The Gray Snapper 43 



protest, I fancied, and it was beyond my philoso- 

 phy to kill such a rare fighter ; so I carefully cut 

 out the hook and released my quarry as Paublo 

 came running down the beach, grains in hand 

 in lieu of gaff-hook. That he questioned my 

 sanity I have no doubt, but that was not all. 



"Why, mawster," he exclaimed, "datcher snap- 

 per gwine tell all de res'. Yo' ain't gwine to git 

 no mo' fishin' dis day." Which was true for 

 many a day at that spot. 



But I was satisfied. I had outgeneralled and 

 caught what must have been a twenty-five-pound 

 snapper, at least Paublo, who saw it swimming 

 off, placed its weight at nearly twice that figure, 

 and when I pressed him for logical reasons for 

 his assumption, he said it was "de scales on de 

 snapper's back dun tole him." 



There may be a difference in the game qualities 

 of gray snappers in different localities. The 

 deep-water specimens in fifteen or twenty fath- 

 oms are caught much easier, and at Marquesas 

 and Key West I took them in shallow water 

 with crayfish, when sardines or " hard heads " 

 were not to be had, but always found them 

 thoroughly game. Even the small fishes from 

 two to four pounds afforded excellent sport, 



