THE BOOK OF THE TARPON 



ing majestically in the shoal water above that 

 flat? They are worth looking into, just for curi- 

 osity. They belong to a fifteen- foot sawfish, 

 and are just disappearing in the channel. We 

 may find the creature, for it was heading this 

 way. There it comes, gliding under the skiff! 

 See the big weapon, four feet long, four inches 

 wide, with fifty-two teeth, backed by near a 

 thousand pounds of energy! Better not strike 

 it, for it might strike back, and then where would 

 be you and your canoe? Your craft would 

 crumple like paper beneath the slash of that 

 sword. 



But there is what we are looking for, the bay- 

 onet fin of a tarpon! It is moving slowly 

 through the water as the great fish seeks his 

 prey. Your canoeman makes a circuit to get in 

 the rear of the fish and cautiously approaches it. 

 His paddling would do credit to an Indian, as 

 foot by foot he nears the quarry. The tarpon is 

 swimming high, showing the big dorsal fin and a 

 foot of the back above water. The canoe is 

 within thirty feet of the creature whose whole 

 big body is of shining silver. The canoe scarcely 

 gains an inch, you may never again have such a 



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