jy-n*. :>* .«*•' 'bv* 0> .•-.. -b^ ^-i'*/'"-'' 'Cp^ ?: ^' •q, **,,,•• .0 !*■ ..V; ...7.' <>iw;^SIH ^g^:j X hf inji^^ j^^^^^^^^^^B m "i^^ii^^c^^/ - ■^-'\fflB v^^^^^^^w^ ^ -inHlffm ^^^jgte^^<'||^^pR25|vi Crabs of the kelp beds. " Ain't no use in goin' bass fishin' so early," said Johnnie, rubbing his eyes and appearing at the dining tent. " Why ?" asked Jack. " They don't git up so early," replied Johnnie, FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 55 " You mean you don't want to get up," retorted Jack. Sleep was impossible if fishing was in the wind, and by sunrise the fishing party had had breakfast and were off. The Torqua was covered with a tarpaulin at night to keep off the sea-gulls which went aboard for A/k;/' Hermit-crab. bait and the flying-fishes that sometimes flew in, and this lifted she was dry and ready for work. At the word from the Angler the mooring was cast off and they glided out into the beautiful vermilion light which filled the east as the sun came up, turned south and followed the kelp bed along the rocky shore of the island. All the islands of the Californian coast are surrounded by a growth of sea- weed called kelp — a vine which grows to several hundred feet in length, with enormous lea\es or fronds rising and 56 THE BOY ANGLERS floating on the surface at low tide, and at all times form- ing a perfect maze or forest, drifting with the current and presenting a beautiful appearance. The Torqua skirted the kelp forest, the fishermen Catching glimpses of its wonders, the rich colors, its fluted leaves, and the brilliant reddish-gold and blue fishes which posed among them. "That's where the bass live," said Joe; "just like birds in the woods. You hook a fish offshore and he turns and puts for the woods, like a shot, an' you have to know how to keep him out or you don't git your Mis- ter Bass. We uster git heaps of them right here," con- tinued Joe, pointing to a long fine pebble beach which the Torqua was passing, " but they caught so many an' tossed the heads over that they jest scared the fish away and they got up an' packed out, an' now you have to go round by the ' fence ' or near there." The " fence" was a point just back of the town of Avalon, on the south side of the island, where great masses of kelp, clustered around the rocks and offshore, formed a deep laminarian forest. " You see," said Joe, " the bass comes inshore in spring, and lives in the outer forest, and runs inshore to feed and spawn, an' when he runs foul of a hook, why, he makes a break for the outer forest — you'll see," and Joe laughed and nodded his head. " Tackle all ready ?" asked Mr. Temple, as Johnnie gave the wheel a turn and headed the boat for Church Rock. FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 57 " Aye, aye, sir," said the Commodore j " ready and fit." The rods were almost identical with those used for tuna fishing. One was a split bamboo, another a noib- wood, while others in the launch, ready for smaller game, were greenheart rods. The lines w^ere twenty-four thread cuttyhunk, as there was sulking and lifting in the wind, and the hook was a number lo/o O'Shaughnessy. Joe was baiting each with about six pounds of raw albacore. " It's six of one and half a dozen of the other," he said, straightening the seven-foot wire leader. " Half a barracuda can't be beat, or a live whitefish, or even flyin'- fish ; but they are mighty fond of albacore meat ; it's rich and juicy." The launch now rounded Church Rock, a great brown mass that rose from the sea, and in a few mo- ments they ran in near the kelp that was lying on the surface and the anchor was dropped. Johnnie fastened it to a keg which could be cast off at the slightest warning; and when the boat swung three or four baits were tossed over ; some allowed to go to the bottom, others suspended a foot or more above it, as Joe said, to take all the chances. Johnnie Graley was fishing for sheepshead for dinner, being the purveyor, and in a short time he had a fine fellow on his line and at the surface, its black head, white under-jaw and blunt face making it a singular object. It was an attractive fishing ground ; the lofty cliffs and mountains of the island rose not one hundred yards 58 THE BOY ANGLERS away, the sea breaking gently at their very base. The water was smooth as glass, indeed looking as though it had been oiled as far as the eye could reach, then blending into distant banks of cloud or fog. The water was as clear as crystal and in its depths could be seen count- less forms of jelly-fishes, while on the surface, here and there, were Portuguese men-of-war — fairy-craft — which drifted in the cur- rent colliding with the stems and branches of the laminarian trees like veri- table air-ships. The cur- rent appeared to be very erratic ; now at rest, again flowing up the island to turn and run in the oppo- site direction, due to local causes. Johnnie had just begun a wierd tale about his experiences in the Gulf of California, where the sea-bass, according to his story, weighed one thousand pounds, when Tom's reel gave tongue. Just one cog slipped, but it gave every one in the boat a slight electric shock, at least they 4") The Portuguese man-of-war. FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 59 thought so, then zee! it came again and again, zee! zee! and stopped. " Crabs," said the Commodore, his eyes fixed intently on the water. ^' Crabs, nothing," retorted Johnnie in a low sepul- chral voice ; " bass. Let him have it." Again came the click, click on Tom*s reel, and throwing off the brake he gently overran the line, which was now going over very slowly and deliberately, just as a crab might have taken it. One, two, three, six, eight feet slipped over, then five or six more, and then the line stopped. Every one was keyed up by this time to high tension, and Johnnie Graley had reeled in his line and made the float ready to cast off at the first warning. " He come back," said Joe ; " mighty fussy fish. Sometime he pick, pick, an' take long time to make up his mind." Joe was a true prophet, as, presently, the bait again moved and this time ran out ten or fifteen feet ; then Joe nodded, Tom threw on the click and pressed his thumb upon the leather pad, allowing the line to come taut ; as it did, he lowered the tip, and when the line was stiff he braced back, not jerking, but with a steady, powerful surge " gave the fish the butt," and set the hook into its hard jaws. That he was not lifted out of the boat was due to Joe, who grasped his sweater as he appeared to be going, the fish making a rush that was irresistible. " Cast off! " shouted Joe. " Cast off it is," answered Johnnie, and as the rod 6o THE BOY ANGLERS bobbed up and down, as though bowing to the fish, Jack slipped out of his seat, giving Tom the stern, while the Commodore took the oar and forced the stern of the Torqua around to the fish. The reel now uttered a voluble protest, fighting the big fish away, down some- where at the bottom of the sea, but Tom had stopped it and the launch was moving slowly through the water be- hind an unknown finny steed. " Give it to him ! " said the Angler ; " remember that when you stop, he is resting also. This is a fight in which there are no heats." Tom redoubled his efforts, but the fish made a sud- den rush and not only took all the line gained but fifty feet more. " He's makin' for the kelp," cried Joe, and slipping the oars over he and Johnnie held back, putting the rod and line to severe test as the fish made a run directly out to sea. There was no stopping it ; line, rod, every- thing would have given way had there been any resist- ance beyond the click, and the long line was rapidly melting away. "Try and stop him," said Mr. Temple. Tom bent over his thumb and changed the staccato shriek of the reel to a deep grinding bass ; the tip of the rod dropped low as he now held on ; three hundred feet of line had gotten away in that rush. " Good boy, fine," muttered Joe. "You must turn him if possible, Tom," said Mr. Temple. FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 6i Tom rallied, though the strain was terrific, turning the rod tip to the left, lifting or pumping at the same time, and succeeded in holding the fish, and with the aid of the oars heading it in another direction. By hard work he gained twenty feet or more, lifting and whirl- ing the reel handle about when he had the opportunity. In this way almost half an hour slipped away and the launch had been towed well offshore. " I'm sure he weighs a ton," gasped Tom, as he looked at the tremendous weight. " Four hundred and twenty-nine pounds the record," said Joe ; " you may beat it, but not that way," as the bass made a rush that swept the rod tip down into the water and sent a wail of anguish whistling through the air from the steel throat of the reel. But Tom bent over the reel, pressing his thumb upon the leather pad with all his strength, and his thumb and forefinger upon the line above the reel, and held on while the rod bent, the launch moving along — a wonderful illustration of what good tackle will stand. The bass evidently had been brought to a standstill, as it changed its tactics, running in on the line, Tom reeling as fast as he could, stopping as the big fish turned and plunged downward with a dead force that nothing could withstand. But it was stopped within twenty feet, and then slowly, labo- riously pumping, the bass came slowly up. Now it seemingly would shake its head, the line fairly trembling, and Tom would be lifted from the seat to settle back and reel and reel. Suddenly the fish began to rise, com- 62 THE BOY ANGLERS ing near the surface one hundred feet away, where it swam around. The angler gained rapidly at this time, making twenty feet before it plunged again. He had now been playing the bass nearly an hour and what appeared like a long struggle had evidently begun. " How long does it generally take ? " asked Tom, anxiously. " I've seen one fight a man four hours and get away," replied Joe. "And I've seen one landed in ten minutes," reas- sured Johnnie, as Tom groaned audibly. " It's all a trick ; you want to force the fighting." " I am forcing," retorted Tom, reeling again with all his strength, " but what I need is a donkey engine ; at times I can't move him." "You are gaining," said his father, laughing. " When you get the slightest chance, rush him." But the bass continued to rush Tom ; played with him ; now stealing line, now coming in, nearly pulling his arms out of their sockets ; but after a quick plunge there came a sudden slacking of the line, and Tom reeled with renewed vigor. Jack shouting " Good boy ; give it to him, I see him ! " " Yes, here he is, and a corker, sir. Aisy with him. By the powers ! he's as big as a whale," and the Com- modore, excited as a boy, reached for the gaff', handing it to Joe, whose fame had been built on just such struggles, and all stood breathless and watched the clever killing of a fish which weighed three times as much as the angler. FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 63 It came in slowly, circling around, and not twenty feet down its huge black and white form could be seen. " Stand ready for a rush ; it's comin' as soon as he sights the boat." Joe had hardly spoken these words when the fish turned and plunged downward, zeeee — ee — zeee — eeee ! sounding in a long wail. But Tom stopped and turned it up with a clever lift and soon had the fish in sight. And what a fish it was ! Little wonder that the Com- modore snorted, as Jack said, like a grampus, and danced around. Little wonder that Tom was excited as into the clear water he reeled a fish so gigantic that he could not believe it possible that he had accomplished the feat with the thread of a line. Yet here was the evidence six or more feet in length, thick and as heavy as a twelve-foot shark, bulky, in fact, titanic, yet the almost perfect image of a small-mouth bass, if we can imagine one of these fishes magnified out of all proportion. Such was the fish that Tom now reeled in, and which he di- rected cleverly to his left and turned so that Joe could approach it with the gafF. A quick bend, and the gaff went down, and with a jerk he sank it Into the throat of the monster, Joe lifting it quickly and holding it at the surface, where it rolled and thrashed, drenching them all in its struggles. A marvelous creature, at least to be caught in the manner described. How they cheered and shouted ! the Commodore, not at all behind the rest, de- claring that it was the cleverest catch he had ever seen, and that Tom had " done himself proud." 64 THE BOY ANGLERS In the meantime Tom, who had received at least a bucket of water in the face from the tail of the monster, held his rod ready for a rush ; but Joe had the bass and he now slackened away, and Johnnie cleverly put a rope through the gills and out at the mouth of the big fish, and then it was killed with the knife and all hands took the rope and the giant was hauled on the forward deck, where Tom feasted his eyes on the game, realizing why he had almost been caught himself. Few large fishes except the Florida jewfish present so colossal an appear- ance as the black sea-bass of California. It is the king of the bass tribe, yet when swimming it is one of the most graceful of fishes. Johnnie now started the engine and they ran back to the moorings, where they tied up for lunch and to discuss the catch, which had been made in less than two hours. The Commodore got out the lunch basket, the con- tents of which were passed around, while Joe on a port- able oil-stove heated coffee. " How big a one have you ever caught, Joe ? " asked Jack. " I can't tell," was the reply. " I'm a pretty husky puller, but I tackled one once that I couldn't move ; he pulled me elbow deep, and I was goin' overboard when I took a turn with the line — a big rope — and when we hauled it in the shark-hook was straightened out. I reckon he must have weighed eight hundred or a thou- sand pounds ! " " Here goes for another," said Johnnie, casting over FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 65 while Tom and his father took their light rods and in a short time were having fine sport with the bonito — a fish that ranges from five to twelve pounds, making a splendid play with the split-bamboo rod, almost always on the surface, and when it comes in displaying all the colors of the rainbow — a kaleidoscope of most beautiful tints and shades. Johnnie Graley was one of those peculiar philosophers who see no pleasure in fishing. It was work to him, as he often was obliged to earn his living in this way ; and to haul in a big fish and work over it when you could hire some one to do for you, was a palpable piece of absurdity to him ; but he care- fully kept this opinion to himself and pretended to be an ardent angler ; yet no sooner was his line over and on the bottom than Johnnie would begin to nod, his pipe, if lighted, would remain in his mouth by some special sense, and Johnnie would be far away in the land of dreams. He would sail in from the outer fishing grounds before the wind, the tiller under his arm, and he fast asleep ; yet when the boat " yawned " and gave evi- dence of jibing Captain Johnnie always awoke just in time, changed the course and promptly fell asleep again. To-day Johnnie sat and held his line, and slept, and the boys watched him and tried to conjure up some joke that had not been attempted before, it being difficult to trick this particular fisherman who had a way of waking up, as the Commodore said, " on the inside ; " that is, he did not open his eyes when he awoke, but merely an- nounced that he was not asleep. So Johnnie slept on, 66 THE BOY ANGLERS puffing like a porpoise, a peculiar feat that soon shot out the tobacco from his pipe like a diminutive Pelee, and, as the boys had about decided to haul up his line and put on a dead albacore, something intervened, the some- thing jerking his Hne so desperately that it brought him to his feet, staring wildly at the rushing line that leaped over the rail like a snake. " Is it foul the propeller ?" cried Johnnie, blinking. " Propeller ! " replied the Commodore with a great show of disgust, " why, we're anchored, ye bilgeree. Luk out for yer legs," he added, and Johnnie dodged a coil and danced a hornpipe to avoid the line, then sprang at it, calling to Joe to cast off the rope, which was done, Johnnie settling back as the boat swung around. " It all comes from yer fishin' with a hand-line. Ye're an obstinate creature, Johnnie Graley," said the Commodore reeling in his line. " YeVe got an old nine- fathom porpoise on." " Porpoise blazes," responded Johnnie, red in the face to the point of apoplexy ; '' bass and the king." " Did ye ever see a bass bite like that, eh, Joe .?" asked the Commodore. " It's not my fish," replied Joe diplomatically ; " but if it was, an' I was asked, I'd say a shark." » A shark it was, and a swivel-tail at that, as five min- utes later it came to the surface, where it lashed the water with its tremendous tail and made a splendid dis- play of strength. Johnnie, already weary, handed the line to the boys who quickly discovered what power a FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 67 large shark possesses. After plunging about it went to the bottom and set a pace for deep water, carrying them along at a four-mile rate. Down by Church Rock they passed j then, as the shark showed evidence of taking Thresher shark. them to sea, all hands laid on and soon had the monster at the surface where it rolled and twisted, gnashing its fierce jaws, displaying row after row of teeth — an extra- ordinary creature with the upper lobe of its tail lengthened out as long as its body. Finally it was brought along- side, and as the shark was a very large one it was decided 6 6S THE BOY ANGLERS to tow it inshore and give it to an old longshoreman who collected shark liver as a business. Lamp-shells hooked up at Santa Catalina. As they drifted, Jack, dropping his line to the bottom in very deep water, hooked up a number of singular objects. FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 69 one of which proved to be the lamp shell. Joe discov- ered a remora or sucking fish on the shark, and pulling it off, placed it in a bucket to show how firmly it could hold by the curious sucker upon the top of its head. There was always some attraction or beautiful object in sight in these waters. Tom's line fouled a charming jellyfish, known as the Physophora, and it was lifted aboard and kept for some time that its beauties might be admired. One peculiarity was noted. It darted about in rapid flight in marked contrast to the ordinary jellies, a common one being a huge lavender form two The remora. feet across the disk and sometimes twenty or thirty feet in length, yet a very slow swimmer and easily captured by whales. As they drifted Joe sighted some white sea-bass, one of the finest game fishes in the sea. They displayed no fear, coming within fifteen or twenty feet of the boat, and forming a most enticing spectacle to the anglers. Ap- parently, none of the bass were less than four feet in length, and as far as the boys could see down in the deep water they were in layers, slowly moving on. Tom, Jack, and their father reached for their rods, and Joe and 70 THE BOY ANGLERS ^av M An active jellyfish. Johnnie deftly changed the black sea bass lead- ers to a number 7/0 O'Shaughnessy hook with leaders of wire a foot in length. To this was baited a smelt, and if one had watched carefully it would have been seen that the point of the hook was put in the mouth of the bait and run through it, the hook then turned and buried in the belly of the smelt ; then the mouth of the latter was fastened with a small wire and tied to the shank of the hook and the bait was ready for trolling or casting. It did not take more than a few moments to change the hooks as the latter were all baited; there being perfect system on the launch they were pre- FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 71 pared for any game all the time, and all knew that it was the unexpected that was to happen. The Angler was given the cast of honor, and with a deft motion, having his bait reeled up as far as possible, he dropped it fairly into the school fifty feet away, then reeling gently, made it simulate life. Not a bass moved, not a tail turned, and the Commodore later said that not a fish even winked. Again the Angler landed his bait, this time allowing it to lie like a dead fish, and what an enticing lure it was ! shining like silver against the deep blue of the water — a fascinating object, yet disdained by this rare and splendid game. "Joe," said Mr. Temple, "this is certainly not my day. Try it, boys," and out went two fresh baits, one a sardine, one a bunch of anchovies. Whish ! and the water boiled as though struck by a whirlwind. A bass had charged but stopped at the bait, refusing it, and the silver fish sank into the throng, not merely without being noticed but absolutely disdained. " This beats everything I ever see," said the Com- modore ; " did ye spit on the bait, Joe ?" " Whatever d'ye take me for ? " answered the latter. " Of course I did." " Well, it beats me," said the old man, scratching his head as though in search of an idea. " It don't beat me," Joe retorted. " Reel, Jack, and try this," and Joe took the end of his line and fastened a fresh snood or leader with a flying fish at least a foot long, as bait. *' Put it right into them," he said, winking. 