Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/biggameatseaOOholdrich BIG GAME AT SEA Playing a Swordfish. Santa CataKna Islands. (See Chapter VI) BIG GAME AT SEA BY CHARLES FREDERICK HOLDER Author of "The Log of a Sea Angler," "Life of Charles Darwin," etc. WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON HODDER & STOUGHTON MCMVIII »— > I i Copyright, 1908, by THE OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England All Rights Reserved • • « PREFACE These stories are mainly the author's experiences with big game at sea in many waters. Fifty years ago graining the big ray or devil-fish was the sport of sports along the Carolinas, and it is being revived by men who like a dash of spice with their pastimes. The big ray is now taken nearly every season on the gulf coast of Florida, and at Aransas Pass, where an extraordinary contest took place in 1906: a ray swim- ming off with fourteen boats before it was killed. Yet the " Giant Ray Club," suggested last year, to be composed of men who have taken the huge fish, produced less than a dozen men who had accom- plished the feat, though doubtless a more extended canvass would develop others. The various rod catches herein described illustrate the work accom- plished by the Tuna and other clubs for a higher standard of sport, as on the Pacific slope. At Santa Catalina especially, game fishes up to one hundred pounds are now taken with what is known as a num- ber nine-thread line ; the tip of the rod not less than five feet long, and weighing not over six ounces, while the members of the Tuna Club have for years takim all their great record fishes on twenty-one-thread lines ; the idea being to give all large fishes the advantage and reduce the catch to the limit of actual size. In the vii 252986 Preface nine years' history of the Tuna Club but sixty-five men have landed, single-handed, with a sixteen-ounce rod and not over twenty-four-thread line, leaping tunas of one hundred pounds weight. In that time, with a big handline, it would have been possible to kill thousands of these fishes. These chapters, then, may be con- sidered in a sense a plea for light tackle for all the big game of the sea, as illustrated by the methods of the Tuna and other clubs of Southern California, where the nine-thread line and six-ounce tip for all game up to one hundred pounds is now the slogan. The chapter, " The Biography of the Man-eater/ ' is of course imaginary as a whole, but is based on the author's observations and capture of scores of sharks of various kinds, and all the individual incidents in the recital are based on actual happenings. In other words, the story is a composite, and the not impossible life history of one of the huge white sharks, which attain a length of twenty or thirty feet, and roam the warm waters of tropical and subtropical seas. I might add that I have taken not once, but many times, nearly every shark in American waters, in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific; have watched them in all ages and conditions, and the article is the result of many observations; hence is not what really happens to one shark, but what might happen to any lusty man-eater. The swordfish has been admitted to the ranks of game fishes in Southern California, and several more or less desperate bouts with these fishes have occurred. viii Preface The Tuna Club record is 165 pounds, with rod and reel. Certain boatmen last season felt it incumbent to cut away from this uncertain game, and this season the Tuna Club offers a loving cup for the largest catch and for the angler who does not retreat before the supposed charge of the swordsman of the sea. In imagination we see future anglers for the game going out in armor. In the chapter on a new game fish is described what Dr. Jordan said to the author, " was a new link between America and Japan." This splendid game fish — the yellow-fin tuna — appeared suddenly and for the first time in American waters in 1905, and has afforded marvelous sport at the channel island during August and September ever since, over five hundred being taken with rod and reel. But a few years ago all large fishes were taken with handlines. Now the rod is in evidence, and at Santa Catalina during the present month a 250-pound black sea bass was taken on a number-nine line and a nine-ounce rod, typifying the fact that fair play for all game is the motto among gentlemen anglers everywhere. The following chap- ters have appeared in various magazines in this coun- try and in England — in The Outing Magazine, Rec- reation, Metropolitan, Outlook, Badminton, Forest and Stream, McClure's, The London Field, Cosmo- politan, etc. C. F. H. IX CONTENTS CHAPTER Preface I Trailing the Sea-Bat II Diving for Turtles III Ten-Armed Game . IV The Amber Jacks . V The Biography of a Man-Eater VI An Ocean Swashbuckler VII The Taking of Big Game Fishes VIII A Tiger of the Sea IX Big Sharks as Game X The High Leapers. XI Fishing in Southern California XII Wing Shots at Sea XIII A Leaper of the Kuroshiwo XIV The Man Behind the Angler XV The Duel .... XVI Adventures with the Biggest Bass XVII The Silver King . XVIII The Madness of Fishes XIX Barracuda XX A Sea-Going Crocodile . XXI Queer Game . XXII Off the Sierra Santa Cruz XXIII A New Game Fish PAGE V I 36 49 65 76 95 105 136 148- 160 174 188 197 212 234 247 264 275 282 293 301 322 340 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Playing a Swordfish. Santa Catalina Islands . Frontispiece FACING PAGE Hauling the Sea Bat to the Dock . . . 