The Barracuda of Florida 91 



the blue as it followed, wolflike, stealthily in my 

 wake when sculling a dinghy across the channel. 

 All my catches were made from Key West to 

 Loggerhead, within a radius of sixty miles, and 

 most of them in the beautiful blue arterylike 

 channels which encircle Garden, Bush, Sand, 

 Bird, and other keys, where they could always 

 be found. The fish is extremely curious, and 

 so marked are its peculiarities that I was con- 

 tinually comparing it to land animals. In its 

 curiosity it called to mind the antelope, as by 

 certain actions it could easily be attracted within 

 reach of the grains or so that I could cast a live 

 " shad " (Xystcema cinereum), mullet, or young 

 garfish before it. This was accomplished in an 

 absurdly simple manner, none less than by tying 

 a bit of white cloth upon a string about four feet 

 long and trolling it behind. As a result, sooner 

 or later, I would see the ugly pointed jaw and 

 black eyes of a barracuda come out of the gloom 

 and approach to within a few feet, moving first 

 to one side, then to the other, shooting ahead 

 slightly, then dropping astern, but never making 

 an effort to attack. The fish was merely curious, 

 and would dash away at the first alarm. 



By this it must not be assumed that it was an 



