68 THE ENGLISH ANGLER IN FLORIDA vi 



interior of a tarpon's jaws, for we lost a number of fish, and 

 the other boats that were there seemed to be having a similar 

 experience. Mrs. Ward lost two fish in succession, after she 

 had played them some time and certainly deserved to bring 

 them to land. 



Sharks are a great nuisance here, and it is no uncommon 

 thing to hook your tarpon, and after holding it a while, the line 



comes back, and you find a couple of feet taken 

 Sharks. 



off the fish at one fell swoop by one of these preda- 

 tory sea-wolves. In still, shallow water, sitting one day in my 

 boat angling for small fish at the back of an island and over an 

 oyster bed, I saw a shark sheer alongside the boat, punting 

 itself lazily and unconcernedly along, and it certainly was not 

 less than 14 feet long. On the point of Captiva Pass at the 

 time of our visit was the camp of Mr. Von Blake. He caught 

 a large number of tarpon, and the season before our visit, I 

 believe, he had achieved the very fine record of 70 fish. We 

 were not the only English visitors : there were several English 

 gentlemen there, doing well ; and one of them told me he had 

 had ten strikes, but had lost every fish. 



The Pass, at certain times of the tide, seems to abound 

 with fish of all kinds, and with their antics on the surface re- 



