FISH AND FISHERMEN 



Coming a little further south and then sailing west- 

 wards into the Gulf of Mexico, we light upon another 

 important fishing-ground; the home of the "red snapper. " 

 This is a gorgeous creature, averaging 7 Ib. in weight, 

 which is regarded by the people of the Southern States 

 as a great delicacy. It is found in depths of from ten 

 to fifty fathoms, and swims over a bottom that is every- 

 where dotted with rocks and lumps of coral, where no 

 fisherman dare dream of shooting a net. 



Snapper-catching does not greatly differ from cod line- 

 fishing. Each smack is manned by a crew of seven or 

 eight men, who go fifty miles out and as much as two 

 hundred and fifty along the shore. On reaching a favour- 

 able spot the boat is either anchored or brought to heave- 

 to, and work begins. As the snapper happens to be 

 a particularly voracious fish (he has earned his name from 

 his practice of snapping at everything that comes within 

 his reach), very long lines are not necessary, for he spends 

 a good half of his time chasing small fish that swim near 

 the surface. Each man's line is furnished with two 

 large, thick hooks and is weighted with four or five 

 pounds of lead; and, as a rule, before the weight has 

 sunk more than a couple of fathoms, one, and sometimes 

 two fish have swallowed the bait, not to say a hook as 

 well. Bait, indeed, is a secondary matter; hundreds of 

 snappers are caught in a day with naked hooks ; a pebble 

 lowered on a string would be sufficient tackle to draw 

 them ; it might even be worth a sportsman's while to try 

 them with an alder-fly or a cockchafer. 



A snapper boat carries no ice, no salt, and has no deal- 



