CHAPTER X 



THE HIGH LEAPERS 



THERE is probably no question associated 

 with angling, especially sea angling, about 

 which observers differ so radically and 

 materially as that of the leaps or jumps of fishes. 

 This is due possibly to the temperament of the ob- 

 servers. Some anglers see marvelous things when 

 under the excitement consequent upon the landing 

 of a large fish. I have heard an angler, who was 

 known to be thoroughly conscientious when not 

 under the uncanny influence of St. Zeno, relate, when 

 fishing, the most extraordinary tales of what he had 

 seen; and the deplorable part of it was that he thor- 

 oughly believed that he had been a witness to these 

 marvelous and impossible experiences. With this 

 and other pernicious examples in the perspective, I 

 approach the subject of leaping fishes with caution, 

 calmness and self-control that would not be possible 

 to the layman who jots down in his memory, not 

 what he really sees, but what he thinks he sees and 

 would like to see. 



The most stupendous of all leapers of the sea is 

 the whale but the whale is not a fish, I have seen a 



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