28 SHA’ FISH OF TRINIDAD 
or often as the tarpon. After the first rush, which is fierce 
but not so long as the carangue, he will sulk and shortly make 
a second and third rush in spurts, not so dogged and deter- 
mined as the carangue, who fights hard to the bitter end. 
After his third rush, if the boatmen pull hard he will soon be 
exhausted (on account, I fancy, of his excessively long jaw, 
which must cause him to swallow a lot of water), and can be 
gaffed, or if too large, beached on the shore. Like the tar- 
pon, the barracouta is always fished for near the shore, and 
his best season is November and December. He sometimes 
takes the bait when fishing with “ligne dormante,’’ but is 
generally caught trolling. Plentiful on the northern and 
eastern coasts, and also the Bocas Islands. A favourite 
ground is Scotland Bay, and between there and L’Anse Poua 
on the mainland, the eastern side of the First Boca. In 
Scotland Bay, trolling from a small boat with one boatman, 
I hooked, played and beached, a barracouta 84 ft. in length. 
In closing my description of fish that afford good sport to 
the angler in these waters, I must not omit the ‘‘Bonite,”’ a 
chunky built fish, little used for food, but greedily looked for 
as bait to catch other fish. He is almost as gamey and 
strong as the carangue, and puts up a good fight on the troll- 
ing line; the “mackerel” which when large, (10 lbs. to 15 
lbs.), pursues similar tactics to the king-fish, only more 
‘“coquin”’ as the natives express it (Anglice, wily). I know of 
no fish such a confirmed bait stealer as the mackerel, the 
'“pargue-dent-chien” which, especially when of large size, 
affords splendid sport either to the man with the rod or 
“ligne dormante,’’ as its rushes are exceedingly swift and 
powerful, and lastly the ‘‘sorbe”” which though not quite so 
powerful or swift as the “ pargue’”’ is well worth the catching. 
There are other good game fish such as the cod and pompano, 
but they are exceedingly rare and not often caught. 
The hunter after the mighty monsters of the deep will 
not be disappointed in Trinidad waters, as the Giant Ray, 
Sea-Devil or Manta, is far from uncommon, and can be both 
seen and heard on most nights at Pointe Baleine, the western 
end of Gasparil. These huge beasts (often weighing over 
1,000 lbs.) hurtle themselves out of the water to a height of 