72 THE BOY ANGLERS " Why, that would stampede the whole school," answered Tom. But Jack reeled in his line, got the big bait at the tip of his rod and cast with both hands. The bait fell with a crash and before the water cleared it seemed to break out into an eruption. Three bass had fairly leaped for it, and one had the bait plainly ; then, feeling the hook, it made a rush, to so loud and musical an accompaniment on the reel that every one of the crew felt like dancing. " O, ho ! the gallant fishers that we are !" cried the Commodore. " Joe, ye're a past master in baitin' hooks, ril give in to ye there," and he slapped the big broad back of the gaffer a sounding whack. The bass made a clean rush of perhaps one hundred and fifty feet, then stopped, and rose to the surface with a bound, cut around two hundred feet so that Jack darted to the mast and swung around to save the line from foul- ing, then bearing away in such splendid form that the young angler was forced to give, inch by inch, to save his tackle. " Good boy. Jack," cried his father ; " there's where good judgment comes in. It is like playing a piano to press on that leather pad in just the right key, so that you will not break the line. But excuse me for speak- ing to you," added Mr. Temple. " Never talk to the angler, the man behind the reel, when a fish is on, espe- cially a large one." Jack played his fish like a master, as indeed he was, holding up the rod when the fish made a rush, never FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 73 giving slack; now pressing just the right force on the leather pad, now reenforcing on the upper line, then, as occasion offered, jumping the right hand from brake to reel handle, and winding feet and yards on the big mul- tiplier, bringing the game nearer the end. Ah, the ex- citement of it, the splendor of the whole performance ! The boat and sea were Jack's stage, and he and the big bass were the stars — matched one against the other. Now the bass was in the lead, cutting the blue water, an object of beauty, a joy forever; now threatening to break the tackle, again skilfully stopped and brought in inch by inch, a fine fighter, every pound a game fish, always on the alert, and giving the angler the play of his life. How it surged and bore away in splendid curves ! How it plunged down to the music of the reel ! Not a man in the boat, not a boy (they were all boys, young and old), but had a personal interest in this struggle of human skill on the one hand and a game fish on the other. Here was an illustration of true manly sport. The white sea bass had all the advantage in the duel; the line was an absurd thing, a mere thread, to hold so large a fish — a twelve-thread cuttyhunk — while the rod weighed but twelve ounces and had three joints. The slightest mistake in judgment would have terminated the contest, but the fates were with the angler, and in a few moments he brought the fish to boat. Joe gaffed it, and held it up for one happy moment, that they might see and feast their eyes on its beauties. " Oh, that is sport," said Jack, and, with extraordi- 74 THE BOY ANGLERS nary magnanimity, " I wish you all could have played him ! " " Blither and zounds ! " exclaimed the Commodore. " I felt every pull myself, an' didn't he put a quart of sea water doon me back ? Ah, he's a bonnie feesh that, a bonnie feesh indeed," and when Joe despatched it and held it up on the scales it tipped them to the sixty-four- pound mark. Very much the shape of a salmon, well proportioned was the white sea-bass, Cynoscion nobilis^ the cousin of the Atlantic weakfish, one of the noblest of all game fishes, and quite as difficult to take as the salmon, being very •' whimsy," as the Commodore put it — sometimes biting, sometimes refusing, and appearing in numbers only from. May first, or thereabouts, to July, and sometimes not at all. The fish ranges as far north as San Francisco ; attains a weight of one hundred pounds, possibly more. " We'll bake him to-night on the beach, eh ? " Johnnie suggested, throwing a piece of canvas over the fish. " Baked on hot stones with potaters and crawfish and " " Hold on, Johnnie," interrupted Tom ; " don't en- courage my appetite until we get in — I can't stand it." As a sea was now picking up they got under way and ran around into the lee of the island, where they joined a fleet of fishing boats, each containing two ang- lers, their masts decorated with various strange flags. Here the water was smooth — a peculiarity of this island, the mainland of California being exposed to the prevail- FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 75 ing west wind and nearly always rough, splendid water for sailing or trolling with hand lines but not adapted to the angler with the light rod. Here, on the north and east face of this oceanic mountain range there were twenty-two miles of nooks and corners, rocky bays generally smooth, often perfectly so, the sea like a mir- ror, and affording a water only to be compared to the mighty St. Lawrence, where calms and clear waters form the main feature of the delights of anglers. Tom and Jack were fortunate in being lovers of nature for nature alone. They saw something to enjoy in everything — the color of the mountains, the hue of the rocks, the blending of the neutral tints, the splendid tone and life of the ocean as its lungs seemed to rise in the ground-swell, all this had a charm, and so they always had good luck ; not always in big fish, but in the fullness of nature's offerings. Running into Avalon later the black sea-bass was taken in, and with the aid of Vincente, the head fisher- man, and his men, hoisted up on Joe's stand and found to tip the scales at 270 pounds, attracting more than or- dinary attention when it was noised about that this large fish had also been taken by a boy. Several boys have taken these giants of the sea in the fashion described and in the most sportsmanlike manner. The accompanying photograph shows the record boys' catch of Santa Catal- ina Island and the world — a bass weighing 324 pounds, taken by Henry Ellsworth Paine, of Cleveland, Ohio. The fish v/as caught with the rod and reel, the latter 76 THE BOY ANGLERS holding a twenty-four thread or strand line ; and after a fast fight which would have placed many men with un- tried muscles hors de comhat^ he brought the fish to gaff just fifty minutes from the time he hooked it. This is, in all probability, not only the boys' record for black sea-bass, but the largest game fish of any kind taken by a boy in a sportsman- like manner, and by this is meant the tackle described and allowed by the Tuna Club of Avalon, and with ab- solutely no assistance from boatman or gaffer until the latter reached it with his gaff. The extraordinary power and strength of these fishes can be realized only by those who have tried to play them. How large they grow is not known, but doubt- less they attain one thousand pounds in the Gulf of Cal- ifornia, which seems to be a favorite ground for them. The Torqua sailed into the canon that afternoon with colors flying, and the big flag bearing the white figure The record boys' catch of black sea-bass. FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST ^^ of a bass at the fore told the story to those in camp. At night, when the camp-fire began to blaze and cast lurid shadows all about, brightening the sides of the caiion, they sat around it and agam told and retold the pleasures of the day. Johnnie had early dug a hole in the beach, lining it with flat stones, forming a pit, and in this he built a fire of driftwood. After it had been burning some time he cleared it out, lined it with sea- weed, and wrapping the white sea-bass in wet thick brown paper, placed it on the hot stones, then covered it with more sea-weed, putting in crayfish and potatoes as well, and as they sat by the camp-fire the savory odors came wafting up the caiion. foretelling the joys of a fish bake. Later when Johnnie and Joe passed around the baked white sea-bass and the tender young crayfish, the " bake " was pronounced a success, and fit for the gods. " Did you ever see the Flying Dutchman in your trips round the Horn ? " asked Jack, as Johnnie threw another log on the fire. " Flyin' Dutchman ! " repeated Johnnie, dividing up a piece of crayfish for the greyhound and fox terrier that had joined the group. " You don't have to go to the Horn to see them, eh, Joe ?*' " All the Dutchmen I know, like Pete, are too heavy to fly," said the matter-of-fact Joe. " He manes a goost ship," explained Johnnie. " Didn't ye ever hear of the ship that bate up and down off the Cape and never rounded it ? " 78 THE BOY ANGLERS " No, I never did," replied Joe. " But you've heard of the ship that bates up and down this coast ? " persisted Johnnie. " Yes, I have," Joe answered , " but what's the use of talkin' about it ? We're here to fish, ain't we ? " " Let's have it, Johnnie," said the Commodore. " If it's a ghost story let's have it." " It's worse nor that," said Johnnie, looking around with a furtive air which made Joe also peer into the darkness, being just a trifle superstitious. " Ye all know," began Johnnie, in a sepulchral tone adapted to the situation, " the Ship Rock off the northeast end of the island ? We've fished there a hape of times, an' ye all know that when ye look up, kind of sudden like, when a few miles away, ye see a full-rigged ship, a reg- ular old wind-jammer with everything on her and all drawin', too. Ain't that so, sir ? " appealing to the Ang- ler, who sat with his face in his hands looking into the coals and enjoying the scene and the talk. " Yes, I've seen her many times and thought it was a ship," was the reply. " That's the pint, sir ; it is a ship. When yer fishin' alongside of it it's a rock, an' the tide sets along there like a mill-race, an' you see the old Ship Rock white as snow with the guano, and see the birds a-roostin' on it ; but when ye haul off, why, she gets under way. I was fishin' there a year ago," continued Johnnie, " with a man ; an' we kept runnin' up and driftin' down by the Ship Rock, an' all at once a fog come blowin' in' an' kind FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 79 o' hid it, an' I heard jest as plain as I hear that log a crackin', some one sing out, ' Weigh anchor ! ' then a boatswain's whistle ; then I heard the capstan clankin', then more orders, then the fog lifted, and there was the old rock not two hundred feet away ; we mighty nigh drifted onto it. I says to the gintleman I was rowin', ' Did ye hear anything quare, sir ? ' 'I thought I heard the rattlin' of a ship's sails,' says he. But that's noth- ing," continued Johnnie, after a brief pause, during which no one spoke, " ye all know Donovan, that lives up beyond ? One night I was sittin' in me shack at the Isthmus when I heard a wild cry like, up the coast. ' What's that ? ' says the man I was fishin' for, sittin' up in his bunk. Then it come again, a cry like — like the wail of a lost soul, a cry of the dead," looking at Joe. " It's a hail,' says the gintleman. ' Bar the door,' says I. ' No livin' man's out sich a night as this,' blowin' as it was. ' But it may be some wan,' says he. Then we heard it again, comin' down the wind, an' something seemed to take the shack in its hands and shake it. ' Bar the door,' says I. ' Open it,' says he ; ' ye're not afraid, are ye, Gravley ? ' says he. ' No,' says I ; ' but I've the caution that goes with a long head.' With that he lept to his fate and pulls open the door, and in falls Donovan, white as a goost, and tremblin' all over. ' What's the matter? ' says I ; ' who's after ye ? ' 'Bar the door,' says Donovan, and he fell into a chair while I put the bar in. After he had some hot coffee, he says, ' Johnnie, I've seen that I've never seen before. D'ye 8o THE BOY ANGLERS mind the hanted house on the hill.' ' Yes,' I says. ' It was blowin' so,' says he, ' that I ran into Bouchet's an' made up mind that I'd stay there ; but the rain drove me out, an' I started down the trail for here, an' when I got to the water it was blowin' a hurricane, an' as I turned down I heard a voice comin' down the wind, "Ready about, stations for stays. Hard a lee! " then a clash of blocks an' the rattlin' of sails right by me side. I was fifty feet above the water, an' as I looked I saw a big ship lookin' like a pale flame. I see every sail, an' she had stunsails on her an' it blowin' a hurricane. I see her pay off; I see her yards square away, an' she moved down the island. D'ye mind the bar there below Johnson's rocks ? not five feet underwater, rocks like teeth, that no ship could cross an' not a cable's length ahead of her, so I let out a hail, " Ship ahoy ! ahoy there ! starboard yer helm ; ship ahoy ! " ' That's what we heard,' says the fisherman. ' Yes,' says Dono- van ; ' but on she went, a keelin' over so that her fore- yards were in the water an' the wind blowin' a hurri- cane. I missed the trail, fell over the rocks an' cactus, picked meself up an' come out on the pint just as she got to the reef. " Ship ahoy!" I yelled. " Hard a star- board fur yer life ! " and then — ' Yes, and then,' says I, ' then she went clear over the reef, an' I lost sight of her ; she sailed away with everything a-drawin' and never touched it.' ' Did you see any wan on deck ? ' says I. ' I did not,' says Donovan ; ' there wasn't a soul in sight, an' I saw her as plain as I see ye, Johnnie FISHING IN AN OCEAN FOREST 8i Grayley,' " and Johnnie stopped so suddenly that Joe started and glanced furtively at the sea, while the boys broke into peals of laughter, not so much at the yarn as at the dramatic way in which it had been told, around the dying camp-fire, and the evident effect it had upon Joe. CHAPTER V A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL The day following the catch of the big bass the boys made a trip up the canon after foxes, taking the two dogs with them — an enjoyable climb up the steep mountains which gave them a fine view of the blue channel and the snow-capped peaks of Mounts San Antonio and San Jacinto sixty miles or more distant in the Sierra Madre. They followed the sheep trail, finding much to interest them. Scurrying beneath the holly bushes and scrub oak innumerable bands of quail were seen, the males with jaunty head plumes, sounding their sweet call that was answered from others far away across the canon. On the side of the canon, lumbering along. Jack discovered a huge tarantula which ran quickly into its hole at his approach, and near by he found the clever nest of the trap-door spider, which was added to the collection of insects, taking the nest out carefully by digging. Under the stones some distance on several small scorpions were unearthed, and in the canon bed where there was but a suspicion of water was caught an enormous water-bug bearing upon its back a covering of eggs which protected it like an armor, giv- 82 A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 83 ing it a most singular appearance. Lizards scampered here and there ; one, with a rich blue spot upon its breast, eying them from the rocks and lifting itself up California quail, 84 THE BOY ANGLERS quickly as though to flash its brilliant color at them. In their home the boys had a museum, and they were making collections in various departments of zoology A giant spider. for the purpose of study. They preserved their own specimens, and could skin and mount birds and small animals. In this way they wandered along, occasionally climb- ing the low trees to look into a humming-bird's nest, or lying flat on the ground to study the trail or track of some animal or insect until they came out upon the di- vide overlooking the camp. As they came in sight of the latter, some one uttered a loud hail, and the boys A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 85 saw the Commodore and their father running down to the beach, shouting as they ran. A glance at the little bay told the story. Some large fish, or a school, had entered it, and the ordinarily smooth harbor appeared like a maelstrom, so covered with foam was it. Tom and Jack stood not on the order of going, but ran as best they could, burdened with specimens, back to camp ; th^re dropping their loads and snatching up their rods they hastened to the beach to find their father casting and the Commodore, his line in a tangle, dancing about and call- ing down maledictions upon his luck, while Johnnie and Joe gathered up sardines which were leaping on the sands, throwing them up for bait. A school of yellowtails had chased in a school of sardines and was playing havoc with the small fry. Tom hurriedly hooked a sardine on his line, laughing at the Commodore's struggles and despair, and cast from the beach forty or fifty feet. The moment the bait struck zee-ee-ee-e-e ! went the reel, and never had it made a more vigorous protest. Then Jack's reel took up the strain, while Mr. Temple's was muttering a low bass as he put on the brake. Tom's fish took him down the Giant water-bug with eggs on its back. 86 THE BOY ANGLERS beach in a splendid run, then charging directly out, breaking the line so cleverly that he never could ex- plain it. " Blither and zounds ! Johnnie ! '* exclaimed the Commodore; " ye've had me rod; luk at this mess," and he threw the tangled line upon the beach in disgust, shaking his fist at it. Zip-ze-ee ! went Jack's reel ; zip-ting-g-g ! and the line went, only Mr. Temple holding his fish, and it had two hundred feet of line and was aiming to saw it off on the rocks, so he sprang into the skifF and Joe rowed him out clear of the point, where he presently landed a splendid yellowtail. Like a beam of light the yellow- tails had rushed in, and they were off as quickly, the little bay soon becoming as smooth as a lake again. Mr. Temple got aboard the launch and Johnnie rowed in after the boys and the Commodore, who now had a new line, and they all went aboard and started after the school. " I've caught a lot of yellowtail," said Joe, " but I don't believe I ever saw such a school of big strong fellows. Yours weighs most forty pounds, sir," and Joe held up the beautiful fish, shaped something like a salmon but with a mackerel-like tail, a vivid yellow, yellow fins and median line ; its back green in the water and an iridescent blue out of it, the belly white or silver. " I consider the yellowtail the hardest fighter among fishes," said the Angler, " and I've caught almost every- A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 87 thing. If you wish to test it, boys, rig up a salmon rod — I mean a typical one nine or ten feet long, and take my old non-multiplying salmon reel and try to catch a yellowtail. I venture to say that it would take hours if you could do it at all. That is why it is necessary to have a short rod for these fish, as they are extremely powerful and you must have a rod with which you can lift a sulker." The rods Tom and Jack were using were about seven feet long, in two joints, and, while light, were suf- ficient to lift a sulking fish ranging up to fifty pounds. The lines were twelve strand, light enough to place the angler at a disadvantage, the hook a number seven O'Shaughnessy. As soon as the Torqua cleared the point the boys took their seats in the stern and began to pay out line, slacking off about seventy feet, while Johnnie Grayley put the launch at about quarter speed, and they trolled slowly along twenty feet or so outside the kelp bed, a fishing ground with every charm. High cliffs rose to the left, now breaking mto a green mesa that sloped upward and merged into higher mountains. The water was of that intense blue that can only be imitated by the liberal use of pure cobalt. Hardly a rip- ple disturbed the surface save where a group of flying- fishes were seen playing, or a sea-bass cut the water with its dorsal fin. The launch moved in and out of little undulations of the coast in following the kelp bed, and the anglers always had this attractive garden of the sea in sight — masses of waving green laminarian vines 88 THE BOY ANGLERS about which poised countless rich blue fishes or others in deep red gold tints, telling of the golden angel-fish that lived in this fishes' highway. As the launch came out of a little snug harbor Jack's reel sang the note of distress— zee-e-e-e-e-e ! " No mistaking that," said Tom. " Go for him, Jacky ; go for him ! " But something was going for Jack, as, despite his best efforts to hold up his rod, it was bowing and bending and shaking at some invisible foe in a re- markable manner, while the reel sang the music loved best by the angler. "I believe I could sing to that," said Tom, "and I'm going to write some words to the song of the reel some day." Zee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-zip-zip ! sang the reel, and the rod was fairly jerked, tip down, to the water, Jack pressing upon the leather brake with all the force he dared apply. No fish of its size and weight makes so gallant a burst of speed when hooked as the yellowtail, and Jack's fish was no exception to the rule, boring down again, ris- ing and dashing across the field, the angler keeping the rod nodding and bending like a living thing. But Jack always met his charges ; his thumb played on the brake at just the right tension, and he eased it by touching the upper line with his guarded thumb or stall. The looker- on would have seen that he was fighting the fish all the time in some way, never allowing it to get its '' second wind," which is often fatal to the prospects of the angler. A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 89 When the fish rushed, as it did repeatedly, he gave way gently. The moment it ceased, his right hand slipped to the reel and so he gained a foot or two, and then drop- ping his tip the young angler gave a mighty lift, raising the fish bodily, the rod bending and a terrific strain put upon the line. Up it came, the very king of sulkers, and when the rod was almost erect Jack dropped the point and quickly slipping his right hand to the reel took in six or seven feet of line, and before the yellowtail was aware what had happened down dropped the tip again ; this was cleverly repeated rapidly time and again, the gamy fish being " pumped " up — the only way it could be moved. Suddenly the operation ceased ; the fish ran in a foot or two, turned and plunged down with the marvelous, irre- sistible force for which it is famous, and loudly sang the reel — zee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e, the song that stirs the blood, the music the angler loves. " I see him !" shouted the Commodore ; " a star in the sky of the water. He's a beauty. See him sheer ofi\, side on, makin' the fight of his life. There's a rush for ye ! zeee-eee-zip ! shure he almost had ye then ! gallant angler that ye are !" sang and laughed the Commodore. " Wance more ; ye're feeshin' almost as well as meself. Now, then, all together ! " But zip-zee-e-e ! went the reel, and away went the fish, now plainly seen in the splendid burst of speed, dashing almost around the boat, taking Jack to his feet to pull him down again to his knees, all so quickly that he appeared to be waving a wand or single stick instead of 90 THE BOY ANGLERS a rod. " Here he is," and fairly on the surface came the yellowtail. ** At once he darts along. Deep struck, and runs out all the lengthened line.** Coursing along on top of the water like a greyhound, a gallant fish, not discouraged, though almost within reach of the cruel gaff. How it bounded along ! flashing yel- low, gold, and green 5 its big eyes, bright, gleaming, a splendid creature. No "quitter" it; so far as it was concerned, the fight had just begun ; but the fates were against it, and while In the very toils it made the best rush of all, tearing off the line to the wild cry of the reel whose brazen throat uttered strange and guttural protests. In it comes again to the bravo s of the lookers-on ; Jack's face beaming, every pore weeping, his hat off, his arms, indeed every muscle, aching in this struggle against cer- tainly a fifty-pound fish with a mere thread. In it comes, pumped, reeled in, and Joe leans forward with the gaff as Jack cleverly gives it the butt and turns it forward. But just then Jack surrendered, and all the true sportsman's blood surged to his heart. " Hold on, Joe, no gaff!" " What ! " exclaimed Joe, amazed, as he allowed the fish to pass him. " Grab the leader ! " cried Jack. Joe did as told and held the splendid fish while Jack handed his rod to his brother and leaped into the cock- pit. " Let me have him," he said, and he took the struggling yellowtail by the leader and lifted it, to test A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 91 its weight, guessing fifty-five pounds. The fish was over four feet in length, and having taken in all its beauties for a moment. Jack dexterously cut away the hook and flung the gamy creature back into the sea. " Fm glad to see you animated by such a spirit. Jack," said the Angler, in a pleased tone, nodding ap- proval. " Good for ye ! " commended the Commodore, " ye're a true sportin' gentleman." " Well," said Jack, still breathless, "I just couldn't kill a fish that fought me like that ; he deserved to get away." " Right you are," Tom retorted ; " but he was a corker. I never saw so big a fellow." " That is the true principle in fishing," said the Angler. " The sport is legitimate within limits. You are entitled to catch a certain number offish, four or five, for sport, I would say, or more if they can be used by some one ; but this killing just to see how many you can bring in, is an outrage on the rights of animals, as they have rights the same as ourselves. The yellowtail is a queer fish," continued the Angler. " I have hooked the same fish three times in a day, so I cannot think they suffer much, or any for that matter. They struggle because they are alarmed and are wild at being caught." The Torqua now ran up the shore and Tom also caught a fish which was released. When off Long Point they stopped and drifted with the current, both fishermen casting. To the north they could see Ship Rock — a 92 THE BOY ANGLERS wonderful imitation of a full-rigged ship headed for the rocks under full sail, the long line of rocky coast, and the great point which rose gradually, reaching upward to lofty hilltops which rested in the soft blue haze of the upper range. " Such a day brings out all the poetry In a man," said the Angler, lying back and puffing at his pipe while the boys cast their lines toward the kelp. '^ Aye, aye, it do, sir," responded the Commodore ; then, in a very deep, very cracked and very ancient voice, to a very impossible tune, he began to sing : " Oh ! the gallant fisher's life. It is the best of any ; *Tis full of pleasure, void of strife. And 'tis beloved by many. Other joys Are but toys ; ^ Only this Lawful is. For our skill Breeds no ill, * - But content and pleasure.'* " Excellent," said the Angler, smiling, as the Com- modore concluded ; " an old song, ' The Angler,' by John Chalkhill, a fellow angler of Spenser." " So ? " replied the Commodore. " I heard my father sing it a-feeshin' when I was a lad like yonder. I remem- ber another song that goes this way : A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 93 ** Of all the recreations which Attend on human nature. There's none that's of so high a pitch Or is of such a stature As is the subtle angler's Hfe In all men's approbation ; For angling tricks do daily mix In every occupation." " Yes, I know it well," said the Angler, upon which the Commodore began the second verse : ** Thus have I made my anglers' trade To stand above defiance. For, like the mathemadc art. It runs through every science. If with my angling song I can To mirth and pleasure seize you, I'll bait my hook with wit again And angle still to please you." " You will find much that is good in old angling verses," continued the Angler, " references to nature, to the charm of the sea, forest and lake, thus : ** But if we find the inmates shy And cautious past enduring. Full many a skilful trick we try To draw them to our luring. For fish, like men, full nine in ten. Have very strange vagaries ; They leap on high to catch the fly. Then sink to where fresh fare is." 94 THE BOY ANGLERS " Pope wrote some attractive lines on angling, espe- cially those on ' Windsor Forest ' " '' What's this ? " shouted Tom, interrupting the poetry and trying to lift his rod. " Shark," Joe answered, briefly. Tom's rod was bending, the reel screaming, and it continued until he had lost three hundred feet offline; then, far away on the surface, near the kelp, rose a big black head, a sea-lion. " Blither and zounds ! " exclaimed the Commodore, " what next ? A regular black mermaid." The sea-lion was hooked, there was no doubt of it, and after a run he had been forced to the surface, where, after taking a look at the boat, he, evidently, as Johnnie Grayley said, sized up the situation and bit off the hook. A moment later they saw a large bull sea- lion crawl upon White Rock and join the rest of the herd, so they concluded it was the same one. " I've caught some quare things here," said Johnnie, " but never a sea-lion. I've hooked a seal, a gull, a dolphin, a sea-eagle, a whale, all trollin'." " Ye never caught a mermaid, I reckon," said the Commodore. " No, I never did," replied Johnnie, " but I've caught cats on the Mississippi, with a jug, that weighed a thousand pounds." "The jug or the cats?" asked Jack, laughing. " All yer big catches are made in foreign parts, I notice," said the Commodore, sniffing ; " they're so far A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 95 off that ye can't prove it by mortal man. All that saw the catch is dead, I'll wager." " Shure they are," retorted Johnnie, blandly, " but " Well, we'll hear it to-night," said the Commodore, reeling up his line. " In, sir ? " The Angler assented and in a few moments the Tor- qua had turned down the coast and was driving the fly- ing-fishes out of the water on either side on the way home. " We might pick up some of these for bait," said Tom, and taking his gun he sat on the fore-deck and as :5noutiDg riying-nsn at Santa L'atalina. a flying-fish rose like a quail he brought it down quite cleverly. The Commodore put the boat alongside and Joe picked up the game with a hand-net, and in this way 96 THE BOY ANGLERS two other flying-fishes were secured for tuna bait, a strange and original sport peculiar to this isle of summer. Many boys of all ages have made fine catches of yellowtail at Santa Catalina with rod and reel in the man- ner described, and the bay of Avalon is frequently filled fPfweuru M^Prrf*^'^''''" The record boys' catch of yellowi with boats of the young disciples of Walton. In the accompanying illustration is seen the catch of a boy, John Howard Paine, one of three brothers all of whom hold records as sea anglers. He took fifteen yellowtails which averaged over twenty pounds each, all of which A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 97 were used or eaten. With these were nine barracudas, shown in the upper part of the figure. The Torqua ran into the canon just at dusk, and, later, Johnnie Grayley was induced to tell his story of the thousand- pound catfish. " A true tale, is it, Johnnie ?" asked the Commodore. " Ain't all my yarns true ? " retorted Johnnie, at which the Commodore raised his hands and rolled his eyes upward. Jack and Tom were cleaning their reels ; Joe was making new leaders with the Commodore, and Captain Johnnie at his favorite occupation, barbecuing a shoulder of kid, while Mr. Temple and his wife sat and enjoyed the camp-fire, laughing quietly at the remarks of Johnnie and the Commodore, the two always engaging in a good-natured wrangle. " It's a waste of good language to tell a yarn to you. Mister Busby," said Johnnie. " Ye have no faith, that's the issence of fish stories ; ye've got to have faith." " Blither and zounds ! is that all ? Go on, Mister Grayley, I've that faith, that I'm reekin' with it." " D'ye mind the Mississippi," began Johnnie, turn- ing the pole and putting his hand between his face and the fire, "where it runs through Arkansas ? Well, it was there I was brought up, an' I'll have to tell ye me father was an Irishman before he came to America. Catfish was the game fish, and sugarcane and rice the food with a few swate potaties. A great thing, sugarcane ; there's where we got sugar, and a piece to chew was a 98 THE BOY ANGLERS good lunch ; then when things went wrong me father used about six foot of it as a persuader, and in the winter we burned the old crushed stalks for wood. Wan spring I went fishin' for cats — juggin', we called it, as we used jugs — when I was near pulled out of me boat by a bite and lost me line. The next day I tried it again, with the same luck ; the fish towed me tin miles down the river, then got away. I tuk the steamboat back and when I got there I found the whole settlement worked up ; but I was bound to get that fish, so I got a big rope and a shark hook; then we fastened the line to the top of a big pine and waited." " What bait did ye use ? '* interrupted the Commo- dore. " Watermelons," replied Johnnie. '' As I was sayin', we sat on the bank waitin', as all fishermen do — bedad, it's mostly waitin' and expectin', I'm thinkin' — whin all to wance the line ran out ; it dragged four men into the river and kept goin', and then the end come and the strain on the pine, a hundred foot high, began, and, be the powers ! it began to bend and bend like a fishin' rod, and there's where that cat made a mistake ; if he'd kept on ten foot more he'd have broke the tree ; but he was naturally curus an' he stopped to look round, and bedad ! the tree flew back an' we saw something like a black cloud rise into the air and fly into the back country ; then a crash come, an' an awful groan. It was an hour before a lad of us dared to stir, an' then we crept back through the bush, and what d'ye spose we A DAY WITH YELLOWTAIL 99 met ? Nothin' more'n less than the catfish comin' back through the bush makin' for the river. He was thirty foot long and that heavy that he broke down the brush and small trees as he crawled ; and his whiskers trailed behind him like snakes. We see he was fast, so we said nothin' and let him go, an' four times that cat tuk the river and four times that pine tree jerked him back, an' he finally gave up an' he got so tame that he fol- lowed us round like a dog, an' some nights he lay there in the corral an' sung a reg'ler song. But," said Johnnie, in conclusion, " he ended like all pets ; the old woman caught him wan mornin' with a chicken in his mouth an' we had to kill him, and that's how I come to know his weight ; he was a thousand pouns, dressed." The Commodore generally could retaliate, but he now merely looked at Johnnie in wild-eyed bewilder- ment. He was trying to think of some fish story that would crush out the remembrance of this yarn of the Mississippi, but for once he was silenced — Johnnie Grayley's cat was too much for him. ^ ofC. CHAPTER VI TOWED THREE MILES Sunrise generally found Tom and Jack on the beach hunting for shells which had been washed ashore. There was always something new or of interest. Per- haps it was the curious barrow-like egs of the barn-door bea-slugs ot the kelp beds. skate, or, if low tide, they dug out the black sea-urchins from the holes in the rocks, or cut off the various kinds of barnacles which either floated in on pieces of drift or were living on rocks and stones. Beneath the kelp leaves they collected beautiful naked snails ; one es~ TOWED THREE MILES 101 peclally being of a deep purple hue. In the rocks were large chitons which they had to pry out, while many of the stones along the beach had round holes through them, so perfectly smooth that they ap- peared artificial; yet they were made by a rock-boring shell common in these waters. The most attractive objects along the beach were the patches of tube- making marine worms that were of- ten exposed at low tide, but when cov- ered, bloomed out like so many brill- iant flowers. On the morning in question, the boys were delayed by the bait-catchers, whose gill nets had been broken loose by some large fish ; but a supply was finally obtained from the purse-seine haulers, who made a haul for sardines near the caiion, taking a ton or more in the huge net which they ran out from the vessel — a power Rock-boring shells. 