1 8 Tarpon Fishing in Mexico. 



without mishap. The fish then makes for an anchored boat, and 

 though the Hne touches the cable, we get round in time. The 

 snags too are avoided, but the energy stored in that 6-feet case of 

 silver scales seems well nigh inexhaustible. Every muscle is aching 

 and I have more than once thought that I should never be his 

 conqueror. But now he is showing unmistakable signs of 

 weariness, and I am fairly successful in my endeavours to keep his 

 head towards the boat. Once more we enter the shallow bay. 

 All of a sudden he gives up and turns on his side on the top of the 

 water (Ills), and I tow him in triumph to the shore (IVsj, where 

 my boatman pulls him up on the sand by the piano wure trace. 

 A lovely beast and dazzling to look at. We quickly produce a 

 tape measure and make his length from tip of chin to tip of tail 

 6 feet 7 inches and his girth 35 inches. A long thin fish, but these 

 are often the best fighters. A method of getting an approximation 

 to the weight of a Megalops Ailanticus, as the scientists call him 

 from his large eyes, is as follows : — Square the girth in inches, 

 multiply by the length in inches, divide by 800, and result will be 

 the weight in pounds. The length should always be taken with the 

 mouth tightly closed, as it is sometimes as much as 2 inches less 

 than when the mouth is open. This calculation makes the tarpon 

 121 lbs., and I find when I oet back that it weig^hs onlv 2 lbs. less. 

 We leave the fish on the bank and start off again. My next 

 catch is a lo-lb. jack fish, a distant cousin of the great Californian 

 Tuna, and a wonderful fighter for his size, though he never 

 breaks water. (Vs.) In this river they go from 5 to 50 lbs., 

 though both extremes are rare. Almost immediately I am into 

 another tarpon. A small one this time, only about 5 feet long I 



