244 Life in the Open 



whereby Don Antonio implied that those born in this 

 land of the sun-down sea, as Joaquin Miller has it, have 

 so much expansion of the soul that such things do not 

 worry them ; and so he met the knights of the tuna, 

 held his peace, and blew the blue smoke of his cigarettes 

 out over the vermilion-tinted waters of Avalon. 



If one were to take a small-mouthed black bass, 

 build it up until it was six feet long, and stuff it until it 

 weighed anywhere from two hundred to five hundred 

 pounds, some conception of the appearance of the black 

 sea-bass (Stereolepis gigas) of Santa Catalina might be 

 formed. It is nearly a perfect bass in form and feature. 

 Its eyes are blue ; its upper surface tinted old ma- 

 hogany, and its under surface gray a mighty creature 

 of solemn mien. 



Deep in a cavern dwells the drowsy god, 

 Whose gloomy mansign nor the rising sun 

 Nor setting visits, nor the lightsome moon; 

 But lazy vapours round the region fly, 

 Perpetual twilight, and a doubtful sky. 



Ovid might well have had the great bass in mind 

 when descanting upon the home of the god of sleep, as 

 while the tuna frequents the high sea, now blazing 

 its way into the sunlight, the black sea-bass lives in 

 the canopied forests of kelp, whose long leaves form 

 caves and retreats of fantastic shape, ever changing 

 with the current that sweeps along the rocky coast in 

 whimsical and erratic measure. 



It has been my fortune to take many of these fishes 



