6o Tarpon Fishing in Florida. 



a foot above the reel. I keep my opinions to myself /r^ tern, and 

 after half an hour's terrific exercise, manao-e to tire out the fish 

 from the reel. The tarpon is gaffed through the lower jaw and 

 the hook recovered. By this time my wrath has somewhat 

 subsided, and I return to the houseboat, to the accompaniment of 

 a babel of explanations from my guide. 



A somewhat meagre lunch and we start again at 4.45. The 

 fish are now striking freely, but they are also getting rid of the 

 hook freely. (X.) Our sinkers are tied on with very weak wire, the 

 idea being that they might assist the tarpon in his attempts to jerk 

 the hook out of his mouth in the air. (X\) Consequently for 

 every strike one loses a sinker. (XI, XII.) My stock of five is 

 soon exhausted, and willy nilly I have to fish on the top of the 

 water. The fish are disporting themselves all round us, and I 

 cannot believe that they all leave their appetites behind them the 

 moment they rise above a certain depth. Sure enough I soon 

 have another. He gives excellent sport {XI II), but it is almost 

 too dark for such rapid exposures as are here necessary. The 

 other boats follow my lead and try fishing on the surface with 

 considerable success. 



Suddenly there is a noise as if some extraordinarily heavy 

 rain was striking a patch of water 50 yards away ; and there 

 over an area of 10 yards square the surface of the sea is wildly 

 torn in all directions, little jets of water 10 inches high being 

 thrown up from every square foot, and travelling with considerable 

 velocity. This troubled patch soon begins to move, at the same 

 time expanding, so that it assumes something the shape of a fan. 

 The jets of water travel a foot or two at a great pace and 



