CHAPTER XIX 



THE FLORIDA JEWFISH 



" In gulfs enchanted where the siren sings, 

 And coral reefs lie bare." 



IT requires more than ordinary temerity to 

 include the huge Florida jewfish among the 

 game fishes, as the average individual is the type 

 of all that is indifferent, a lazy, heavy " beastie," 

 a finny Falstaff, the colossus of the nooks and 

 corners of the reef. Yet several jewfishes which 

 I have met have made a game struggle, and all 

 afforded sport. On the coasts of Texas and 

 Florida the fish is occasionally taken with rod 

 and reel in true sportsmanlike fashion. 



My first experience with the jewfish was in the 

 vicinity of Marquesas, on the edge of a deep blue 

 channel which blazed its way through the reef 

 like a rope of turquoise. We had seen several 

 so-called tiger-sharks with dark bars athwart their 

 tawny flanks, and Paublo, the dusky boatman, had 

 aroused my curiosity in this tiger of the sea by 



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