42 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[JAN. 13, 1906. 

THE ROBERTS SAFETY LAUNCH AND YACHT BOILER. 
Nearly 1500 in use. 
WORKS: RED BANK, New Jersey. 
Cable Address: Bruniva, New York. 
250 pounds of steam. Handsome catalogue free, 
Telephone Address: 599 Cortlandt. 
THE ROBERTS SAFETY WATER TUBE BOILER COMPANY, 39 and 41 Cortlandt Street, New York. 



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DY. SHOOTING, FISHING. YACHTING. 





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ROWLAND E. ROBINSON’S 
Danvis Books. 
These books have taken their place as classics in the 
literature of New England village and woods life. Mr. 
Robinson’s characters are peculiar, quaint and lovable; 
one reads of them now with smiles and now with tears 
(and need not be ashamed to own to the tears). Mr. 
Robinson writes of nature with marvélous insight; his is 
the ready word, the phrase, to make a bit of landscape, a 
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FOREST: AND ‘STREAM PUBS CO: 

| man curse education in the abstract. 
In the Canal Zone. 
A CORRESPONDENT of the ForEsST AND STREAM 
writes from Panama: 
If I have not been misinformed, the old Indian 
word Panama means “The Place of Many Fish,” 
and for once an appropriate name has been given. 
Had it embraced the word “educated” perhaps it 
would have been better, for of all fish Panama- 
nians are by far the best calculated to make a 
Of course 
there are the usual exceptions. 
Fancy, if you please, casting your well-baited 
hook in the midst of a dozen or so of magnifi- 
cent corbenoes,. averaging Io pounds each, with 
half a dozen skip-jacks of good size loitering 
about on the outside, and witness the manner in 
which they receive your attentions. In the first 
place they will dart at the hook in a manner to 
| make your heart jump, but as they appear just 
ready to strike, a slight movement of the tail 
| swerves them aside, when they lazily examine 
| and investigate; then they quietly sail ina circle 
around the bait, until they feel the line touch 
| their backs, and then it is good morning to corbe- 
noes. You may coax and play sweet on them, 
but they graduated some time before you came 
into the country. 
And what a beautiful fish they are; as red as 
a goldfish, or dark brown, according whether 
they be the red or black variety, and several 
| inches across—in fact, they frequently appear dis- 
proportionately broad. When served on the table 
the flesh is white, and as solid as a Columbia 
River salmon. 
With skip-jacks you can enter the plea of 
“sour grapes,’ for they are scarcely worth the 
trouble of catching, as they are only good for 
chowder. Should you want fun you would get 
plenty, providing, of course, you hooked one, for 
they make a hard fight and are game to the last. 
Both the corbeno and skip-jack are game fish, 
and as ravenous as our northern bluefish. 
The natives are generally too tired to fish, al- 
though big prices are obtained in the market for 
all kinds. I witnessed a singular scene not long 
since. For some time I had noticed a boat cruis- 
ing about in the harbor, which finally stopped, 
and while one man attended to holding it steady 
by means of the paddle, the other was busily en- 
gaged in throwing out something from a bucket. 
Soon the mystery was explained. He was mak- 
ing a “slick,” as the Eastern bluefishermen say; 
and after a little 1 saw enough commotion about 
his boat to satisfy me the fish had risen. Care- 
fully he rose to an erect position and poised a 
| harpoon, the while intently watching the water 
just off his port bow. Suddenly he let loose, and 
as suddenly went, reverse side up, into the bot- 
tom of the boat, which boat began a series of 
gyrations through the water, first to the right, 
then to the left, and finally in a circle, gradually 
nearing the vessel on which I stood. 
The fisherman had meanwhile readjusted his 
equilibrium, and had eyes for nothing but the 
motor propelling his boat. The native who sat 
in the stern with the paddle had just all he cared 
to contract for to come in on the short turns, and 
the way that boat walked through the water was 
an interesting lesson to steam yachts. After 
traveling about the bay for about ten minutes, 


the line was hauled short, and the death stroke 
given with a lance, and as handsome a corbeno 
was hauled into the boat as I ever saw. He must 
have weighed nearly 40 pounds. I did not sup- 
pose they grew to such a size, but was assured 
that even larger ones had been captured. The 
harpoon used was a two-pronged barbed instru- 
ment, the wooden handle fitting into an iron 
socket, and just at the socket the line was at- 
tached to the iron. When the blow was deliv- 
ered the handle became detached and floated 
away, the line leading directly to the fish. This 
fish was struck immediately behind the pectoral 
fins, which is tbe objective point, I believe. 
_We are lying about two miles off shore to- 
night, and just now, while writing this, I was 
disturbed by a‘ noise, and for a moment thought 
one of the cattle had by some means got over- 
board, for it sounded exactly like an exhausted 
animal puffing and blowing; it proved to be a 
large school of porpoises or blackfish, the night 
being too dark to distinguish. There appeared 
to be a very large number, and reminded me 
of a heard of excited hogs, their blowing sound- 
ing very like it. 
We are not destined to go without fish be- 
cause two or three varieties know more than 
we do; for on yesterday we took not less than 
seventy mullets while fishing off the steamer’s 
deck. These fish run in’ schools, and will 
average two and a half pounds each in some 
schools and in others they are smaller. Gen- 
erally they are equal in size throughout the 
entire school. We fish for them with trout 
hooks, baited with dough mixed with enough 
cotton to toughen it. The fish sucks the bait, 
not striking it as in the manner of game fish, 
but they make an interesting play after being 
hooked, for they are extremely rapid in their 
movements, and a man with a good, light rod 
could eke out a pleasant hour or two. As the 
fish remain very near the surface and their 
motions are at all times visible, a person gets 
very much interested in witnessing the way in 
which they hook themselves; and yet it soon 
grows tiresome, for the story gets old and ex- 
citement cannot be maintained for the average 
fisherman. I have seen corbenoes caught, but 
never except by throwing over a lot of waste 
meat, bread, etc., and casting in their midst. 

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SPAR. COATING 
A perfect finish for all woodwork, spars and iron- 
work exposed to excessive changes in weather and 
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MANUFACTURED BY 
EDWARD SMITH @ COMPANY, 
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59 Market Street, 45 Broadway, 
Chicago, III. New York. 
