Tarpon Fishini>" in Florida. 67 



hound alono' a river bank, or I, now, of settino' out to catch a 

 robin uiih the aid ol a pinch of sail. lUii Danie Nature, here 

 where her scaven^•ers abound, makes hardly any distinction 

 between temporarily and the permanently disabled ; and an 

 absolutely uninjured tarpon, who is even for a short time so tired 

 that he cannot lr<i\cl faster than a shark, stands a poor chance of 

 retaining' his individuality. Within forty minutes from the time 

 when my fish was hcwkcd, h(; is free, and will not, I hope, ow(* a 

 shortened existence to my sport. The tides are not now as high 

 as they were, so it would be possible to fish on considerably longer 

 than before ; in fact, during the neap tides one can fish almost all day. 

 The tarpon, however, are not striking so freely as before, and we 

 start back. I do not reel in as I hope to pick up on the way one of 

 the good eating fish which inhabit these waters ; that is to say, a 

 pompaneau, a channel bass, a red or a black grouper, or a king fish. 

 Soon I have a good pull, and off goes the fish a fair pace fctr 50 feet, 

 a moment's rest, a kick, and off again in another direction. lUit 

 nothing smaller than a tarpon can long withstand this tackle, and 

 I soon haul up on the sand a shark, between 4 feet and 5 feet 

 long. No mercy for this brute, and in any case it would be hardly 

 possible. If one [)ut one's hand into the mouth of a live shark, 

 in order to e.Ktract a hook, nnc would certainly be more unwise 

 than the stork who e.xtracted the b(Mie fnjm the; fo.x's throat. It is 

 illegal to leave dead fish on the shore, so we tow his body some 

 distance out and leave it to ^crx\ his relatives. All four of us 

 make an attempt t(j smarten up a bit before rowing over to lunch 

 on the yacht. F. somehou manages to aj)pear spotless, and I 

 discard my huge straw headgear which I wear over my panama. 



