Bluefisb and Blue Waters 189 



merely reached with either hand, then the whole of 

 him followed the hand with an easy swing star- 

 tlingly suggestive of tropical tree-tops. Cap noticed 

 my close watch upon the movements of that crew, 

 and presently said : " He's a wonder. Never nothin' 

 to say jest slides round as easy as grease. But 

 he comes by it honest. His dad was skipper of a 

 merchantman in the African trade, an' his ma'am 

 was as good a sailor as the old man. I've heard her 

 tell of mighty queer places where she's been, full of 

 niggers an' gorrills an' the like o' that." 



" A-a-ah ! " was my sole comment, for at the mo- 

 ment that crew was swinging for'ard, using his 

 arms as a cripple uses crutches. 



At this season, the bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) 

 is given to prowling along the coast, probably as far 

 north as the Canadian boundary. The range of the 

 fish appears to mainly depend upon the temperature 

 of the water as well as upon the movements of the 

 great schools of lesser fish upon which the bluefish 

 preys. According to scientists, it is found in the 

 Mediterranean, near Australia, the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and other remote points. It is known by 

 several names, such as " horse-mackerel," " blue 

 snapper," and "skip-jack." In New York waters, 

 the young bluefish are commonly termed " snap- 

 pers"; and right well do they deserve the name. 

 From mere babyhood to a, perhaps, twenty-pound 

 " tide-runner," the bluefish is a remorseless destroyer 

 of the menhaden, mullet, squid, and presumably of 

 other fish of suitable size, which term, in bluefish 

 estimation, is apt to mean anything which can be 

 snapped in half, or bolted whole. 



