The Albaoore 205 



silvery game, at the apparition of the boat, makes 

 one of a series of final charges, any one of which 

 might shatter the rod, or break the line if it was 

 checked. The click gives tongue loudly with 

 its short, quick ze-e-eing, u stabs the air with its 

 shrill alarm," and again the reel moves and the 

 fish comes in. This is repeated several times 

 during the fifteen or twenty minutes' contest, and 

 presently the angler sees the game at the surface, 

 still full of fight, a finny fury. Bending the tip 

 forward he passes it into the field of the gaffer, 

 who ends the game by his clever movement be- 

 neath its silvery throat. 



The strength of the albacore can be appreci- 

 ated by the terrific tattoo which it now plays 

 upon the canvas-covered planking of the boat, 

 which, if small, it shakes from stem to stern. 

 The boatman gives the fish its quietus and holds 

 it up by the measuring scales, with his " Twenty- 

 five pounds, sir ! " And this is what we see : 

 a plump, compact tuna, all but the long side or 

 pectoral fins ; about three feet in length, the muz- 

 zle sharper, the eyes larger, almost the same 

 spikelike second dorsal and anal ; a remarkable 

 thickness and compactness in proportion to its 

 length, and one would invariably " guess " under 



