2 2 SEA FISH OF TRINIDAD 



over them screaming and squawking. Then do these little 

 fish pass a bad quarter of an hour, as trolling or surface fish 

 of all kinds, especially the large "camarde cavalli," are 

 underneath and feeding merrily on them, while sharks and 

 barracouta are after the cavalli and mackerel. To escape 

 their finny foes, the poor sardines fly up out of the surface of 

 the water in hundreds, to be at once nailed by the birds, — 

 pelicans, boobies, gulls of all kinds, and men-of-war birds. 

 There is in particular, a very persistent, pretty little white 

 bird, a kind of kittiwake, locally called "mauve," which 

 comes in flocks during the anchois season, and when the 

 shoal of fish disappears, sits on the neighbouring rocks and 

 watches for a fresh lot silently, and you can always tell when 

 the sardines are coming again, as these birds begin to chatter 

 at once. Pointe Baleine at Gasparil seems to be a great 

 meeting place for the surface fish at this season, and when 

 you see the rocks round this point crowded with these 

 "mauve" you are sure of getting good sport. I have re- 

 peatedly seen the surface of the sea there, for about loo yds. 

 square, churned into a foam by the big cavalli gambolling 

 and hunting their prey, with tarpon, king-fish, mackerel and 

 shark literally jammed up amongst them. 



All these sardines spoil and get soft in two or three hours, 

 so it is preferable when going a distance like La Pefia, to get 

 ballahoo, which will be found the best trolling bait. It is 

 also a much larger fish, and half of one of them cut longitu- 

 dinally, will be none too big for the No. 2 hooks used when 

 fishing the large king-fish. When none of the baits men- 

 tioned can be obtained, a strip of the underneath part of the 

 mackerel, locally called "blanc" will be found good, as is also 

 the similar part of the bonite and mullet. A narrow strip 

 with the skin on must be used, and cut to a triangular point. 

 For fishing^ /a "ligne dormante," a bunch of the large sized 

 anchois, cha-cha, or coulihou, is a very tempting bait, but the 

 small fish are apt to bite greedily and detach them one by one, 

 so I have generally found the most successful lure for a large 

 fish to be a piece or pieces of mackerel, bonite, or mullet, and 

 sufficient thereof to cover the hook well. The same bait is 

 also good for bottom fishing and with "ligne voyante," and 



