Big Game at Sea 



murmur of the sea his requiem. He went out one 

 day, so his wife wrote me, bore offshore as the sun 

 rose, sailed on into the unknown sea where the winds 

 are ever fair, and I fancied as I went over our many 

 conversations on the outer bank that this true heart 

 would rest better deep in the blue waters he knew so 

 well than buried in the rocky pastures along shore. 



" Captain Sam " was often skipper or boatman 

 on my fishing trips in this region, as rich and genial 

 a character as the fertile land ever produced. He 

 told me that his first trip to sea was on an old hog- 

 back schooner that had a hump like a camel. He had 

 a load of something for the Bay of Fundy and sailed 

 up this long reach in blissful ignorance of the famous 

 tides. He was awakened at his anchorage by the 

 grunting of pigs which were rooting about the rud- 

 der post. 



" When I went on deck," said Captain Sam, " she 

 had an awful list on her, and I'll swan there wasn't a 

 drop of water in sight. It was the most powerful 

 parch I ever heard on and I was in a sog for a while." 



Along the tarpon grounds of the mainland of 

 Florida are many excellent boatmen lying about the 

 central points for anglers, and at Aransas Pass, on 

 the Texas shore, are a dozen or more men, among the 

 most skillful of their class. These men have for 

 boats some skiffs that no tuna fisherman would dare 

 think of going out in, hence skill and intelligence is 

 an absolute necessity. It was my fortune to employ 



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