102 THE BOY ANGLERS boat — surrounding a school and taking them literally by the ton. " Here they come ! " shouted Jack, as a boat pro- pelled by swarthy Italians appeared around the point. They ran in upon the beach and the men were soon shoveling out the fresh shining sardines and smelt into W '^'P^TFT Tame gulls of Santa Catalina. a box, the boys amusing themselves by feeding the brown pelicans that swam about a short distance away, and the gulls, that were so tame that Vincente, the head fisher- man, said that down at Avalon he could almost pick up some of them, as they crowded around him, snatching at the fish thrown at them, and presenting a most cu- rious spectacle. The gulls spent their winters at the island, but nearly all disappeared in the spring, going far away to nest. These birds are valuable scavengers along TOWED THREE MILES 103 this coast, as it was never necessary for the men to clear the beach of dead lish. The moment it was left dozens of gulls settled down and carried it off. If a fish was thrown over and sank it was soon found and eaten by the sea-lions which came every afternoon from the rook- ery hard by and cleared the waters of all impurities^ so that it was excellent for bathing, although the profes- sional fishermen sometimes cleaned their fish there. Even floating fishes out at sea or alongshore were taken by the bald eagles which had preempted many of the points and were so numerous that the boys one morning counted sixty in about ten miles of coastline. These birds were valuable scavengers, and did not hesitate to steal from the osprey and other birds and occasionally stole bait ; they have been known also to dart at a troll bait and become hooked. A good supply of bait having been secured the party went aboard the launch, which very shortly was running offshore. Joe said the albacore were running about two miles out in the channel, a particularly fine fish resem- bling the tuna, and they decided to devote the day to this sport. The tackle used was identical with that de- scribed for yellowtail, the fish ranging in weight up to fifty or more pounds, yet requiring a stiff rod, as it was caught in the open sea. Tom and Jack had their lines out, baited with smelt, and as it is the unexpected that often happens Tom had a strike not one hundred yards from the kelp, a strike so fierce and telling that it fairly lifted him out of his seat. 104 THE BOY ANGLERS " Tuna," said Joe. " Looks like it," the Commodore replied, as the reel screamed and raged when Jack pressed upon the brake vainly endeavoring to stay the melting line, Johnnie having stopped the engine and with Joe turning the launch with the oars. " Can't you stop him, Jack ? " asked the Angler. Zee-eee-ee long drawn out ! was the best answer, and four hundred feet of line slipped away before the fish was checked — a feat that satisfied the crew that Jack had picked up a stray tuna. The fish was taking the boat down the coast, slowly but surely, and it was some time before Jack could gain a foot, so impetuous were its rushes — plunging to the bottom, tearing away great lengths of line, rising to the surface and circling around to always return to its given direction down the coast. Time and again did Jack attempt to force the fighting, pumping and reeling, but at the end of three-quarters of an hour he was no nearer the fish than at first. At every attempt to reel the fish appeared to go into a frenzy, darting this way and that, and ending by plunging down deeper and deeper, forcing the conviction upon the anglers that it was a tuna of large size or a very gamy small fish. Jack, finding that he could make little headway, determined to try a waiting game and wear the fish out, allowing it to tow the boat. But this became monot- onous, and at the end of an hour and a half the game seemed to be as lively as ever. Jack then made a " spurt " and finally succeeded in bringing it to the surface, when TOWED THREE MILES 105 Joe shouted " Albacore ! " and to their amazement it was an albacore and a monster ; its gleaming silver belly, its blue back and black staring eyes, but more than all, its long side fins, telling its identity. The fish fought like a tiger, repeatedly breaking away, and when it was brought to gafF, it made a gallant struggle on the hook, deluging them with spray. As Joe lifted the fish in, all gave a shout of surprise at its size. It was not very long, but compact. Later it was found to tip the scales at sixty-three pounds, the average catch being fifteen. No wonder it towed the boat three miles in the long contest, and, in proportion to its size, this fish more than equaled the play of some tunas. The albacore is one of the most interesting of fishes, and in the Santa Catalina Channel has been taken weigh- ing nearly one hundred pounds. It bears a close resem- blance to the tuna and is a cousin of this fish or nearly related. The same small finlets are seen ; the head is more pointed, and the body more rounded and spindle- like ; the eyes are very large, black and white, and staring, conspicuous objects. The tail is small but powerful, and when the fish is dropped aboard it beats a mar- velous tattoo upon the planks, often in a small boat conveying a peculiar and startling tremor. The pec- toral fin is at least two-fifths as long as the fish, saber- hke in shape, nothing like it being seen in other fishes ; In a word, the albacore, or Germo alalunga^ as It Is known to science, is a type of speed, endurance and pugnacity. io6 THE BOY ANGLERS " There's one thing about the albacore," said Joe, as he packed the fish away in the canvas after sponging it off, the fish bleeding badly, as do all the tribe, " it's about here nearly always. They run in with the tuna when they come, and I've seen so many in a school feeding with tunas that you could catch nothing but al- bacore; they're so much faster than the tuna that they get all the bait. I've caught them about every month in the year, too, but in winter, in February or January, we go out a way, or get them a mile or two off Avalon bay." The Torqua was gotten under way again and it was not long before Tom had a strike and landed a fine skip- jack — ^a fish almost as active as the yellowtail, and weigh- ing twelve pounds. They had struck a school of the fine game fishes, which could be seen on the surface everywhere, so the boat was stopped and the anglers cast into them with success. Like the bonito the skip- jack played well at the surface, rushing in and out, up and down, some trying to leap out of the water, others plunging deep into the channel's blue heart, where they sulked like the salmon. " All deep-water fishes, especially these, sulk," said the Angler, watching Jack bring in his fish; "and you see how they turn their sides to you in coming up, to offer the most resistance possible." "What's that, Joe ? " said Tom, pointing to some- thing sharp protruding from the water a short distance away. TOWED THREE MILES 07 " Looks like a shark, but I reckon it's a big sunfish," said Joe, " he's so still ; they lay that way." Johnnie turned the boat in that direction and passed by the object, which was seen to be a huge sunfish sun- " ' ' 1 Salt-water sunfish and young. ning itself and lying nearly flat, occasionally righting itself. "You never see a cowboy act at sea," I reckon, said Joe, as he picked up a heavy line, quickly making a io8 THE BOY ANGLERS slip noose at the end. " Put me nearer, Johnnie," said Joe, as he went forward taking the coil in his hand. As they circled around the big fish Joe, who had been a cow- puncher and sheep-herder on the island, tossed his lariat cleverly over the huge fin of the sunfish (Mola) and with a jerk secured it. The giant, for it was one, displayed remarkable coolness, slowly righting and sinking; then, feeling the rope, it dropped quickly out of sight, creating a swirl of waters suggestive of its size, while the line creaked and hissed as it went over the side held by Joe's powerful grasp. It sank one hundred feet or more, then was stopped with difficulty, yet came up readily under the demonstration of six lusty arms, and when at the surface plunged in a fierce but elephantine fashion, tos- sing water over the boat and displaying a desire to sink her. " How large do you think it is ? " asked the Angler. The Commodore pushed the oar along the side of the sunfish and made a fair estimate, showing its length to be about ten feet, while its weight was guessed at five hun- dred pounds. " It's an old fellow," said Joe, " they have little or no life to them." Being of no use, the fish was cast off, after they had examined the remarkable ivory-like teeth with which it eats jellyfish, and its singular rim of a tail. " The largest one ever seen was caught at Avalon," said Joe. " It was eleven feet long and so big that they had to cut it in sections to weigh it." TOWED THREE MILES 109 The fishing had suddenly stopped ; not a fish could be seen on the clear glassy surface, and Joe expressed the opinion that either sharks or killers were around ; and that he was a true prophet became evident not long after, when three enormous black fins were seen coming down the channel. Every few moments they would disappear, then the killers came up to breathe and showed a jet-black skin with a white collar back of the dorsal, a most striking object. " When they come, tunas go," Joe explained. " They'll kill a whale, run it down and tear its tongue out by pieces. One was killed that way off Avalon some ten years ago, and people lay around in boats and watched the fight. There's a whale over there now," added Joe, pointing to where, half a mile distant, a big tail seemingly poised in the air, then sank into the sea. " Run over that way," said the Angler, " and Jack, get out your kodak, a photograph of a whale would be well worth the while, as it appears whales and killers of whales have driven away the fish." The launch was presently speeding along over the water in the direction of the whale, which again came up, rising into the air, a mountain of flesh, until it ap- peared to be fairly dancing on its tail, then sinking quickly into the sea. '' Playing," said Joe. The whale had gone down two hundred yards or so distant, and Jack took his station in the bow, kodak in hand, ready to touch the button at its reappearance. no THE BOY ANGLERS PufF, pufF! came a sound like escaping steam a short distance ahead, and the big slate-colored back of the giant was seen, but immediately sank out of sight. " It's comin' right for us," said Joe ; " look down and perhaps you'll see it." As he finished speaking the water about them began to boil and rush upward; the enormous tail screw of the whale was almost directly beneath, grinding the water into ten thousand currents. " If it would only come up now," said Jack, whirling about and watching the water intently. " Not exactly at this moment," replied the Angler, " we might be lifted." Johnnie was turning the launch, and presently they were following the whale, which, doubtless, was swim- ming but a short distance below and a little ahead, as it could not be seen. Suddenly the pufF, pufF-f-f-f ! of escaping steam now came one hundred and fifty feet, or thereabouts, ahead. Jack pointed the kodak and obtained his first photograph of a whale at sea. "You might say these whales are tame," said Joe; '^that is, you see one or two most every time you come out in summer, and the killers too, an' they don't appear to be afraid. I never knew of one that made a move on a boat, though the steamer has killed two, run them down." "Why should they ? " said Johnnie Grayley. "They're decent folk, an' as long as ye trate them right they'll return the compliment." 112 THE BOY ANGLERS " I suppose treating them right is not taking too much oil or bone, eh, Johnnie ? " said Tom. " Right, sir," said Johnnie, " but the rale reason they give up whalin' at this pint is that the whales was too ugly when harpooned. They say, sir, that the last wan hit (in 1872) is goin' yet. They smashed boats an' men, so the Portuguese give it up, and the whales has increased so that they have a reg'lar convention here some years." No waters offer more strange creatures, large and small, than the Santa Catalina Channel, the stretch of blue water between the island of that name and the main- land, a feeding ground for whales, killers and swordfish, the basking ground for the sunfish, the summer home of the tuna and sea-bass, a vast aquarium stocked with all the marvels of the sea from corals to whales. As the Torqua turned inshore and sped over the quiet sea the sun was tipping over the mountains, its crimson light flooding everything with its radiance, while out from the canons crept the deep purple shadows that seemed like living things, increasing and growing, the advance guard of coming night. Tom and Jack had much to discuss over the camp-fire that evening, but it was not long before they were laughing at the Commo- dore and Johnnie Gray ley, who had become engaged in a heated debate relating to some technical point in an- gling. Finally Johnnie broke out with, " Well, where did ye git yer iishin' information, I'd like to know that ?" TOWED THREE MILES 13 " That's easy told," replied the Commodore, fishing a live coal from the fire and balancing it on his corn-cob pipe. " I got what little I know from wan of the finest 114 THE BOY ANGLERS gintlemen anglers in Scotland, the best hand at a rod I ever saw, and it was this way : I was fond of feeshin* from a lad. I was born with a love for it, an' was always wadin' the brooks an' streams. If me mother wanted me she'd come down to the water; there I'd be up to me knees in it, with a bit of a branch feeshin' and takin' me first lessons. Wan day I was wadin' down stream, feeshin' with a bit of a tree and a cord for a line and a bent pin for a hook, an' with this tackle I'd laid up as fine a string of trout as ye'd wish to see, one six-pounder and the rest runnin' down to half a pound, an', if I do say it, they were bonnie feesh, with their sparkle of red an' the glint of gold. Well, as I say, I was wadin' doon, cautious like, stealin' in pool after pool an' havin' jest the luck ye read of, when round the bend comes a gintleman with the finest rig ye ever see in yer life, top boots of Injy rubber, an' I in bare legs; bamboo rod, an' I with willow or worse ; a bit of willow- work creel, white and shiny, an' with his name on a silver mark ; reel shinin' like silver, an' I reckon' it was. He come along castin' with flies, an' when he see me he stops an' laughs and turns his creel upside doon. 'Bad luck, sir? ' I says. 'Don't mention it,' says he; then he says, ' Me lad, d'ye want to sell them feesh ? ' ' I do,' says I ; ' I want to sell them mighty bad.' ' Well,' says he, holdin' out the creel, ' lay 'em in on a bit of moss, an' here's five shillins for the feesh,' an' then he says, lookin' at me mighty hard, ' here's five more for forgettin' that ye sold 'em. D'ye mind ? I want to TOWED THREE MILES 115 play a joke on some friends.' ' I've forgot it already, sir,' says I, pocketin' the ten shillins, an' he wandered off smilin' to bate the band, an' I kicked it home to tell me mother. She was wan of the old-fashion, honest kind, God bless her ! an' said nothin', but the next day she says, ' Robert, have ye forgotten that ye sold the gintleman the feesh ? ' ' No,' says I, ' I have not ' ; in fac' I couldn't kape it out of me mind. ' Then,' says she, ' ye're kapin' what don't belong to ye.' I was wantin' a heap of things and them shillins burned in me trousers leg; so I tried me best to forgit the transaction ; but every mornin' she'd ask me the same quistion, an' when it come the day before Sunday she says, ' Robert, ye'd better free yer conscience an' hunt the gintleman up an' return the money before ye go to kirk.' So I started doon to the village, an' as luck would have it, I found him the center of a crowd of horsemen comin' from the hunt. As he caught sight of me he laughed and stopped. ' D'ye want to see me, me lad ? ' says he. ' I do,' says I. ' I've done me best, sir, to forgit that I sold ye the trout, but I canno' do it ; here's your five shillin', an' thank ye jist the same.' " Well," said the Commodore, laughing at the re- membrance, " ye should have heard them gintlemen shout ; they roared and screamed, an' wan huntsman jest laughed himself off his horse, an' me friend he laughed louder than any. After a while he says, ' Ye're the only honest angler I ever heard of. Give me the five shillin' ; that relaves yer conscience, does it .? ' ii6 THE BOY ANGLERS ' It does,' says I, ' at least me mither's,' an' at that they all roared again. ' Hold yer hat, lad,' says me friend, an' they threw silver in that about made me fortune, ' Come and see me to-morrow,' says he, ' at the Cedars,' mentionin' a fine place in the neighborhood. I did, an' he gave me a job, an' I grew up to be head kaper an' had all the feeshin' for the askin'. So you see, Mr. Grayley, it pays to be honest," concluded the Commo- dore. " So it do," replied Johnnie ; " an' if yer mother hadn't been, sorra job ye'd had." CHAPTER VII SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES The Angler had promised to give the boys a talk on fishes and illustrate it with a stereopticon and slides which he had brought for the purpose, it being a convenient machine for transportation and worked by kerosene ; so one evening a party of young people came down from Avalon and a neighboring camp and the machine was mounted in the dining-tent, and a sheet thrown across the end, the Angler showing views of many remarkable fishes and giving a running talk as Tom ran the slides through the stereopticon. " As we are all interested in fishing," he began, " it is only right that we should know something about fishes. It is not necessary for our purpose to know them scientifically, the number of bones they have, or how to classify them ; but I would like you to know them well enough to remember at all times that a fish is a highly developed animal, and has rights as you have, which should be respected by every boy who wishes to be a true and thorough sportsman ; so I am going to begin by quoting some good words of a gentleman and angler, ex-President Grover Cleveland, one of the sea- 117 ii8 THE BOY ANGLERS anglers of America, whose example as a sportsman has always been of benefit to the country," Then the An- gler read the following : " At this season, when the activ- ities of genteel fishing usually begin, it is fitting that a word should be spoken that may not only redound to our comfort and satisfaction, but may guard us against temptations that easily beset even the best of