The Leaping Sharks 375 
bitués of Aransas considered this shark essentially 
game. It was included among the “ game fishes ” 
caught by the members of the Tarpon Club, and 
certainly deserves the honor and the appellation if 
one can throw off the inherent dislike to sharks 
which holds with nearly all anglers. A similar 
leaping shark was not uncommon at Garden Key. 
I have had them leap out of the water, the entire 
body except the tail being clear, the subsequent 
rushes challenging admiration. In a word, the 
shark was gamy and a hard fighter; but when it 
came up snapping and biting at oars and gaff, 
and its disagreeable half-musky odor pervaded 
the air, only a shark after all, one’s enthusiasm 
paled. At Catalina Harbor, on the island of that 
name, at its very head where the water is not over 
three or four feet in depth, is the breeding-ground 
of a small and attractive tiger shark, known to 
science as Galeorhinus. In July and August 
they are found here in such numbers that the 
water within a few feet of the shore appears to 
be fairly bristling with large dorsal fins. It 
chanced that I strolled up the beach one day 
with a light rod and hired an old fisherman to 
take my heavy bait out into the bay that I 
might hurl back the banter of a companion who 
