tx SMALL FISHING 



in the fishermen's nets whilst procuring him mullet for bait. 

 They are most curious-looking things, and I had great pleasure 

 in preserving one of them. 



This also on some portions of the coast is known as the horse- 

 fish, and, as usual, is elsewhere given other names, such as 

 sun -fish, and blunt-nosed shiner. The moon -fish are of no 

 importance to the sportsman, but are an excellent article of 

 food, and numbers of them ten or twelve inches in length are 

 sent to the New York markets. 



While at St. James's I saw for the first time a fish which 

 bore some resemblance to our familiar English perch, 

 having transverse bars and a spinous dorsal fin. f j^g Sheeps- 

 There were a variety of fish cruising around the head. 

 pier, and a young fellow was trying his best to harpoon some 

 of them. We could only obtain a passing glimpse of these 

 perch-like fish, and were not sure of their identity. My guide 

 and captain, however, who were with me, pronounced that it 

 must be the sheepshead {Sargus ovis or Archosargus probato- 

 cephalus), one of the most valued food-fishes, and very likely it 

 was, since a number of the sea-bream family are found along 

 the shores of Florida throughout the entire year. 



The ichthyological authorities say that in some of the 



