure of toying him to his death, or 

 the disappointment of letting him 

 escape. He is a little tired now. Pull 



him towards us gently, and give him 

 slack when he makes a rush ; and now 

 Judge, if you will allow me, when you 

 get him to the boat side, I will thrust 

 the gaff into his shining belly, while 

 the Indian savage ties a string through 

 his gills to drag him along side. He is 

 too big to take on board. Well, you 

 have him at last. Seventy-five pounds 

 if an ounce. A shining trophy of your 

 skill. Forty minutes of glorious excite- 

 ment spent in his execution." 



We are at the bridge. Let's tie up 

 and take a rest. The bridge is over 

 the Tamesi, the Panuco bending away 

 to the southwest, while the Tamesi 

 extends to the north to lose itself in a 

 labyrinth of lakes. There are hun- 

 dreds of miles of navigation for the 

 canoeist on these waters, where hunt- 

 ing and fishing are to be found in their 

 greatest perfection. The sun is down 

 and the moon is up. The wind has 

 dropped to a gentle breeze. We will 

 drift down with the tide, and call it a 

 day's fishing. 



To-morrow, the jetties, the beach 

 and the snapper banks, 



