GILL] _ THE TARPON AND LADY—FISH 37. 
its northern range. During a cold wave which invaded Florida 
towards the end of January (26-27) 1905, according to a letter of 
E. J. Brown in “ Forest and Stream,” “the tarpon especially were 
affected by the cold.” There were brought to “ Lemon City between 
forty and fifty tarpon which had been so benumbed by the cold as 
to be easily speared by parties who were searching for them. The 
largest fish was in length seven feet one and three-quarters inches, 
girth thirty-nine and three-quarters inches, weight one hundred and 
ninety-four pounds. Several others were nearly this size. . . . The 
tarpon were salted, to be sent to Key West market, where there is 
a ready demand for them.” 
VI 
That the tarpon is a most active fish may be inferred from its 
form which is especially adapted for swift and enduring action. 
Its life is spent in the enjoyment of its power and in pursuit of 
food ; a carnivorous fish, it preys “eagerly upon schools of young 
fry, or any small fish that it is able to receive into its mouth, and 
in pursuit of which it ascends fresh-water rivers quite a long dis- 
tance.” The schools of mullets contribute largely to the great fish’s 
supply. Such it attacks by darting upon them and generally seizing 
them tail foremost. Its frequent leaps into the air, like those of 
the salmon, seem to be mostly in sportive manifestation of its intense 
vitality and not for food or entirely from fear. C. F. Holder tells 
that one leaping tarpon “fell headlong” into a “boat, passing 
through the bottom ”’; that another leaped over man and’ boat; and 
that still another sprung up to the “ deck of a steamer” and “ fell 
headlong into a passenger’s lap.” Other wonderful tales are told 
of the activity of the tarpon. According to Holder (at second hand 
from another), a fish made an “ initial leap of twelve feet ” and fol- 
lowed this up “ with six leaps all equally high.’ The same observer 
believed that “ the ordinary height a tarpon leaps is from seven to 
eight feet.” While leaping, its gill-covers are frequently spread 
out and its blood-red gills visible. Withal it sometimes goes into 
very shallow water and seeks out a quiet nook in which it may rest, 
“perfectly stationary,” for quite a long time. 
VII 
The life history is very imperfectly known, but it does not appear 
to breed at any place along the continental coast of the United 
States, for none except large individuals have been recorded from 
those places most resorted to by anglers. For a very long time one 
of thirty pounds weight was the smallest obtained in Florida and 
