22 SEA FISH OF TRINIDAD 
over them screaming and squawking. Then do these little 
fish pass a bad quarter of an hour, as trolling or surface fish 
of all kinds, especially the large ‘“‘camarde cavalli,”’ are 
underneath and feeding merrily on them, while sharks and 
barracouta are after the cavalliand mackerel. To escape 
their finny foes, the poor sardines fly up out of the surface of 
the water in hundreds, to be at once nailed by the birds,— 
pelicans, boobies, gulls of all kinds, and men-of-war birds. 
There is in particular, a very persistent, pretty little white 
bird, a kind of kittiwake, locally called “mauve,’’ which 
comes in flocks during the anchois season, and when the 
shoal of fish disappears, sits on the neighbouring rocks and 
watches for a fresh lot silently, and you can always tell when 
the sardines are coming again, as these birds begin to chatter 
at once. Pointe Baleine at Gasparil seems to be a great 
meeting place for the surface fish at this season, and when 
you see the rocks round this point crowded with these 
‘““mauve’’ you are sure of getting good sport. I have re- 
peatedly seen the surface of the sea there, for about 100 yds. 
square, churned into a foam by the big cavalli gambolling 
and hunting their prey, with tarpon, king-fish, mackerel and 
shark literally jammed up amongst them. 
All these sardines spoil and get soft in two or three hours, 
so it is preferable when going a distance like La Pefia, to get 
ballahoo, which will be found the best trolling bait. It is 
also a much larger fish, and half of one of them cut longitu- 
dinally, will be none too big for the No. 2 hooks used when 
fishing the large king-fish. When none of the baits men- 
tioned can be obtained, a strip of the underneath part of the 
mackerel, locally called “blanc’’ will be found good, as is also 
the similar part of the bonite and mullet. A narrow strip 
with the skin on must be used, and cut toa triangular point. 
For fishing @ Ja ‘‘ligne dormante,’’ a bunch of the large sized 
anchois, cha-cha, or coulihou, is a very tempting bait, but the 
small fish are apt to bite greedily and detach them one by one, 
so I have generally found the most successful lure for a large 
fish to be a piece or pieces of mackerel, bonite, or mullet, and 
sufficient thereof to cover the hook well. The same bait is 
also good for bottom fishing and with “ligne voyante,” and 
