Tbe Leaping Sharks 375 



bitues of Aransas considered this shark essentially 

 game. It was included among the " game fishes " 

 caught by the members of the Tarpon Club, and 

 certainly deserves the honor and the appellation if 

 one can throw off the inherent dislike to sharks 

 which holds with nearly all anglers. A similar 

 leaping shark was not uncommon at Garden Key. 

 I have had them leap out of the water, the entire 

 body except the tail being clear, the subsequent 

 rushes challenging admiration. In a word, the 

 shark was gamy and a hard fighter ; but when it 

 came up snapping and biting at oars and gaff, 

 and its disagreeable half-musky odor pervaded 

 the air, only a shark after all, one's enthusiasm 

 paled. At Catalina Harbor, on the island of that 

 name, at its very head where the water is not over 

 three or four feet in depth, is the breeding-ground 

 of a small and attractive tiger shark, known to 

 science as Galeorhinus. In July and August 

 they are found here in such numbers that the 

 water within a few feet of the shore appears to 

 be fairly bristling with large dorsal fins. It 

 chanced that I strolled up the beach one day 

 with a light rod and hired an old fisherman to 

 take my heavy bait out into the bay that I 

 might hurl back the banter of a companion who 



