162 FISHES OF THE EAST ATLANTIC COAST. 



ed and resolved upon the destruction of the bunkers. At about 10 

 p. M., the tarpon commenced jumping and slashing, and the noise 

 made by the fish prevented me from sleeping. Midnight arrived > 

 and as *' Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep" would not visit me, I 

 baited my tarpon line, and permitted my bait to float with the tide 

 to the point where the vaulters were feeding : I, like " p itience 

 seated on a monument," fished and waited ; but as I could not secure 

 a bite, I retired to my blankets at 2.30 A. M., and if not a wiser, I 

 was a madder man than at turning in time the previous evening. 



In many of the streams of the south west coast there exist broad 

 and shallow reaches of water, the bottom being covered with a dense 

 growth of grass. The tarpon enter the grass, and approach the shore 

 as closely as possible without exposing their backs, their object being 

 apparently to bask in the sunshine. If a boat should approach close 

 enough to disturb them, they rush for the deep water with lightning- 

 like rapidity. This peculiar trait, I have more especially noticed on 

 the Hom-)sassa River, and at Gordan's pass and Lagoon. This prac- 

 tice of " laying up," I have not noticed on the St. John's River. In 

 some of the streams of South Florida they seem to live in fresh 

 water, as in the upper portions of the Homosassa, Calloosahatchee, 

 Rogers, and Harneys Rivers. On the Calloosahatchee, above the 

 islands, the water is scarcely brackish, and at this point, these fish 

 exist in immense numbers. When I ascended this stream in 1875, at 

 the point referred to, the fish were so plentiful tnat one or more 

 could be seen breaking the water at all times. To the fisherman who 

 has been accustomed to the depopulated streams of the north, this 

 may seem a "fish story," but unless they visit the streams of South 

 Florida, they cannot form the faintest idea of the immense quantity 

 of fish to be found in that section. 



In outline, the tarpon somewhat resembles a striped bass. It is 

 covered with large ivory-like scales ; about one-third of the surface 

 of each scale being ornamented with a coating resembling frosted 

 silver. One of the smaller scales in the way of a piscatorial visiting 

 card I enclose for the inspection of the editor. 



I enquired of many persons if this fish was edible, and could not 

 obtain any information. Possessing ichthyophagous tendencies, in 



