SEA F IS HTNG 



the bubbles would slowly issue from his 

 mouth. He kept this up all day. Tarpon 

 feed on small school-fish and on mul- 

 let, yet their long underjaw denotes that 

 they are bottom-feeders. They have no 

 teeth, and the hard mouth, with which 

 they crush their food before swallowing it, 

 is a further proof that they enjoy a diet of 

 crab and the like. 



According to Hallock, the River Crow 

 Indians have the following legend: 



"Many creations ago, when the salt water 

 covered the surface of the plains and the 

 Rocky Mountain Range formed the shore- 

 line of the primitive continent — long before 

 any land animals existed except reptiles — 

 the Great Spirit had constituted the tarpon- 

 fish the great Silver King, and appointed 

 him to be the guardian of the undiscovered 

 vast ore-beds of silver which fill the moun- 

 tain crags. He clothed him with silver 

 armor-plates and made him ruler over all 

 the anadromous fishes which came up out 



[17] 



