Tbe Leaping Sharks 377 



ing qualities. Along the mouth of the St. Johns 

 and from the beaches of the Florida Keys I have 

 enjoyed many a bout with these doughty ruffians 

 of the deep. I once hooked a large tiger shark, 

 picking it out from a school which I had baited 

 around the boat, and as it started off towing the 

 boat, numbers of these ugly creatures followed me, 

 some on one side of the bow, some on the other, 

 and others just below and not five feet from the 

 surface a menacing contingent. Out of scores 

 of sharks of different kinds which I have taken in 

 the Atlantic, the Mexican Gulf, and the Pacific 

 I would award the palm for hard fighting and 

 strength in proportion to its size to the hammer- 

 head, two of which I once saw off Capes Charles 

 and Henry in the mouth of the Chesapeake, 

 which were not less than fifteen feet in length. 

 I have hooked them in the Pacific and played 

 them with the rod, but have never landed a large 

 one in this way. Other anglers have played them 

 longer and seemed on the very verge of victory, 

 but so far as I am aware no one has conquered a 

 large hammerhead with a rod. To illustrate the 

 courage and pugnacity and thorough fighting 

 qualities of this shark, which is a foeman well 

 deserving the attention of him who delights in 



