3o6 TiMEHRI. 



friend B. J. GODFREY always asserted that it is the same 

 fish as the tarpon which affords such splendid sport in 

 the lagoons of Florida, and I believe he was right. It is 

 a handsome fish, silvery like a salmon, with large scales, 

 and the gamest fish^ I ever hooked. He has been caught 

 in our rivers and creeks up to twenty pounds in weight, 

 and when hooked he makes some determined rushes ; 

 when he finds that he cannot free himself, he makes 

 tremendous leaps into the air, coming down with a splash 

 that makes you tremble for your tackle. The cuffum has 

 a boney palate and the sides of his mouth are like parch- 

 ment, so that it is very difficult to hook him securely ; a 

 dozen fish may be touched for one that is landed. He is 

 generally caught with a red and white mackerel or 

 gaudy salmon fly ; but the largest fish are caught with 

 live bait, fishing as you would for pike. As I have said, 

 I have never seen cuffum caught with a rod, more than 

 twenty pounds in weight ; but I once saw a fish five feet 

 in length which was caught in a net off the mouth of 

 the Mahaica Creek. 



The Lukananni is a beautiful fish something like our 

 English perch, and is a most excellent fish for the table 

 when fresh caught, unlike the cuffum whichis rather poor 

 and boney. Lukananni are very plentiful in the creeks 

 when the water is running off the Savannahs and the fish 

 are making their way into the rivers. They are caught 

 with a large trout or small salmon fly, and are very game 

 so long as they are running under water or leaping out of 

 it ; if however after a few minutes' play, you can get their 

 heads above water, they open their large mouths and seem 

 to get helpless for a time, and may then be caught in the 

 landing net, so long as the line is not slackened for an 



