Australian 'Couters 317 



waiting I caught a fine fish, not a Barracouta, but a 

 much more elegant and beautiful creature, called 

 trivially a ' yellow tail,' from the bright gold colour 

 of its fins and tail. I was delighted at my success, 

 and as soon as I had disposed of my prize to the cook 

 (strangely I never cared what became of my fish after 

 I had caught them and gloated over them for a little 

 while), I tried again, shortly afterwards capturing 

 a fine Barracouta. 



But now I was sorely puzzled. There was between 

 this and all other Barracouta I had ever seen one 

 radical difference, it was practically scaleless, at 

 least as much so as a mackerel, while the others had 

 been all completely clad in scales. In every other 

 respect, as far as I could see or remember, they were 

 identical. This, however, was so great a difference 

 that I could only account for it by supposing that they 

 were a different species. Certainly they were both 

 known as Barracouta, and no one has seemed to notice 

 that there was any difference. 



While I remained in that small steamer I caught 

 many, caught them right up to the turbulent edge 

 of the Clarence River Bar, and I have no doubt might 

 have done so in the salt estuary of the river itself, 

 but that once inside the Bar I was always too busy 

 with other matters for fishing. I noticed, or I thought 

 I did, that these naked Barracouta were finer-flavoured 

 than the West Indian variety, but that may have been 

 fancy. 



Then I left the Northern Australian trade and went 

 south, where, though I doubt not Barracouta were 

 plentiful, especially between Wilson's Promontory 

 and Queenscliff, Port Philip Heads, I was not allowed 

 to fish over the taffrail, and was compelled to limit 

 my sport to ordinary bottom fishing while still in 