fishermen. We who claim to represent the highest fishing aspira- tions are sometimes inclined to complain on days when the fish refuse to bite. There can be no worse exhi- bition than this of an entire misconception of a wise ar- rangement for our benefit. If on days when we catch few or no fish we feel symptoms of disappointment, these should immediately give way to satisfaction when we remember how many spurious and discouraged fish- ermen are spending their time in hammocks and under trees or on golf fields instead of with fishing outfits, solely on account of just such unfavorable days. " What has been said naturally leads to the sugges- tion that consistency requires those of us who are right- minded fishermen to reasonably limit ourselves as to the number of fish we should take on favorable days. On no account should edible fish be caught in such quan- tities as to be wasted. By restraining ourselves in this matter we discourage in our own natures the growth of greed, we prevent wicked waste, and make it easier for us to bear the fall between what we may determine upon as decent good luck and bad luck or no luck; and we make ourselves at all points better men and better fishermen. SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 119 " We ought not to forget these things as we enter upon the pleasures of our summer's fishing. But in any event let us take with us when we go out good tackle, good bait, and plenty of patience. If the wind is in the south or west, so much the better ; but let's go, wherever the wind may be. If we catch fish we shall add zest to our recreation. If we catch none, we shall still have the outing and the recreation — more healthful and more enjoyable than can be gained in any other way." ^ " These are good words, ' good medicine,' " said the Angler. " The man who boasts of his large catch, who fishes for numbers and weight, is not a true sportsman. To appreciate the position of the fishes we must re- member that they inhabit a world of their own beneath the sea where there are mountains, valleys, great plains, and all the surface conditions, but covered with water from a foot to five or six miles in depth and an average of possibly three miles all over the earth. The home of the fishes is often a desert plain of great sandy stretches ; again it is a beautiful region abounding in coral and an abundance of life. The fishes remind us of the birds. The water is their atmosphere and through it they dart or fly in a manner recalling the birds. They migrate like themi, moving in and out, up and down the coasts, according to season. Nearly all ^ The author is indebted to ex-President Cleveland for his kind permission to quote the above lines originally published in an article in the New York In- dependent. Ocean scenery. SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 121 the fishes are adapted for speed ; are long and pointed so that they move through the water at the sHghtest ef- fort. Looking at a typical fish it is seen to have fins of two kinds — paired and single. The top or upper ones are called the dorsals and are balancers, upper center- boards boomed out by rays or bones. In some fishes A walking fish. this fin is of importance as a locomotive organ. The side or pectoral fins correspond to the forearms in other animals ; and that they are used as such is shown in the periophthalmus and in the anabas, or climbing perch, and in some of the gurnards. The two ventral fins compare to the hind legs, and with the anal fin serve to support the fish when resting on the bottom, while the 122 THE BOY ANGLERS latter is the balancer. The most important fin is the caudal or tail. This is the rudder, the chief locomo- tive organ which, with a screw-like motion, propels the fish. It enables the tuna to make the leaps we see every day, and gives the yellowtail its power of resist- s^th^ *o\<^ „-•» OR FRONT ,. ^ , *"% External parts of a fish. .PAIRED FINS ance and active movements. With it the flying-fish forces itself into the air, and the whale, not a fish, de- stroys boats. " Tails of great variety and use are seen. Thus the sea-horse employs its tail to cling to weeds, and swims with its dorsal. In the swivel-tail shark we have caught, the upper lobe is of enormous length. In the flying-fish we use for bait the lower lobe is the longest, and in the garpike the ventral extends into the upper lobe of the tail, this being a very ancient type of fish, as the Holoptychius and others shown. The fishes are SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 123 protected by scales which fit one over the other Hke shingles, and are found in great variety. Some fishes Tails. have a perfect armor, as the covvfish, only the tail and fins moving. The garpike appears to be encased in an armor of china. The Httle batfish is corrugated or 124 THE BOY ANGLERS rough over its surface, while the porcupine fish is cov- ered with spines, and when brought to the surface has a pecuhar habit of inflating itself. In the sharks we find no scales, the skin being a shagreen. In shape there is An ancient fish. great variety, ranging from the strange and beautiful John Doree to the moonfish. In the skeleton of the fish we see how it is braced, there being apparently two back-bones; but the upper is merely the dorsal fin Garpike. spines. The head is a complicated mass of bones. In the tuna and nearly all the game fishes the teeth are very small, almost unnoticeable, but in the shark we all know how sharp they are, the twelve or more rows cutting a wire leader readily. SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 125 " To understand the anatomy of a fish we must dis- sect it. An interesting feature is the air-bladder — a sil- very balloon-like object lying just beneath the back-bone, by which the fishes float m any position. Fishes breathe by gills. Lifting up the gill cover you see the blood-red leaflets where the blood is brought in contact with air in Dissection of a bony fish, the trout (^Saimo'). a.bl.y air-bladder; aw., anal opening; au.^ auricle; gl.st., gills; gui.f esoph- agus; int., intestine; kd., kidney; /r., liver; I.o-v., ovary; opt./., brain ; py.c, pyloric cceca ; sp.c, spinal cord ; spi., spleen ; st., stom- ach ; v., ventricle. the water, oxygenizing it. The fishes are constantly opening and closing their mouths, thus taking in water and forcing it out through the gills, making an endless cur- rent passing over the red gills or lungs of the fish. The fishes have internal ears, the curious stones you cut from the head of so many fishes here being the ear-stones. Fishes have the sense of smell, and many have highly 126 THE BOY ANGLERS developed organs of touch. Their eyes are often large and lustrous, and many see a long distance. Some are blind, as the interesting cave-fishes. Some forms of the Skeleton of a fish. deep sea are blind, while others have enormous eyes ap- parently for the reception of light. In the eyes of the fishes, vi^hich are often beautiful, we see some strange features. In the adult flounder the eyes are upon the upper side, in the young fish they are upon each side; but as the fish grows, it falls over upon one side and the under eye begins to pass around, the gradual changes being more than mar- vellous. In the singular Anableps the eyes are divided, The four-eved fish. Some flat fishes. 128 THE BOY ANGLERS the fish appearing to have four eyes. The upper ones are adapted to looking far away over and out of the water, while the lower ones are intended for work be- neath it ; so you will see they are well supplied. A few ^^ The angler. of the fishes are herbivorous, but the great majority are cannibals, devouring their kind and others, chasing them with the greatest ferocity. In seizing their prey they crush them in their powerful jaws, never chewing them, the prey being swallowed at once. This is why it is so easy to hook a fish. It gulps down the bait and so is often hooked in the throat. You will notice your bait crushed and mangled when you miss a tuna or yellow- tail. While the tuna leaps at its prey like a tiger, certain fishes have various appliances to enable them to secure SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 29 their victims. An interesting illustration is the angler, that has a perfect fishing-rod, the fish lying on the bot- tom and raising the rod with its bait-like filament until the victim is just in the right position, when the enor- mous mouth opens and the small fry is literally engulfed. This angler simulates the bottom and is very difficult to distinguish from a moss-covered rock. A deep-sea angler, Corynolophus^ not only has a fishing-rod but the " bait " is luminous. Some fishes, as the sting-rays, have serrated spines, others have horns ; and a number of fishes, as the Nokee of Tahiti and the Mad Tom, have poisonous spines, while the famed torpedo has powerful batteries, 130 THE BOY ANGLERS the swordfish its sword, and the sawfish a double saw with which to cut down its prey. " Many of the deep-sea fishes are brilliantly lumi- nous, the light in some instances being used to attract prey. These lights are found in various places. In some the entire body is luminous ; in others the light is on the feelers or tail ; and some fishes have fights of two Black swallower. or three different colors, which may have some definite meaning. The deep-sea fishes are remarkably formed to SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 13^ withstand the enormous pressure, their bones being cav- ernous, permitting water to pass through them like sponges. One, the black swallower, can swallow a fish very much larger than itself, drawing itself over the fish like a glove. The fishes increase by eggs or spawn, though some, as the surf fishes, the little shiners which you see so plentifully along- shore, give birth to living young. The eggs resemble very fine shot, of a light color, and are depos- ited in a variety of places. The tuna, mackerel, and fishes of this kind deposit their eggs in the open sea, where nine-tenths of them are eaten by various animals, espe- cially as soon as they hatch, when the water is filled with them, often millions, becoming at once the victims to others ; hence the vast number is a wise provision of nature. " It is an Interesting fact that many fishes do not re- semble their parents at first. This is particularly true of the young angler, which appears to be covered with barbels or plants, while the young of the swordfish would never be recognized as the progeny of the swords- man of the sea that plunges Its sword through the oaken 10 Fish-eggs and young. X Sting-ray. Nokee or poisonous scorpion-fish. Mad torn. Some poisonous fishes. SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 133 hulls of ships, and has sent many a vessel into port leak- ing. The few fishes that are left to grow up are a piti- able showing compared to the swarms which filled the water soon after hatching, and many of them have some special protection. Thus the stickle-back eggs are pro- tected in a nest which the male fish weaves skilfully out of weed at the bottom. One of the suckers, espe- a Swordfishes : a, b, young ; c, adult. cially in the St. Lawrence where I have found them, forms a nest of pebbles often four feet high and eight feet across — a marvellous structure which grows year by year. The lamprey forms a dam or nest of stones, and two or three fishes have been observed carrying one as large as half a brick. The paradise-fish forms a nest of bubbles of air which hold together. The big Anten- 134 THE BOY ANGLERS narias, like fish we find here, is a nest builder and literally walks with its side fins, and a large number of fishes A nest-building stickle-back. make some attempt to provide for their young, and in nearly every instance it is the male which builds the nest and cares for the young." SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 135 " There are a number of fishes," continued the Angler after a brief pause, " which are in a sense parasitic ; that is, they attach themselves to other animals. An interesting instance is the little fierasfer, a long slender fish which lives in the intestine of the large sea-cucumber, which you may see lying on the rocks here like a slug. Pilot-fish and chim£era. The pilot-fish attaches itself to the shark, generally seen at its head, following it about, often darting in advance at food, and supposed to guide sharks to food ; but this is a fable. The stupid pilot merely finds protection in the shadow of its gigantic comrade just as does the remora which fastens itself to it by its sucker. I have seen pilot-fishes following the drum and turtles with the re- 136 THE BOY ANGLERS mora attached. Nearly all the jelly-fishes are followed by little fishes, while the beautiful Portuguese man-of- war is the home, as it were, of several small fishes that almost perfectly imitate the color of the tentacles — a rich purple. This resemblance in color is very interest- ing, and we find a number of fishes which escape notice by adapting their color to that of the surroundings. This is the reason why you. Jack, did not see the halibut the other day until it moved ; it was lying in the sand and of its exact tint and color. So with the sculpins ; they imitate the color of the rocks and seaweed and so es- cape notice. "I will not weary you with the technical features of fish life, you can read that anywhere ; all I wish is to impress upon you that the fishes are quite as important as the birds, even though there are not so many books written about them and clubs formed for their protection. They are as beautiful as the birds, very much more valu- able from an economic standpoint, and you, as anglers, should take a stand for fair-play to the fishes. The care- less and ignorant angler will say there are millions of fishes in the sea ; you can't exhaust them. This is a misstatement to protect the 'game-hog,' as in every lo- cality where netting and catching of fishes has gone on without rules or regulations the fisheries have either been exhausted or decreased. You, boys, will in a short time be voters and should interest yourselves in the sea fish- eries, in sardines and other bait, and see that proper and intelligent rules are passed for their protection or your SOMETHING ABOUT FISHES 137 grandchildren will have very poor fishing. All fishes should be protected in some way at the spawning time, and it should be made so offensive to overcatch game- fish that it should be considered rank dishonesty to ' catch for numbers or weight.' At the same time, don't con- demn people before you know the facts. " There are about twelve thousand species of fishes known in the world, and very few that are not valuable to man as assets of the nation. The sardine, salmon, halibut, bluefish, mackerel, swordfish, mossbunker, dogfish (for the livers), cod, hake, sole, flounder, sand dab, tuna, white sea-bass, rock-bass, and a score or more are all of great value to the various nations of the world and should re- ceive protection. Many of them are game-fishes, and by this we mean a fish which fights well and to the fin- ish and is valuable as food or a trophy. The lion, tiger, bear, and wildcat are good game because they die game, and a hunter takes his life in his hands when he meets some of them ; so a game-fish is one which continues the battle until it is killed by the gaffer. The tuna and tarpon are ideal game-fishes from this standard, as they never surrender. The salmon, black- bass, trout, ounaniche are fresh-water examples. The yel- lowtail, bluefish, weakfish, ten-pounder, tarpon, white sea- bass are examples of sea game-fishes, while fishes which are utterly without game qualities are the fresh-water rock- bass, the flounder, the big shark-like angel-fish, and many more. The tuna is one of the most valued of fishes in Italy, where every portion is eaten, but here all 138 THE BOY ANGLERS the specimens are in demand by anglers as trophies and are carried away. The tarpon is the only game-fish that is not good for food, its flesh being dry and of poor quality ; hence there is no demand for its flesh, and an- glers release all they catch, saving those which they wish as trophies. Nev^er kill more fishes than you can use. Angling as sport is legitimate, but stop before you are satiated, and return all you can not use to the water. Every gentleman angler in this great country strictly observes this rule, and it is a gratifying fact that we can say that nowhere in the world is there a higher standard of sportsmanship than in America. In every commu- nity there are some men who brutalize sport, but this is because they are ignorant and know no better. Nearly all such men can be converted by having the definition of the term ' game-hog ' thoroughly and forcibly explained to them." This ended the talk on fishes, and the boys, then and there, formed a club for the protection of the sea game- fishes, from which in later days came results, good and lasting. PART II ANGLING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO CHAPTER VIII IN THE TARPON COUNTRY The days of summer passed rapidly at the Anglers' Caiion, and almost before they were aware of it July had merged into August. The Angler finally gave the word to break camp as he decided to spend August and Sep- tember in the Gulf of Mexico, in the land of the Silver King, or tarpon — the most remarkable and spectacular of all the great game-fishes of the sea — so one fine morning the party sailed away from the island, waving and shout- ing their adieus to Johnnie Grayley and Joe, who gladly would have joined them. The objective point of the Angler was Corpus Christi, to reach which the trip was made across California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas — a hot region in summer, yet not particularly disagreeable owing to the dryness of the atmosphere. The party changed at San Antonio, and one night short- ly before ten o'clock they rolled into the little town of " Corpus," as the conductor called it, where a peculiar hot wind blew in from the Gulf. The Commodore was always up betimes, and the fol- lowing morning when the bovs appeared they found a large schooner lying hard by, upon which was stowed their rods 141 142 THE BOY ANGLERS and luggage. Two boys stood on the wharf and one asked Tom if they were going to Tarpon. Tom replied that they were going tarpon-fishing. "You, yourself?" asked one of the boys in a sur- prised tone. " Certainly,'* said Tom, laughing. " Don't I look it ? " " Oh, yes, but it's hard work for a man," said the boy. Tom took from one of his pockets a photograph of himself standing by the side of a large tuna, which he handed to the strange boy with the remark, " Four hours." " You mean you played the fish that long ? " asked the other. " That's it," replied Tom. " Well, put it there," said the Texan, who spoke with a peculiar but fascinating accent, extending his hand enthusiastically. The boy shook Tom's hand heartily, then introduced him to his brother Rad, adding, " They call me Bud, Bud Hammond. Rad," he said, turning to his brother, " we're not in it ; he's the boss fisherman. Say " " Tom's my name, Tom Temple," said