272 Life in the Open 



have always had a fondness, more or less unreasonable, 

 possibly, for large game of the sea, and have taken al- 

 most every hard fighter from tarpon to the giant-ray, but 

 award the palm of hard fighting to the tuna at its best. 

 Some weakened by spawning or other causes can be 

 landed in ten minutes with a club-rod, and strong women 

 have landed this fish, but the one-hundred-and-fifty- 

 pound tuna in the best condition is game for men in 

 their best form, and such a fish will fight until its heart 

 stops beating. 



