28 Tarpon Fishing in Mexico. 



budge ; a hush as 200 lbs. are impatiently weighed against him ; 

 still no movement ; 225 lbs. and he just rises, but slowly settles 

 down again. The weight of the board is subtracted leaving over 

 200 lbs. for the weight of the fish. According to the computation 

 before mentioned, the weight should have been considerably 

 greater, but this giant is an all-round exception. 



The next day is unfortunately my last, so I make up my mind 

 to devote it mainly to photography, as I am more than doubtful 

 whether any of my previous efforts have been right as regards the 

 four necessary factors ; exposure, focus, direction and time. (IX, 

 X, XI). Although the greater part of the day is spent thus, I 

 have excellent sport and catch four tarpon, but none of an exceptional 

 size, though among many others two proverbial monsters are lost. 

 I tow the last fish to shore just off the town, where the water is 

 only a foot or two deep. The hook is firmly embedded in his 

 throat, and has to be cut out. This takes some time and the fish 

 is very much the worse in consequence. We have doubts as we 

 launch him whether he will survive, apart from the possibility of 

 his falling in with a shark. 



We are just about to leave the river when I notice that a 

 man who has for some time been fishing off the end of one of the 

 jetties near by, with a hand line, seems very agitated and begins 

 to shout for assistance. It is now almost dark, and we cannot 

 see the cause of his excitement, but we row^ out as fast as possible 

 and find a jew fish flopping about helplessly on the surface. 

 These sea perch are so called because they live close to the 

 bottom, open their enormous mouths, and suck in everything that 

 comes within reach. They have no protective armour like the 



