CHAPTER XII 



TARPUM TARPON SILVER KING. 



[Megalops thrissoides.~\ 



BY AL. FRESCO. 



For life I can't help scribbling once a week 



Firing old readers, nor discovering new, 

 In youth I wrote because my mind was full 



And now because I feel it growing dull. 



But 4< why then publish ? " There are no rewards 

 Of fame or profit when the world grows weary, 



I ask in turn, why do we play at cards.? 



Why fish ? Why read ? To make the hours less dreary. 



In journals devoted to sports of forest and stream, we frequently 

 notice references to the lordly salmon, the noble striped bass, the 

 plucky " bronze backers," and the speckled beauties but the tar- 

 pon, " the Noblest Roman " of them all the game fish par excell- 

 ence of American waters is seldom noticed. When the acrobatic 

 performances, and the fighting qualities of this noble fish become 

 known, a new revolution will present itself to those who can enjoy 

 true piscatorial sport. In a recent communication published in one 

 of your contemporaries, that accomplished writer " S. C. C." referred 

 to the fighting qualities of the tarpon ; and in writing comparative- 



