The Jack 167 



this remarkable scene of carnage, to revel in 

 which, gulls, pelicans, and man-of-war birds 

 were now gathering from all over the reef. For 

 ten or fifteen minutes the extraordinary spec- 

 tacle was continued, until the low beach was 

 lined with jacks, dead and dying ; then the school 

 drew off as suddenly as it had appeared, leav- 

 ing the long, sinuous red stain to tell the 

 story. 



This, I learned, was the method of feeding 

 most in vogue among jacks in this region. The 

 school, composed of thousands, would sweep in 

 from the gulf, follow up the narrow blue chan- 

 nels, the veins of the reef, and when a school 

 of sardines was sighted, drive it bodily inshore, 

 losing all sense of danger or fear in the wild 

 excitement of the "beating." The remarkable 

 leaps of the jacks, their quickness, evident 

 strength, and agility, suggested a new field for 

 the rod, nor was I disappointed. The school 

 had left the lagoon, turned the point of the 

 key, and was evidently now in the channel, 

 where I found it the following day, and enjoyed 

 sport that comes rarely in the experience of 

 the angler, which even here could not always 

 be counted upon, as the schools were constantly 



