212 WILD SPORTS IN THE SOUTH. 



Tampa, so that we might see a new fishing-ground. The^ craft had 

 six bunks, but we generally slept on deck, and wind and weather 

 favouring, we found ourselves in two days in Charlotte Harbour, 

 then an absolutely unsettled country. The great diversity of an 

 indented shore like this afforded unlimited enjoyment of game and 

 fish of every description. Not only were there fresh-water rivers 

 emptying in the bay, but wooded islands and sandy beaches were 

 full of migratory birds of every kind. Some we knew, many we 

 could not name. The tropics and the frozen zone seemed to con- 

 tribute their outpouring of feathered game, while fish were so 

 abundant, and of such varieties, that every species of sea-bird 

 seemed to gather there to feed upon them. The waters of the Gulf 

 of Mexico, discoloured in the northerly portion by the great detritus 

 of rivers, like the Alabama and the Mississippi, became clearer 

 nearer the Caribbean Sea, and often we could see skates of great 

 size wabbling in the water, while the sword-fish with his lance, and 

 lazy Jew-fish and shark were hourly to be met. Mullet in shoals 

 bred in the shallows, and as the boat passed by the tangled roots of 

 the mangroves they would scud out in hundreds. Weak fish, red- 

 snappers, sheepshead grunters and channel-bass were easily taken. 

 The pompano also were occasionally hooked, and in the night we 

 could hear the boom of the drum-fish under the boat. One feels 

 how little he knows when he sees around him so many families 

 of the unknown. 



There was one fish that most excited our attention ; we had 

 never before seen it, nor even heard of it, and here it was we 

 caught our first tarpon. 



This fish runs from ten pounds to two hundred, and our 

 captain assured us he had seen them double that size, but the 

 captain in regard to fish and women was a gallant bar. 



He would have made a good President for that Long Island 

 Shooting Club, where the members were all liars, and the one who, 

 at the annual dinner, told the biggest one, was elected President 

 for the ensuing year. A fisherman desired to join the Club, but 

 they declined to have him, saying they didn't want professionals. 



The tarpon carries a double dorsal fin, the forward rays of 

 which are long and high like the peak of a lateen sail, and grace- 



