20 THETARPON 



seem to go above the tide into fresh water. The natives 

 eat them fresh and salted. 

 In a recent letter Mr. Griswold says : 



"If yon want to find out about young tarpon you 

 should go to the headwaters of streams where they 

 spawn in brackish water. I saw 500 small tarpon 

 at one time at the headwaters of the Jatibonico, 

 Cuba, last Winter. You will find the small tarpon 

 far up Shark, Harney, Broad and Turner Rivers 

 on the West Coast of Florida. The fish do spawn 

 on sand banks inside the Passes, I fancy, but not 

 as a rule. I have taken fish under one pound in 

 Cuba. There is a pond of brackish water back of 

 St. James City, Florida, with no outlet, with many 

 small tarpon in it (from one to four pounds). The 

 spawn must have been dropped by birds or carried 

 from the beach by alligators. The fish do not grow 

 for they have but little food. It is my belief that 

 the tarpon grow very slowly and that the large 

 ones are of great age. ' ' 



He also advises me that tarpon frequently remain 

 in the deep holes of certain rivfers in Florida during 

 the entire Winter and show themselves on warm days 

 when the water reaches 68 or upwards. He has taken 

 several on live mullet in the St. Lucie River in January 

 and February. 



The late F. G. Aflalo, the author of that attractive 

 book "Sunshine and Sport in Florida and the West 

 Indies " records the fact that very small tarpon are 

 found in land-locked waters of the West Indies. They 

 are found in ponds in Westmoreland, Jamaica, and in 



