Chapter XVII 



The Royal Catch 



WHEN the early spring of California melts 

 into summer, when the west winds freshen 

 and sweep across the great current of Japan, 

 the Kuroshiwo, the island of Santa Catalina, in Southern 

 California, stands like an emerald in a setting of turquoise. 

 Its crest is a vivid green ; the deep waters that bathe its 

 rocks and leap and foam in the shadow of its mountains 

 are a steely blue, and they environ a fishing ground of 

 many and varied delights. 



Winter has passed a winter of wild flowers, of 

 soft winds ; and summer has come. You may know it 

 by the gathering of the clans at Avalon, the little port 

 and town of the island, where congregate in June an- 

 glers from all over the world, to await the coming of the 

 leaping tuna, the great game fish peculiar to this place 

 or the big Japanese yellowfin albacore, Hirenaga 

 so far as its capture with the rod is concerned. 



Los Angeles is the point of departure for the tuna 



grounds ; and twenty miles distant, reached by several 



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