Tarpon Fishini^ in Mexico. i i 



crowd, and bade him follow me with my lui^gage, a feat which 

 required no herculean streni^th. After some three minutes' walk 

 we arrived at the hotel Hidalgo, which 1 foimd was kept by an 

 ardent tarpon fisherman of American extraction, who provided me 

 with boats, bait, boatman, and anything in the tackle line of which 

 I ran short. After learninir that there were numberless and very 

 hungry tarpon in the river, and being promised the grandest day's 

 sport oC my life on the morrow, I went to bed wondering whether 

 this promise was due to my host's lack of experience, or whether 

 there really was something; rather wonderful in store in the next 

 day's lap. 



Tampico is a town of some 16,000 inhabitants and lies on 

 the left bank of the Panuco, about 6 miles from its mouth. The 

 river here is 400 to 500 yards broad, and about 60 feet deep in 

 mid-channel. It tlows through very flat country, between low 

 banks, covered with thick vegetation and dotted here and there 

 with palm trees and native huts. There is no delta and hardly 

 any bar, as two long breakwaters have been carried right out into 

 the sea in continuation of each bank of the river, and the ocean 

 currents apparently carry away the sediment as fast as it is brought 

 down. The tides do not affect the fishing, a great consideration, 

 and one of the many advantages possessed by che sport at Tampico 

 over that obtained in the passes between the islands ott the coast 

 of Florida ; of which more anon. The strong north wind, 

 commonly called a " Xorther," which blows in ilus*' })aris four 

 days out of six during the winter months, is certainly a disadvantage 

 to poor sailors like myself. It is surprising how nasty a river 

 500 yards broad can be when a strong wind is blowing up it ; but 