Tom, laugh- ing, " and this is my brother Jack. He's something of a stayer himself." " Well, I was going to say, Rad and I have been coming down to this coast for four or five years, and Rad has the record for a six-foot alligator gar, and mine — what is my record, Rad ? " IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 143 " I reckon it must be that onary old sting-ray," re- plied his brother, laughing. "Yes, that's it," said Buddie; "but what I'm trying to say is that it never occurred to me that a boy could catch a tarpon, so I have never tried. They tell such yarns it's enough to scare you ; but I notify you right away now, I'm going to take a tarpon. Ever see one ? No ? Well, it's the greatest living thing that swims. The minute you strike one he's out of the water and into the air from one to twelve feet, shaking his head, and sparkling like silver — that's why they^re called Silver King. We go down to the Pass on the beach when they're biting and lie on the sand and see them leap — it's great fun." " All aboard ! " came from the Commodore, and Tom and Jack turned to say good-by to their new acquaint- ances when they found to their delight that they were all going together. " That's our yacht," said Bud, pointing to the big schooner, " and your father is going with my father." This was one of Mr. Temple's surprises, and a few minutes later they were on the deck of a Texan yacht, one of the most remarkable vessels to be termed a yacht that Tom and Jack had ever seen. She was a fore-and- aft schooner of about one hundred and twenty tons burden, with an enormous flush deck, and stood as high out of water as a cruiser or a ship without ballast. The most singular feature was the center-boards which were on each side and pinned to the hull, a rope being attached 144 THE BOY ANGLERS to each and run through a block and called the center- board halyard, which was hauled in when the Gar Pike, as she was named, ran before the wind, and slack- ened away when she was hauled on the wind. " A great ship this," said the Commodore as the schooner fell away. " Ye see, she's what they call a convarted schooner, built for this shallow inland water. She draws about two feet and can sail in a light dew." Whatever may have been the defects of the Gar Pike in appearance she made it up in comfort and sail- ing qualities ; and as she drew away from Corpus under full sail, the boys lying on deck in the hot sun, the Com- modore pacing up and down with his old spy-glass under his arm, Mr. Temple and his friend sitting near the wheel puffing at their pipes, there was an atmosphere of what the Commodore called solid comfort pervading everything. The Gar stood out in the direction of the Pass, and the boys now learned something regarding the coast line of Texas which they had not understood before. They had reached the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, but were still far from the Gulf itself, which was at least six or eight miles away. The stretch of smooth water along which their ark-like craft was glid- ing was a vast lake or bay hundreds of miles long and from one to eight miles wide, and from one to fifteen feet deep. Away in the direction of the Gulf they could see something which resembled cotton floating on the water, a mirage. As they reached out from shore the cotton took shape and became a sand-bank, low and flat, IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 145 here and there blown up into dunes and show'ng some semblance of vegetation, but again being entirely devoid of brush of any kind, and so low and flat that the white foam of breakers far beyond could be seen, telling of the warm and restless waters of the great Gulf. The Gar ran to the south several miles, always parallel with the white balls of cotton which rapidly changed into sand as the schooner approached ; then the channel grew narrower and she ran in near the shore, passing a fine large building standing alone on the sand, built on piles — the Tarpon Club— and then the first glimpse was had of the little town of Tarpon. The outer barrier of the Texan coast which protects it from the seas of the Gulf at this point was a perfectly flat stretch of sand hardly a foot above the surface, forming the end of Mustang Island. Here the Gulf had broken in, forming a narrow channel known as Aransas Pass, on the south side of which, at the end of the sand- bank, known as St. Joseph's Island, was the town of Tarpon. The Gar had taken a few passengers from Cor- pus Christi to Tarpon and now ran into a point of rocks until she struck the sand, the captain explaining that the harbor of Tarpon had filled up, and as it was decided to go ashore for the night and make arrange- ments for boatmen and bait, all hands passed over a plank directly into a curious cart which the boys had noticed coming down the beach before they landed. ^' That's the Tarpon Inn coach," said Rad. " It's 146 THE BOY ANGLERS jolly fun and holds the record for the slowest time in Texas. You see," he continued, " it's all sand here ; it's like snow. You sleep out-of-doors at night, and in some places you'll be covered up in the morning ; so they have wide tires to run on the beach." All hands with the luggage piled into the sand coach, the passengers clung to one another and the driver talked encouragingly to his mules until they finally reached the inn, an attractive little hostelry by the side of the Life-Saving Station, where the party found good cheer and many tarpon anglers, all in very light cloth- ing and all very jolly and good-natured. The inn was a rambling series of buildings with an interior court, or gallery, as the Texan youth called it, filled with chairs and hammocks. Here the anglers gathered, and the strange occurrences of the day were told and fought over. The most remarkable feature of this out-of-door room to the boys was the wall of the main house which might have been plated with silver, it glistened so, and was found to be covered with tarpon scales, beautiful objects four inches across, which were nailed against the wall, each bearing the name of the angler who caught the fish, the length of the fish, and the date. Such a record of stupendous deeds was never seen be- fore. Here were names of men famous in many fields far remote from fishing. If anything was needed to enthuse our anglers this accomplished it, and the Com- modore stood and gazed at the speaking records, dumb amazement written on every lineament of his face, redder IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 147 than ever under the Influence of the hot Gulf wind. A number of boatmen were sitting about, and three were engaged to row Mr. Temple's party and the Ham- monds, all proving to be good gafFers and interesting characters. The boatmen were on hand bright and early the morning after the arrival of the Gar at Tarpon. The boys watched them wade along the sands with cast-nets, throwing them gracefully into the schools of mullets, taking them by the dozen — the bait elect for tarpon. By seven o'clock the boatmen were ready. They had mullet, which resembles a sardine but larger, for tarpon ; shrimp bait for Spanish mackerel. Each man had a light skifF with a chair or two rigged in the stern for the angler — an outfit far too light for safety if tuna had been the game. These were made fast behind the Gar, which under her big foresail was soon under way, sailing out through the narrow pass, anchoring near the jetty in shallow water as a sort of headquarters for the tarpon fishermen ; in fact, she was a gigantic flat- bottom house-boat perfectly adapted for sport in the strange lagoon that forms with the outlying island the outer guard of Texas. The tide was at the flood, and the Gar swung in not one hundred feet from the beach, down which as far as could be seen the surf was pounding and from which rose a cloud of fog-like spume that, caught by the wind, was carried far inland over the strange sand-dunes. A better day for sport could not be imagined. 11 148 THE BOY ANGLERS The sky was clear, no suspicion of a storm, the Gulf smooth, and a stiff wind blowing in, which, while hot, made the conditions delightful on the fishing-ground. Already a number of anglers were fishing, and in a short time the boys, the two older anglers, and the Commo- dore were provided with boats and also ready for the new experience. A more peculiar fishing-ground could hardly be imagined. A long stone jetty reached out from the head of Mustang Island, formed of rocks ; apparently the tarpon on coming up the coast met it and turned into the lagoon or inner bay, there finding mullets and other small game. The pass itself was the best place for the fish, ranging from ten to forty feet in depth ; yet when Jean, the boatman of Tom and Jack, shoved off, he said that the best fishing was in about twenty feet of water. " I see why the tarpon jumps," said Tom. " Why, sir ? " asked the boatman. " Because he can't sulk. I believe if we could take a tuna in shallow water he would leap at the strike." Tom and Jack were surprised at many things on this delightful fishing-ground, perhaps the most remark- able place for tarpon in the world. The wind blew hot from the Gulf, yet was cool if one can explain the para- dox, and the secret of being comfortable in this Gulf fishing was to keep in the wind, night and day, as it blows refreshingly all the time, increasing possibly as the sun goes down. The boys marveled at the boat, a light, flat-bottom skiff, but they presently found that IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 149 the outfit was well suited to the place, as the boats rarely strayed far from the jetty and were always near or in shallow water, the best fishing apparently being directly along the jetty, not thirty feet from it, and in water from fifteen to thirty feet deep. The tarpon tackle was identical with the outfit for the tuna — short, stifF rod, with one long tip, large reel, a seven-foot leader, and hook similar to those used for tuna. The bait was mullet, four inches in length, hooked upward through the lips, just as in tuna fishing. No sinker was used, and the boatman surprised his young patrons by saying, " Slack out about twenty feet." " Only twenty feet ! " exclaimed Jack ; " this is easy," at which Jean grinned, lighted his pipe, and said, " Tarpon come right alongside, you see him all right." And just then Jack heard a queer pufF-hke sound, for a second, and saw hardly ten feet from the boat a broad, greenish back. " Tarpon ; look out ! " The boat had crossed the smooth channel and turned out. Jean was rowing very slowly along the jetty, so near, in fact, that the boys could have cast a bait on to the rocks. About two hundred feet astern came another boat, and outside of theirs were others, in all perhaps eight boats, all keeping a certain distance apart, so that a wild tarpon would not injure any one. Again came the puff, puff; but this time it was a large green turtle almost alongside the boys' boat. Then a shout was heard ahead, and looking around Tom and Jack both 150 THE BOY ANGLERS saw a great mass of molten silver seemingly over their heads, vi^hich as it dropped struck the boatman's chair, nearly upsetting him, fell and disappeared in a swirl of waters. " Almost had me overboard," said Jean, rubbing his back ; " he hit me a bifF with his tail." Then some one ahead called out, " Beg pardon, but I couldn't hold him down," and they saw Rad's father reeling in his line and realized that it was his fish that had nearly caused a catastrophe. " Too many boats," remarked Jean ; " never know when you're going to get it. I — " But Jack's reel at that precise second broke in with a quick zee-ee, and Jack, thinking of tunas, struck on the instant with a long heavy sway, and struck well, as while Tom gave a whirl at his reel to take in his line and give his brother the field, there rose into the air that grandest of all spec- tacles to the eyes of the angler, a Silver King. For a moment it seemed to hover in the air like a bird, swing- ing its mighty tail until the boys heard the clanging of the wire leader, and the bait was hurled at them up the line like a bullet, as the big gills and mouth opened in the effort of the fish to throw out the hook. What a spectacle it was ! The sun gleaming and scintillating over it, a blaze of light to the astonished anglers ; then it dropped with a resoundmg crash, and Jack's reel gave tongue in a manner to bring the blood to the cheek and fire to the eye. Ze-e-e-e-e-e-e ! it sounded. What melody ! IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 151 ** The whispering music of the sea " gave way to the buzzing, hissing tones of the click, then three hundred feet away rose the Silver King again, sparkling like a gem. All this happened in a few sec- onds, and now Jack was pressing upon the leather thumb-brake as hard as he could, even trying the effect of the left hand on the line above the reel ; but there was no stopping this plunger that rushed on, now deep in the pass, now appearing over a great roller on the sur- face. Jean was slowly backing after the tarpon, evi- dently amazed at the skill the young angler displayed, as when the fish leaped he whirled the reel-handle about and held the line taut, slacking when the time came, but always gaining. The tarpon plainly evinced a desire to go down the coast into the heavy surf where the boat could not live, so Jack began to force the fight- ing, giving the butt, holding the stalwart game that again and again leaped into the air. All the time the tarpon was taking them nearer and nearer the surf which marked the shallows on each side of Aransas Pass. "You must stop him," said Jean, holding the boat as well as he could ; " we capsize in the surf. Don't let him get over yonder," nodding at the threatening sea. So Jack held the tarpon, the rod bending to the danger point, the gamy fish rushing around in a semi- circle. Jack reeling as rapidly as possible, while Jean backed quickly. The next leap of the fish was made on the north side of the channel, beyond the jetty, in smooth water, where the tarpon went repeatedly into the 152 THE BOY ANGLERS air, making a splendid display of its beauties and leaping powers. " Now ! " cried Jean, as the line slackened. Jack reeled with all his strength and brought the incoming fish up with a round turn as it turned to break away, not twenty feet distant, and then it rose directly before their eyes, its red gills showing, each scale scintil- lating, a royal spectacle. The tarpon never weakened ; it was fought to a finish, to use sporting parlance, and despite all its tremendous struggles Jack held it, reeled it to the tip of the leader or snood, and cried " GafF! " as he turned it forward. It was then that he was treated to a surprise. " I can't gafF," said the boatman ; " we'll have to tow him in." " What ! " exclaimed Jack, who was dripping with perspiration and salt water, red in the face, and looking as though he had been overboard. " Tow this fish in half a mile and lose him ? Oh, no. Gaff him." " He tip the boat over," replied Jean, who had the double line of the leader in hand. " No matter," said Jack ; " I want my first fish, and we can swim. We've been there before, eh, Tom ? " and the boys laughed. So the boatman, driven to the wall, gaffed the tarpon, held him a moment, then drew him carefully into the skiff. What happened next was best told by Rad and his brother, who were lying off in their boat watching their new friends land their first tarpon. The tarpon IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 153 seemed to double up, its tail and head touching, then it straightened out, six feet of solid scales, and the air seemed filled with boatmen, boys, tarpon, chairs, and oars. Jean dodged the first onslaught, and the boys re- treated astern and back again. Jean, who was in the way, was hit below the knee, and oars and one chair were knocked overboard. That the skiff did not capsize was a miracle, as the noise the fish made was suggestive of a total wreck ; but in some way Jean reached his feet, and the next time he went down it was upon the tarpon, to which he clung with a death-like grasp, pre- venting the fish from rising again ; then slowly he hauled a tarpaulin over the fighter and partly rose with an " I told you so " expression on his face, which was irresist- itle. Finally he reached a big knife and despatched the fish, then took an account of stock. Rad and his brother now came up and picked up the oars, chair, and gaff which had been knocked overboard, and congratulated the fishermen, who were laughing heartily over the ad- venture. " I've learned one thing," said Jack, '^ and that is to take the advice of your boatman in a strange place. I insisted on taking in the fish, and in this skiff of a boat he might have killed one of us. Did you see his first swing ? " he asked Rad. " He just bent up so that his head and tail touched, then he straightened out like a steel spring, and I think the blow from that big solid head would have made trouble." " It might have killed you," replied Rad. " I saw a 154 THE BOY ANGLERS tarpon rise not far from here once and strike the chair of a fisherman, knocking him fairly out of the boat, eh, Jean ? " The boatman looked up and smiled, then he reached down under the sail-cloth and grasping the dead tarpon by the gills held it up. " It's a beauty," said Rad. " It is and no mistake," retorted Jack, proudly. " If I live a hundred years I'll never forget that short round. One tarpon against three. He would have won, and flung himself overboard if Jean hadn't fallen on him and hit him a foul blow." Jean straightened out the boat and when everything was shipshape they began fishing again, watching the leaping tarpons on various lines, as by this time four or five fish had been landed, and the Angler and his friend could be seen playing a fish out beyond the buoy in the Gulf where the occasional glint of the sun on a mass of silver told of the tarpon's leap. The sport presently be- came very exciting. One angler near the boys' boat had a large jack ; another a leaping shark which could hardly be told from a tarpon, so far as its leaps were concerned ; while another boat was being towed by the gamy fish. There was a fascination about the sport impossible to de- scribe. The long stretch of beach and its rising cloud- like spray ; the soft mysterious wind, the musical roar of the sea which broke everywhere but in the narrow pass, and the feeling that all about were gigantic fish, sharks, green turtles, jacks, and other large game of the sea made IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 155 an impression on the boys difficult to define, and they recognized that here was a picture of nature very differ- ent from that of the Pacific. Jean rowed along the jetty, then crossed in such shallow water that the rocks on the bottom could be seen ; yet Tom's reel gave tongue just as they had crossed, and as he bent back, pressing his thumb hard on the pad-brake, the tarpon went, blazing, into the air, flying, flinging itself from side to side, its gills wide open, its extraordinary mouth agape. How high it actually jumped no one could tell, but the boys all agreed that as they looked up at it, it appeared to be ten feet in air; perhaps it was only six, as who can govern the imagination at such a time ? Down fell the fish, to leap into the air again ; in fact, it made several leaps along- side the boat, giving a generous demonstration of its powers, then was away to the music of the screaming reel; but Tom stopped it in fifty yards, and then again into the air it went like a bird, and the Angler, whose boat was now nearby, rose and waved his sombrero and cheered them on. This fish was of different mettle from Jack's, as sud- denly it came rushing in, to turn and with a single wild run take four hundred feet of the line, again going into the air like a white bird far away on the opposite side of the pass, then disappeared while Tom felt an irresistible drag forcing him along. " 1 can't hold him ! " he cried, as the reel gave lusty zee-eee-ees beneath his thumb and the skiff began to slowly move ahead. 