CHAPTER XXIV 
THE MARIPOSAS 
“There we sit 
For a bit 
Till we fish entangle.” 
— Watton. fiscator’s Song. 
Amonc the fishes of semi-tropical America 
there are many which are passed by with indif- 
ference by anglers for the very good reason that 
their limited time is wholly occupied with tarpon 
and the larger game. To know them all and 
know them well, it is necessary to spend the hot 
months of summer in the haunts where they are 
at their best. It was my fortune for several 
years to have the midsummer fishing on the ex- 
treme outer Florida reef —the land of the “tin 
cow” and the roaring nineties, where the heat at 
times was intolerable, and only cheerfully faced 
by youth or the most ardent lover of sport. I 
see the long stretch of water, the green-capped 
keys lying on its surface like gems, the clumps 
of graceful cocoa palms, through which the wind 
35° 
