TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 489 



he is Megalops atlanticus and Megalops thrissoides, a branch 

 of the Clupea family. His official description is : 



An immense herring-like fish, which occurs in the western 

 Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico, ranging north to Cape Cod, 

 and south at least to western Brazil. The sailors' name for this 

 fish, by which name it is also known at Key West, Bermuda, 

 Brunswick, Georgia, and elsewhere, is 'Tarpum' or 'Tarpon.' It 

 is also known as the ' Silver King,' ' Silver Fish,' or ' Grand 

 Ecaille.' 



One leading authority describes it as : 



An immense and active fish, preying eagerly upon schools of 

 young fry or any small fish that it is able to receive into its mouth, 

 and in pursuit of which it ascends freshwater rivers quite a long 

 distance. They go up the Homosassa River in Florida, and several 

 of the Texas rivers. Fishermen dread it while dragging their nets, 

 for they have known of persons having been killed or severely 

 injured by its leaping against them from the seine in which it was 

 enclosed. 



So much for the official account of the fish. A mounted 

 specimen of my own capture before me is indeed something 

 like a mammoth herring, and the herring, mind you, is a re- 

 markably handsome little fellow. The scales of the tarpon 

 belie description. The largest tarpon scale I have ever seen 

 was eight times the size of a two-shilling piece, more than one- 

 third of it covered with what looks like an artificial painting 

 of burnished silver. The first time I saw a tarpon scale I 

 imagined that it had been improved by artificial means. 



There are, indeed, many matters in connection with tarpon 

 fishing so surprising as to incline the Briton to a belief that 

 they are the offsprings of the imagination and enthusiasm of 

 his American kinsmen. 



Until I had killed a tarpon I regarded the statement that 

 he was a stronger, more active and clever fish than the salmon 

 as rank heresy. Born on the brink of a salmon river, I could 



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