156 THE BOY ANGLERS " This seems like tuna," said Jack ; " we're ofF, gallant anglers that we are." " And going right into the sea," finished Tom. The tarpon was towing the skiff at a rapid rate, stern first, directly south, and was now itself in a breaking sea that would have quickly swamped the boat had the boat- man not realized the situation and with a powerful swing pulled the skiff around and rowed inshore and up the channel as hard as he could. " It's a big fish, sir, a reg'lar bounder," he said ; " I can't keep him out. We go inshore and if she capsize shark won't get us, and you can jump over and play him along the beach." It was literally a race for shallow water. The "bounder" was still rushing down the coast; they could see him four hundred feet and more away leaping des- perately in the heavy seas. Even now the boat was in the heavy swells, and the beach seemed a long distance off; but Jean pulled lustily, and finally on the top of a large roller they went dashing in. " Water only waist-deep here," said Jean, whirling the boat about where she rode a sea that just began to comb ; then he pulled about again and on they went, now before seas, now heading them, until the fish had them fairly in the surf, and was still swimming on so powerfully that Tom could not stay it. Between seas Jean thrust his oar over, to show the boys that the water was a little over knee-deep ; so they took off their shoes and made ready for the inevitable— which soon came ; a big roller IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 157 came careening in, caught the boat, capsizing and filling it, while they all leaped into the shallow water. Tom waded inshore, while Jack held to the boat with Jean and righted it, collecting the oars and turning the skifF head The author and a tarpon. Aransas, Texas. to the sea while Tom reeled in his mad steed. How he wished for a good stanch launch in which they could have kept out to sea, but this fish was a clever one, and, as Jean said later, doubtless knew that the skifF would 158 THE BOY ANGLERS founder in the surf. It was useless to try and follow with the skiff, so Jack hauled it in and on to the beach, then hurried after Tom, who was carried a mile down shore before he killed the tarpon, that fought to the last, and was finally gaffed by Jean in a fine flurry and dragged upon the beach ; killed after a battle royal of over an hour. Jean lifted it up, six and a half feet of molten silver, a trophy to be proud of, and running a piece of drift bamboo through its gills, they started up the beach dragging the game. Reaching the boat, it was hauled aboard and the boat was gradually worked around through the surf to the pass and smooth water, the party boarding the Gar after one of the most exciting days in their experience. Nearly all the boats had landed one or more tarpons, and a group of anglers could be seen on the beach measuring their fish. Rad and Buddie came aboard the Gar soon after, bringing their first tarpon and greatly elated ; as the Commodore said, " Loaded to the guards with experiences." The Angler and his friend also joined them, and they all sat on the broad quarter-deck of the house-boat and talked over the day's sport although it was but noon. " There's but one feature I don't like," said Rad ; " this towing the fish to measure him ; it's too hard work." But this was a time-honored rule at Aransas. If the angler wished to obtain a record he towed his tar- pon to the beach, dragged it up, measured it, and after taking a scale to nail up in the inn or the club, then let IN THE TARPON COUNTRY 159 the fish go, no tarpon being weighed or injured, the rec- ord depending entirely upon length. So Tom and Jack established their record of five feet ten and six feet re- spectively, the fishes being retained for mounting. Several boys had made enviable records at Aransas Pass, notably Master Sarazan, who took several fish ; but the record is held by Wilbur B. Moss, a son of Dr. Robert E. Moss, of San Antonio, Texas, who the year he was twelve years old took four tarpons, the largest measuring six feet one inch in length, the smallest four feet six inches, the others being four feet two inches and -five feet six inches— a notable catch even for the strenuous man angler. All these fish were taken in true, sports- man-like manner, landed on the beach and measured from tip to tip when lying flat. As the older anglers talked, the boys listened and learned much about this marvelous fishing-ground which extends literally from Tampico to New Orleans and be- yond to Cape Florida. They learned that the season is from April to November ; that the catch of the town of Tarpon was over seven hundred tarpons, taken with a rod, for the season ; that the record for the season was held by J. R. Wainright, of Pittsburg, with one hundred and sixty-nine tarpons up to September 15th; that the record for one day was held by J. E. Cotter with eighteen tarpons. They heard that on June 19, 1903, eighteen anglers, five of whom were ladies, caught seventy-four tarpons, and that one lady, Mrs. M. A. Hatfield, landed four large fish in one hour and thirty-five minutes ; i6o THE BOY ANGLERS while Miss Nora Fowler held the record for shortest time, landing her tarpon in two and a half minutes. To the boy or man not interested in angling such statistics count for little, but at Tarpon they were known to every one from the captain of the Life-Saving Station down Mullet, tarpon bait. to the smallest boy, and the great anglers were talked about by the boys with bated breath. " Yes, sah," said a black boatman, " yes, sah, I dun row Mistah Cottah long befo' he got to be a great man an' made his record." From the deck of the house-boat the boys could oc- casionally see the backs of tarpons, supposed to be feed- ing on mullet, and the anglers discussed them and their peculiar habits. One of the large fish hung from the shrouds, and the boys measured its scales, finding them to be four inches across, the fish being literally encased In silver. '' The tarpon is a curious fish," said the owner of the Texan house-boat. " They come in here about the first of April, but the sport does not begin in earnest until IN THE TARPON COUNTRY i6i June, the fish staying until the first norther, or until No- vember, then going south, making their winter headquar- ters from about the latitude of Tampico to the south, where excellent tarpon fishing is to be had all winter. They have two migrations a year, just like the birds, moving north in summer and south in winter, reaching all points of the Gulf and Florida, and some straying as far north as Cape Cod. They are supposed to spawn here, the interior lagoon presenting an ideal spawning- ground, and the young have been found in Porto Rican waters. " There is no question," added the Angler, " but that the tarpon is the greatest jumper among fishes, as a twelve-foot vertical and a thirty-foot horizontal jump has been observed. A tarpon has been known to kill a fisherman by leaping over the edge of nets, and one went through the bottom of a boat." That afternoon the four boys watched the men fish- ing for tarpon from the deck, then took their guns and went several miles down the beach of Mustang Island in search of snipe and plover, coming home at night with a fair bag and scores of shells, seaweeds, and other objects washed from the Gulf by the ever-pounding swell. CHAPTER IX A TEXAS JEWFISH The town of Sport, opposite the mooring-grounds of the house-boat, possessed a pecuHar fascination to the young anglers, as there was but one house in its corpo- rate limits, that being the Tarpon Club, nearly a mile and a half from the Pass, the intervening stretch of sand being almost as level as a floor with here and there a heap where the sand had piled up against some object ; but everywhere it was hardly a foot higher than the level of the Gulf, and across its surface ran myriads of sand rivers forced on by the endless wind, winding this way and that and visible for some distance. This vast desert piled up by the sea, then blown inland to the lagoon by the wind, was the home of thousands of white and yellow sand-crabs, which were so tame that when the boys kept perfectly quiet on the sand they would crawl out of their holes and gather about as though curious to see what manner of animals these were ; but at the first alarm the crabs would disappear. The sand stretch was alive with them. They patrolled the beach in bands, being the natural scavengers, and as the boys walked along they were constantly ahead waving their 162 A TEXAS JEWFISH 163 claws. They were excellent bait, and Tom, being a good shot, with a twenty-two caliber rifle picked them off cleverly, and later they were cast into the surf to lure the gamy channel bass or redflsh. One morning as the boys sat on the beach the An- gler proposed a day with the jewfish. A fisherman from up the lagoon had reported that one had been caught in a net, which weighed nearly one thousand pounds. The schooner was gotten under way and sailed down to the Point of Rocks, where the curious craft was run inshore and anchored to the beach while the boys and their elders got into their boats and made ready. " I never hear tell of a jewfish as a game fish," said the Commodore, with a sniff of disgust. " I've caught 'em with a rope and wanted a donkey engine before I got through ; but if some wan'll only call sawin' wood sport, there'll be enough to try it." " You know you like it," said Jack. " When I hook a fish you will be the first one to shout." The Commodore snorted, but he was fitting his rod together. The jewfish might have weighed a ton, but It did not matter to the boys, who all approached the game armed with rods and reels — the tarpon outfit previously described, with this exception : the bait was larger, a whole Spanish mackerel, supposed to be a bonne houche for the giant of the tribe. It was a peculiar fishing- ground. A few rocks jutted out from a sand-bank into deep water, that part of the day ran merrily out through 12 i64 THE BOY ANGLERS the pass, then turned and ran back, often bringing with it dark, muddy water, said to be carried down the coast from the Rio Grande, the Brazos, Red, and other rivers, the arteries of Texas. The Commodore pro- posed fishing from the beach, wading out, knee-deep, and cast thirty feet into the channel. The boys cast from the skiffs, the boatmen arranging them so that they could be shoved off at a moment's notice. The sun was hot, but the wind from the Gulf was refreshing. The strange sand-dunes loomed up everywhere, and in the water countless fish jumped — gars, spotted like leopards, moving along the surface ; rays dashing into the air; rippling mullets flashing in the sunlight; while overhead great man-of-war hawks poised on the wind, marvelous examples of power and grace, and along the surface flew skimmers, their knife-like bills cutting the water for shrimps or small fry. The boys watched the never-ending procession of nature and listened to the stories of the boatmen. Suddenly Jack whispered, " I've a strike ! " It was not necessary to announce it ; the reel did that, and something suddenly jerked a yard of line with a buzz from the reel ; then the line ran slowly out, one^ two^ three^ four^ five^ six feet, slid over the edge, and every angler was keyed up to the highest notch of ex- citement. Jack's boatman now said something and he dropped his thumb to the leather pad and watched the line straighten until the crystal drops flew from it ; then gave the unknown the butt, throwing his rod back with A TEXAS JEWFISH 165 a firm, heavy sway, and for a second held hard and fast while the rod bent and bowed in a mad fashion, wig- wagging frantically. Then the line slipped and ran from the reel in as merry a caracole as one ever saw or listened to. Jean cast off, seized the oars, and backed after the fish, while a shout went up from the Commo- dore, who had also hooked something. As all looked on, he gave the butt to the fish with such force that he broke his rod at the joint, and losing his footing, fell floundering on his back in the warm and shallow water amid roars of laughter. The fish on Jack's line made a rush straight out into the channel, then striking the op- posite shore turned and swam up the lagoon at a pace which prevented the taking of any line ; yet he held it, having an advantage in the shallow water. " The other boat's got one," said the boatman, and turning, Tom saw Rad's boat towing away. " Do they come in schools ? " he queried. " Sometimes," was the reply. " I've seen twenty taken in a day." Jack's fish suddenly woke up, and turning quickly made a dash out the pass, taking two hundred feet of line with a scream from the reel, the boatman holding with the oars, Jack bearing upon the brake with all his force, finally stopping it j but it might have been a mad bull on the line as now it rushed in and under the boat, grounding on the flat, showing an enormous body, then rolling off and rushing away like a catapult to turn and shake its ponderous head with telling force. Jack had i66 THE BOY ANGLERS it reeled In to within seventy feet, and as Jean pulled out he gained rapidly, meeting a savage run cleverly, holding the fish, forcing it to the surface until its big ugly head protruded and the huge tail came slashing over to sweep away the enemy fifty feet distant. " Now reel ! " cried Jean, and he sent the skiff whirling toward the fish, while Jack garnered in the line with whirl after whirl of the reel-handle until, with a shout, they had the game at what the Commodore, who was hard by, with a gaff, called " short commons." How it rolled and struck out ! How it plunged, a very whale ! Then Jean rowed hard and Tom held the monster, a dead weight of no one could guess how many pounds, felt it coming, stopped its side rushes with the slight line, and holding it well in hand leaped overboard as the skiff grounded ; held it, while the Com- modore waded out and gaffed it. With a hurrah it was hauled in, rolling over, twisting the gaff almost out of the Commodore's hands, fighting hard and constantly, and never really giving up the battle until in the toils of the shallow water, where the Commodore called for help, three boatmen being required to drag the doughty monster high and dry upon the sands, where it lay fan- ning with its powerful gill covers, so blinking defiance at the observers. It was a giant, there was no mistake about that. Tom stretched himself out beside it on the beach and the fish was almost a foot longer, being six feet three, while its girth was enormous. It resembled a huge grouper, something like a black bass, a bass that A TEXAS JEWFISH 167 one might have dreamed of, the very giant of its kind, but its head was flatter and the tail was not bass-like, filled out and rounded where the tail of the bass is cut in y indeed, the jewfish or Warsaw was a peculiar crea- ture. It had been landed in just one hour, but the fish hooked by Buddie had taken the boat directly out of the pass and they could now be seen near the jetty, half a mile away, the boy having the finest sport he had in Texas. Jean proposed to send Jack's fish up to market, so it was covered from the sun, and the boys laid down on the beach and rested. In the meantime Mr. Temple had hooked a large fish and lost his line, and the Commodore was rigging a new rod, now de- termined to add to his select list of catches the vigorous jewfish. While resting, Jean told them of the habits of the jewfish ; how it fived in the nooks and corners of the pass, going out at times and often coming in in schools. While talking, a shout was heard, and Buddie was seen with his boatman near the beach struggling with their game ; as they looked, over went the skifl^, throwing the occupants into the water. Jean quickly pushed off his skifF and rowed in that direction as fast as possible, the boys and the Commodore hurrying along the beach, as the pass had the reputation of being the roaming-ground of large sharks ; but before they reached the point they saw that Buddie and the boat- man were on bottom, though up to their shoulders, and were wading in, the boatman holding the rod over his head and still struggling with the game. Buddie was i68 THE BOY ANGLERS swimming, but presently he obtained a foothold, and grasping his rod ran inshore shouting, " We don't know what it is, but it capsized the skifF and threw us over." It appeared that he and his man were both standing when a sudden jerk caused them to lose their balance, and over went the skiff, throwing them into the region of the sharks. Jean picked up the skiff from his boat and towed it inshore, while Buddie, Tom, Jack and the Commodore ran down the beach to see the finish of the play, for the unknown, with at least three hundred feet of line, was swimming out the pass at no uncertain gait. The boy with the rod reeled as he ran, gaining rapidly ; but there was a point a short distance ahead around which the pass ended, and the vast coast of Texas stretched away with its line of breakers and its rising cloud of spume. Unless the unknown could be deflected it would take the line, so Buddie ran at the top of his speed, turned up the beach, reeling as hard as he could, and putting all the strain upon the rod it would bear. For a few seconds it was an open question, the pass or the beach, then the line began to point to the south and the boys uttered a shout, a victorious yell ; the fish was running into the surf and they had a clear field. Was there not the entire country from here to South America in which to play him ? Buddie waded out into the surf and rapidly gained line, and as the Commodore came limping along, highly excited, using the gaff he had caught up as a staff, they all moved down the wide sandy beach into the spume and sea-smoke of the Gulf, that A TEXAS JEWFISH 169 rose high in air, swept over into the sand-dunes by the eternal wind. " What is it, Mat ? " asked Tom. " I reckon shark," was the reply ; " perhaps it jew- fish, not tarpon ; anyway, he never show his head or jump ; that's why I think him big sand-shark." " We shall find out pretty soon, by the way Bud's working him," said