FOREST AND STREAM 
320 
oar, and while having sea-worthiness would not 
drag too heavily on the tow. 
Mark well that the boat must instantly move 
in the direction taken by the fish so as to avoid 
any snap or jerk on the line which would be 
fatal—and then checks the momentum of the 
boat with the oars so as to make as much drag 
as possible, consistent with the saving of the 
fish and security of tackle. 
That the angler must have an experienced and 
able-bodied boatman so as to conserve his own 
strength was shown by the endurance tests suf¬ 
fered by Laurie Mitchell of Port Medway and 
Mr. John W. Ross of Montreal in landing their 
record great tunnies. 
Laurie Mitchell was occupied over eight hours 
in killing the record Great Tunny of 710 pounds 
in August, 1914, at Tuna Island, Nova Scotia. 
And at that, he was using a 42 thread line, which 
was strong enough to allow the fish to tow the 
boat with three men it it (c. /., Forest and 
Stream, Nov. 5, 1914). 
Professor Holder records a tuna killed off 
Catalina Island that towed the coat with the 
angler and guide over 20 miles (c. Game 
Fishes, page 78). 
It therefore behooves the angler to be well 
attended by men and supplied with boats when 
he attempts to play and kill the great tunnies 
of Nova Scotia shores. 
Lance and Gaff. 
It is of the utmost importance that the angler 
should be provided with a good sized spear 
head lance mounted on a six foot stick with which 
to pierce the gills so soon as the tunny can be 
brought within striking distance, and an ade¬ 
quate gaff to hold the tunny while the rope is 
being tied around his tail to tow him ashore, if 
you get that far. A thorough thrust of the lance 
will quickly put the quarry hors de combat — 
which no gaff will serve as well. 
Laurie Mitchell has an establishment and 
equipment that will satisfy the most exacting 
demands as to boats ("power as well as row 
boats), guides of experience, tackle, of which 
there is no better judge than he as to character 
and quality, and an inn, whose table comforts 
and sleeping quarters will first astonish and 
then delight. 
Now remember the Great Tunnies of the Nova 
Scotia shores are not the “Tuna” of the Pacific 
Coast whose high line stands at 251 pounds, but 
giants in size and marvels in gaminess and en¬ 
durance that will test the angler to the utter¬ 
most and make him despairingly consider again 
and again that dread of the sportsman—Cutting 
the Line. 
At St. Anne’s Bay, just within the headland of 
Cap Dauphin, I have drifted in the boat down 
over the schools of great tunnies and seen them 
not less than twelve feet in length. 
Angling for them off Cape Ray I have first 
seen the schools betray themselves at the hor¬ 
izon’s rim in a white misty wraith and come 
down the line of vision in a surge and wake 
of foam so swiftly that the eye could scarcely 
follow the flight. 
The range and reaches of water required in 
in this sport were described by the writer in 
Forest and Stream (date mentioned), but it is 
wise to remember that the Great Tunny is a 
Ranger of the Upper Deeps—and will lead you 
over reaches of the watery plains in runs of 
miles long. 
Remember the Law of the Hunt—secure good 
guides and obey them. 
Quality to be sure in the tackle, but experience 
and strength in your guide; secure these, and if 
you have endurance in your back and your arms 
and desire in your heart, then go after the Great 
Tunnies. Tuna Island and the Nova Scotia 
waters afford extreme accessibility both as to 
time and place, and the terms are within the 
reach of all. But first write to Laurie D. 
Mitchell, Tuna Inn, Nova Scotia, and ask for 
“Buzz.” (See Forest and Stream, November 7, 
1914.) 
Men Who Have Blazed 
The Trail 
A true sportsman is a likeable and useful 
member of society. He furnishes humanity 
with its lighter touch, he is invariably a lover 
of nature, almost always possesses a sense of 
humor and often tells the truth about his ex¬ 
ploits—far more often than he is supposed to. 
He supplies the picturesque side of life. It 
is from the ranks of the sportsmen that the 
great pioneers and explorers have sprung— 
the men who have opened up to civilization 
the most remote and obscure corners of the 
earth. The true sportsmen are the men who 
long not for the flesh pots of Egypt, but who 
help keep the golden eagle from screaming 
too loudly in our ears—men of imagination 
and resource. Long may they live! But they 
must look sharply to it or their quarry will 
escape by the way of the great auk, the 
Labrador duck, the passenger pigeon and the 
By Frederic C. Walcott. 
Carolina paroquet; the way the heath hen, 
wood duck and the gray squirrel in the East, 
the native grouse and the antelope in the 
West and the wild turkey in the South are 
going. 
Audubon, that indefatigable pioneer told us 
in the early part of the nineteenth century 
what we had. Coues, Wilson, Brewster, 
Elliott, and Osborn classified and systematiz¬ 
ed our wild life world and now Burroughs, 
Chapman, Seton, Forbush and Baynes have 
taught the American people to appreciate it. 
George Bird Grinnell was one of the first to 
sound a note of warning and to rouse the 
government to set aside a Federal reservation 
for the protection of wild life. Our Biologi¬ 
cal Survey, in the hands of such men as 
Merriam, Fisher, Nelson, Palmer, Dutcher and 
Osborn, is probably the most efficient depart¬ 
ment of its kind in the world. Now let us push 
forward. We have the backing of the Audubon 
societies, under the guidance of Mr. Pearson, 
the New York Zoological Society under the 
leadership of Dr. Hornaday and his able corps 
of assistants, the American Game Protective 
Association, under Mr. Burnham, and also 
of societies that have for years been working 
unceasingly for sane protection—conspicuous 
among these being the Boone and Crockett 
Club and the Camp Fire Club of America, the 
various state farms, sportsmen’s and con¬ 
servation associations. We have as champions 
Theodore Roosevelt who, as president of 
the United States, accomplished more for the 
protection of wild life by the establishment 
of game refuges, bird sanctuaries and na¬ 
tional parks than all the other presidents of 
the last century. 
