320 Big Game Fishes 
of an old wreck, and judging that the fish would 
visit this, I carefully retreated, and having secured 
a rod hard by, baited the hook with a third of the 
crushed tail of a crayfish — the spiny lobster of 
the reef. This luscious morsel I cast from a high 
pile of dead coral rock which formed the inter- 
vening beach between the pier and the wreck in 
a highway which I knew the porgy or drum 
would pass in full view, owing to the remarkable 
clearness of these tropical waters; nor was I mis- 
taken. The moment my bait sank in about 
fifteen feet of water it was surrounded by a 
motley throng of grunts, shad, young gray snap- 
pers, porcupine-fishes, angel-fishes, and others, 
which seized and tossed it about like a ball, creat- 
ing a commotion that, as I surmised, attracted 
the attention of the big fish which in a short 
time appeared, still swimming slowly and with 
dignity, its jet-black followers trailing against its 
sides like the barbels or whiskers of a catfish. 
One broke away and swam ahead, and rushing 
into the throng, seized the bait. As the ponder- 
ous drum approached the lure it stopped, turned 
slightly upon one side, evidently eying it, while 
the swarm of small fry melted away as do wolves 
or coyotes when larger game approaches, The 