Jack. And this was true ; what- ever it was, it was now seen for the first on the side of a great roller, then lost in the rush of silvery foam it bore out, making so vigorous a rush that the angler lost twenty or thirty feet ; but he stopped it again, though the fish knew it was in shallow water, and endeavored to bore its way offshore without avail ; there was no forcing the fighting, as the delicate twenty-one-thread line would not withstand it ; so it was patient, hard work and constant labor of the reel. For half a mile this fish took the party down the coast of Mustang Island, past interminable sand-dunes, and then began to display weariness. Buddie was waist-deep in the water, the shallows extending out a long distance, affording a splendid series of breakers. He had nearly been bowled over by the sea time and again, and his boatman stood by to aid him ; but he would none of it ; he was, as the Commodore said, " dead game," and proposed to land the unknown if it took all summer. Finally, a very heavy sea was seen coming in. It was copper-colored and had a threatening aspect, so much so that the boat- man grasped the enthusiastic angler and forced him 170 THE BOY ANGLERS inshore on the run as the sea caught the fish, and they saw it plainly for a second, then the big roller came sweeping in and shot the fish far up the beach, covering the boys with foam. As it fell back Buddie appeared, reeling for his life, and held, not a shark or a jewfish, nothing more nor less than a huge sting-ray ; a spotted, beautiful, bird-like creature, with long wing-like fins and slender tail ; a ray nearly nine feet across from tip to tip. Buddie was chagrined, but recovered his equanim- ity when the boatman agreed that it was the largest ray taken around that part of the country. " I've been try- ing to make a record," he said, laughing, " and I've got it, the ray record, and I can take the brush to tell the story." So the whiptail was cut off\, and after a rest the party started for the house-boat, not by the beach but over the sand-dunes, led by Mat and the boatman who had lived among them for years. The beach was very wide here, but about two hundred feet from the surf the sand had piled up ten, twenty, even thirty feet in places, and under the influence of the constant wind was ever moving over in the direction of the inner lagoon. Here and there were little channels leading into the dunes, and up one of these Mat led the party, coming to a stretch of pure undulating sand. Here and there grass grew, and dead limbs of trees and even trunks and some bushes stood above it, nature's attempts to stop the de- vastating sand. It was like walking through snow, soft, insidious, and once in the heart of the dune, out of direct course of the wind, the heat was intense. Now A TEXAS JEWFISH 171 sliding down a hill, climbing others which brought small avalanches upon them, the party pressed on until the Commodore became stalled, and they halted to rest, a demoralized party. The hot sun had long since dried their clothing, but they were now wet with perspiration, with the struggle through the sliding, slippery sand. A few trees, almost covered, were now sighted, and sliding down into a runway they walked along single file, climb- ing again to the upper level and coming to a small house in the center of the white sand, heaped and cut into marvelous shapes. From the sand-bank across a six- foot gully a plank had been placed, leading to the cabin, over which they walked to the house of boatman Mat, where, while they rested and drank the cool water his wife brought them, they listened to the strange story of his disappearing home. " I been here about twenty year," began Mat ; " then this place had no sand, so I like it an' build my home, plant my garden. I have grapes, orange, lemon, olive, flowers all lak I have in my home in Italia. It very nice, I lak it ; feesh all day, come home, plenty to eat, plenty children," and Mat laughed at his brown- faced children gathered about. " But about six years ago the wind, something happen to it ; it blow all the time, then all at once it change two or three points to the south, and my neighbor told me one day the sand was creep over his house. I look and see it, and see it come my way. We build a brake six feet high, but in a week it reach the top, run over and come on one, two, 172 THE BOY ANGLERS a dozen rivers of sand, all flowing to my house. I spend every morning and night shoveling sand, but more blow in one night than I could keep out. It cover my garden, my trees, my flowers. I fight it night and day, so did my children ; they dig, sweep, shovel, but it no good ; so I put stakes under my house and raise it four feet. I put pipe in my pump, raise it four feet ; bimeby my house buried, sand come in the door, and so you see me ten feet above my garden. All my trees, my flowers ten feet deep in the sand, an' all I can do is to keep lifting my house. Some day it sweep over the whole island." The boatman's position was pathetic, and in all their travels the boys saw no more singular sight than this cabin perched on the sand-dune, that had to be lifted and raised to prevent it from being lost to sight. The shifting sand-dunes are a peculiarity of all lands ; often beautiful in their flowing rivers of sand flowing on, changing the very face of the earth. It was but a short walk from the boatman's home to the harbor, that was also being filled up, and as the deep red clouds gathered in the west, as though to receive the sun, the fishing-party reached the yacht after an exciting day's sport of varied experiences. CHAPTER X THE TEN-POUNDER "The Commodore has passed the word for light tackle, I wonder what the game is to be," said Tom one morning, as the schooner rounded to at the entrance of a little inlet in Aransas Bay and dropped anchor. " I'll ask," replied Jack ; and going aft to the quarter- deck where his father and his friends sat, overhauling their rods, he inquired what the game for the day was. " We hope it is to be the ten-pounder," ^ replied Mr. Temple, fitting a dehcate bamboo joint together. " The captain tells me this is a favorite place for them, and if so, you will have some fine sport with a marvelous fish ; but you will want your split bamboo black-bass rods." " Did you ever think," said the Angler, when they were all seated under the awning, the boys busy with their rods and lines which were being rigged for the game, " what the evolution of the rod from a willow branch to a split bamboo means ? Walton had the charming phi- losophy of all ages, but he did not know the delights of a split bamboo ; it was not invented until 1846, being the production of Samuel Phillippi, of Easton, Pennsyl- ^ Elops saurus. 174 THE BOY ANGLERS vania, and like many other great inventions or ideas, there are many to dispute it. But Phillippi was the first inventor of the spHt bamboo and a four-section rod. Dr. Henshell exhibited one of his original rods at the World's Columbian Exhibition in 1873. It was a trout-rod eleven feet four inches in length, weighing eight ounces, and all the rod-makers since owe a debt to Phillippi. It may be a matter of fancy," continued the Catfish. Angler, " but to my mind, the split bamboa is the ideal all-around rod. With it I have taken trout, salmon, tuna, and tarpon, and well made, it has few if any equals." The boatman had hauled up the skiffs which had been towing in a line behind the schooner, and the six anglers were presently seated in them and being rowed to a certain spot near a little inlet, where they anchored one or two hundred feet apart and began to fish. They THE TEN-POUNDER 175 used light rods suitable for black bass, with very light lines ; some baited with shrimp and others with very small sardines. Tom secured the first prize, landing after a poor fight a gafF-topsail catfish, the pest of the salt-water angler on the Texan coast. As the boatman attempted to unhook it he showed the boys its eggs packed on the inside of the mouth, where they are car- ried until they hatch ; and even the young fish are pro- tected in this way until they can care for themselves. Each fisherman landed a gafF-topsail cat, and the Com- modore remarked that it was a pity Johnnie Grayley was not there with his jugs and watermelon. So ravenous were the cats that the Angler used up all his bait and rowed over to where the boys were landing cats and tossing them back. " The English people must have heard of Johnnie's cat," he said, laughing. " I remember a poem published in Punch years ago as a protest against introducing the catfish into England. It ran something like this : ** Oh, do not bring the Catfish here ! The Catfish is a name of fear. Oh, spare each stream and spring. The Kennet Swift, the Wandle clear. The lake, the loch, the broad, the mere. From that detested thing ! ** The Catfish is a hideous beast, A bottom-feeder that doth feast Upon unholy bait : 176 THE BOY ANGLERS He's no addition to your meal, • He*s rather richer than the eel. And ranker than the skate. << His face is broad, and flat, and glum ; He's like some monstrous miller's thumb ; He's bearded like the pard. Beholding him the grayling flee. The trout take refuge in the sea. The gudgeons go on guard .' ** They say the Catfish climbs the trees. And robs the roosts, and down the breeze Prolongs his caterwaul. Ah, leave him in his western flood. Where Mississippi churns the mud ; Don't bring him here at all ! " " It's more than likely," said the Commodore when the Angler concluded, " that Johnnie Grayley read the poetry and made up the yarn from it." Jack had just made a long cast with a small sardine when his rod bent to the danger point and the delicate but musical reel gave tongue in a fashion that told an- other story than gaff-topsail cats ; and then into the air rose a silvery animated streak of lightning, quivering, dancing, caracoling, bending all in a breath ; so dazzling a creature that Jack stopped reeling to gaze at it in amazement. Down it went, rushing out twenty feet of line to appear in a totally different place, literally dancing on the water; now on head, again on tail, a fantasy in THE TEN-POUNDER 177 silver, a long slender creature, the very ghost of a tarpon gone crazy. " What is it ? " cried Jack, reeUng and watching with breathless apprehension his cavorting tip. " Why, the ten-pounder, but about three pounds in this case," answered his father ; " what we are here for ; the gamiest fish in the sea, at least," he added, sotto voce^ " to my mind." In the meantime Tom had a strike and he added a dancing companion to Jack's fish. At one moment the air would apparently be full of fishes dancing on their tails, springing here and there ; then it would drop to immediately spring along the surface in a splendid hori- zontal leap, all the while the reels buzzing, shrieking, and scolding after the fashion of their kind. The boys had caught many kinds of fish, but never had seen anything to approach this dancing vision, this light-weight tarpon that, garbed in silver, piroquetted so daintily on the surface of the lagoon. Ten-pounders by name, they were far under that in real weight ; but, as the Commodore said, every inch was a pound compared to other fishes. How many jumps each fish made was impossible to de- termine, but Jack, who was twenty minutes landing his fish, was positive that it was in the air most of that time. In this place four ten-pounders were landed, then the gaff-topsail cats surged to the front and forced the anglers to move out into the lagoon to a hole which Jean knew, where more ten-pounders and sport incomparable were found. 178 THE BOY ANGLERS " I dislike to pass the black bass to a second place," said the Angler as they were all bunched near the hole, making a Hne cast as he spoke, " but the ten-pounder is a delight giver, no doubt about it. I have never seen a real ten-pounder, though they have them in Florida, where they attain a length of two or three feet." The fishing in the lagoon proved " werry unsartin," as the Commodore truthfully explained, and the boat- men began to move about searching for new holes, a hole being merely a clear place in about five or six feet of water with a surrounding mass of weed in which lived gaff'-topsail cats, redfish, ten-pounders, and many more. It was not long before Jack and Tom were fish- ing together, with the Commodore now as boatman, Jean having gone aboard the schooner to prepare lunch, as the house-boat followed them about, anchoring near them. The boys dropped anchor at a new hole. At the first cast something bent the rod like a whip, making a straight run until hooked, then completely encircled the boat in so gamy a manner that the boys were puzzled. It did not leap, so was not a ten-pounder, and they were guessing, when the fish, to the merry whistle of the reel, coursed along the surface showing the splendid gold, sil- ver, and black markings of the Spanish mackerel ; then Jack's reel spoke in no uncertain tone, and for nearly half an hour they enjoyed the sport which these fine game- fishes can afford when the angler is equipped with light tackle. While they were fishing several eagle-rays were playing in the vicinity of the boat, repeatedly jumping THE TEN-POUNDER 179 and appearing in the air like birds flapping their side wing-like fins. They were beautiful creatures, dark and spotted like a leopard, and with long, slender, whip-like tails that were dangerous weapons. Five fish were taken, and the Commodore, who had been busily en- gaged in baiting the hooks with shrimps, had taken Tom's rod and was playing a fine Spanish mackerel with much vigor when a shark, apparently four feet in length, leaped fairly into the boat. It struck on the rail and rolled in, giving the Commodore a sounding blow and belaboring everything within reach after the manner of sharks when out of their natural element. The Commodore started to his feet and endeavored to seize an oar, but the shark sliding down got under them and deliberately flung them high in air and overboard, the Commodore dancing a Highland fling to avoid its tail ; then slipping on a fish, he fell directly upon the shark and for a moment appeared to be riding it, the boys calling upon him to go in and win, and making other laughing requests difficult to carry out. " I've ridden worse things than sharks ! " shouted the Commodore ; and taking up a heavy club or fish-killer he forced it into the fish's mouth, and as the vicious animal gripped it like a bulldog he rose and hauled it over the side, shaking it off*. This extraordinary experi- ence attracted the attention of the rest of the party, who now came alongside demanding of the Commodore how he conjured fish into the boat, and amid much laughter and joking they all pulled back to the house-yacht. 13 i8o THE BOY ANGLERS " That may seem a very remarkable experience," said Mr. Temple, " but I know of one other case which happened on the coast of Maine at the little village of Ogunquit. A fisherman was fishing near the rocks when without warning a shark six feet long leaped fairly into the boat, nearly demoralizing the fisherman who, I fancy, was asleep. The occurrence is easily explained. The shark comes swimming along and suddenly sees the boat, and, perhaps alarmed by something behind, leaps out of the water and accidentally lands in the boat. The garfish often strikes in and about boats ; and I know an instance where a large one struck the hat of an ofii- cer. An instance is given in the Voyage of the Chal- lenger, by Moseley. But of all the jumps or leaps of oceanic animals that of the whale is most marvelous. The British ship Leander, Captain B. Hall of the Brit- ish Navy, was lying in the harbor of Bermuda when a large whale came into the roads and the men were al- lowed to go in chase of it. It was struck, sounded and came up, possibly with a view of striking the boat, but missed it, shooting into the air, the most extraordinary sight probably ever seen, as the huge mass weighed many tons and was sixty or seventy feet in length. It passed entirely over the boat, clearing it by twenty feet, the amazed and terrified sailors looking up to see the huge creature poised over them. The fall of the ani- mal all but sank the craft, and I doubt if any one in her ever forgot the experience." After lunch, Tom and Jack were sitting on deck THE TEN-POUNDER i8i when they noticed a curious fin on the surface, and making out the speckled body of a garpike, forthwith began to fish for this modern representativ^e of one of the oldest of fishes. It looked very much like its name- sake, the alligator, swimming clumsily in the water and apparently not disturbed by the baits that were cast at it — small mullets and large. Tom, seeing that the gar remained on the surface, fastened a float upon his line, which presently disappeared ; and acting on the sugges- tion of one of the boatmen, he gave it two or three min- utes to fairly take the bait, then struck and had the satisfaction of catching the singular creature after a lusty but not very exciting play. It was about three feet long and had a pair of beaks armed with sharp teeth, and was encased in an armor of chinalike scales, which would have deflected a bullet and which gave the Commodore some little trouble when attempting to galF it ; indeed, he found it impossible, and fairly caught the long-beaked ugly fish in a net, where it viciously snapped at every- thing within reach. That afternoon the boys went ashore on the long, wide beach, crossed it to the Gulf and bathed in the surf; then they took their shotguns and walked down the beach, finding numbers of plover and sandpipers to repay the long tramp. Gulls, pelicans, and man-of-war birds were common, and occasionally a big heron would rise and fly away with lumbering flight. By four o'clock they reached the yacht, with dinner enough for all hands and in time to see the men catch bait, which they took I«2 THE BOY ANGLERS in \'arious ways. Large shrimps were very common here in shallow water, and a very fine mesh cast-net was used. The shrimps so closely mimicked the bottom that they could not be seen, hence the men merely Sandpipers. rushed into the water and hurled the net, which nearly always caught several hundred shrimps, which were shaken out on the beach — a dainty bait for many kinds of small fish of this vicinity. Worms, great sea slug- like creatures, were dug out of the sand or mud ; and crabs the boys chased along the shore, skilfully knock- ing them over with sticks. Just at sundown a shout was heard, and looking around, the boys saw Jean beckoning and running to the skifF. As he shoved off, he called out that there was a large turtle coming up the beach. Tom quickly put THE TEN-POUNDER 183 the turtle peg in the grain pole — a three-sided peglike affair — and in a few moments the round head of a turtle appeared. It evidently was feeding in a patch of dark- green sea-grass, and Jean cautiously pulled the boat in that direction, and presently Tom made out the dark shape moving slowly along. Nearer the boat approached, and when about ten feet from the turtle he cleverly ^^ ' ;■ ■..'.' 1^ ^!^^^ i^-' ^ ™ t wy^jj ■' '^"^^%if