4i 8 Big Game Fishes 



by rail and find palatial hotels alongshore afford- 

 ing creature comforts, a marked contrast to the 

 conditions which existed twenty-five years ago, 

 when Southern Florida was comparatively un- 

 known and the angler reached St. Augustine 

 from the St. Johns River by an uncertain mule 

 route, making his way to the Indian River as 

 best he could. The latter is one of the most 

 interesting and fertile regions in America for cer- 

 tain fishes, channel-bass, crevally, snapper, blue- 

 fish, sheepshead, sea-trout (Cynosciori), mangrove 

 or gray snapper, Spanish mackerel, and sawfish. 

 It is now readily reached by rail from New York 

 via Jacksonville and St. Augustine. It is not 

 a river, but a stretch of salt water one hundred 

 and thirty-five miles in extent, separated from the 

 ocean by a low sandy beach, and ranges in width 

 from a few feet, at Jupiter Narrows, to six miles 

 at Titusville. It is a shallow lagoon, with a depth 

 of from three to seventeen feet. It has several 

 inlets connecting it with the ocean, as Haulover 

 Channel, Indian River Inlet, Fort Pierce Chan- 

 nel, Baker Cut, and Garfield Cut. There are 

 several rivers running into it, as Gallie Creek, 

 Sebastian, St. Lucia, and Jupiter. 



The bottom of this " river " is in the main hard 