24 Large Squid Caught at Avalon by C. F. Holder . . 50 A Giant California Octopus 56 Giant Octopus, Fifteen Feet Across, Caught at Santa Cata- lina Islands ..... . .62 Author Fishing for Yellowtail (Amber Fish) at Santa Cata- lina ......... 70 Skip J acker Bonito, Southern California . . . -74 The Walking Fish 100 Catalina Rock Bass 100 The Puff Shark of California and Its Eggs . . .118 The Rose of Paradise Fish 118 A Catalina Sculpin 138 Home of the Sea Urchin 138 Bonito Shark, Taken with Rod and Reel at Santa Catalina 148 Big Hammerhead Shark 154 Ground Shark . . . . . . . .158 Mr. Holder Fishing for Sheepshead 1 74 Avalon, Santa Catalina Islands. Home of the Tuna Club 178 xiii List of Illustrations FACING PAGE Crowd at Avalon Bay Watching the Landing of a Big Tuna 182 The Coast Line of Santa Cruz Islands . . . .186 Shooting Flying Fishes. Santa Catalina Islands . .192 The Author Playing a Leaping Tuna .... 204 Bringing the Fish to Gaff ...... 204 The Morning's Catch ....... 204 A Good Catch of Yellowtail ...... 220 A Well Earned Prize 220 A Leaping Tuna 220 Mammoth Sea Bass Caught at Santa Catalina Islands with Rod and Reel Gaffing the Black Sea Bass Trophies of the Tuna Club 248 254 258 Typical Santa Catalina Fishing Boat Coming into Avalon with Sea Bass, and Bass Flag Flying .... 262 Author Catching "The Silver King" . . . .268 The California Barracuda 286 Giant Sun Fish Caught at Avalon 302 Angel Fish Taken with Rod and Reel . . . .310 Bottle-nosed Dolphin Taken with Rod and Reel . .318 Dolphin Taken with Rod and Reel at Santa Catalina Islands 318 Spiny Lobster 324 Blue-eyed Perch . 324 xiv List of Illustrations Giant Star Fish 336 Sea Anemones ........ 336 The Blacksmith Fish ....... 336 A Meteor of the Sea (light giver) ..... 336 A New Game Fish. The Yellow-finned Tuna . . . 342 L. P. Streeter, with a Catch of Yellow-finned Tuna . . 342 XV L BIG GAME AT SEA BIG GAME AT SEA CHAPTER I TRAILING THE SEA-BAT THE outer Florida reef, where the army of coral polyps has made its last stand against the Gulf Stream, was lying on the surface of what seemed a sea of molten steel. The wind was dead, and the blue expanse of the gulf had that strange oily appearance so often a characteristic of a dead calm in the tropics. In the west vermilion- tipped clouds — mountains of the air — rose high in the heavens, casting deep shadows over the green- topped creations of the wind, hurricane, or the pre- vailing tides. The keys appeared to be formed without rhyme or reason, but in reality Nature could not have ordered better, as with their outlying banks and reefs they constitute a perfect harbor, a deep blue channel winding clear and distinct against the coral- covered lagoon, completely encircling Garden Key. Some wit has described fishing in Florida in the summer as sitting in a Turkish bath holding a string, i Big Game at Sea and I think the author of this mot found his inspira- tion on the reef on a warm day while trailing the sea-bat. The heat was appalling, pouring down with such intensity that the shallows were too hot for comfort, and nebulous clouds wavered upward from the bleach- ing coral sand, distorting every object along shore. For days the dead calm had continued; the long sleepy summer was at its height, and one had to pick his time for sport and diversion. There was an hour or two at sunrise for barracuda spearing, or for the beating jacks; a long siesta at midday, then a while toward evening perhaps when one could lure the dainty gray snapper or test conclusions with the big sharks which swam the blue channel at all times. Then came the night, often cool, to be spent on the water listening to the melody of negro rowers, the weird tales of Chief, a Seminole, who preferred the heat of the outer reef to the mosquitos of the coast. On such a night, when the only sound to break the stillness was the distant roar of the surf, there came out of the darkness, near at hand, a rushing, swishing noise ; then a clap as of thunder, which seemed to go roaring and reverberating away over the reef, like the discharge of cannon. So startling was the sound, so peculiar, that the negroes stopped rowing, and one or two dropped their oars in consternation. " Vampa fish, sah," said Paublo, the stroke oar, in 2 Trailing the Sea-Bat a hushed tone, " an' he mighty uncomfortable near, sah, jes over yander." I thought so myself as the eight-oared barge now rocked in the sea made by the fish. In a few moments another jumped some distance away, and we could hear a splashing sound, which Paublo said was caused by the fins as the fish rushed through the water. The darkness was of that quality that could be felt, yet it was that described by Milton as " Dark with expressive bright " as the lagoon scintillated with phosphorescent light; every oar set the sea ablaze with silver radiance, and ahead of the boat waves of fire seemed to go rippling away. Now another seething, hissing sound was heard, and a blaze of triangular light above some huge, dim firebody below, glided swiftly along; then a volcano seemed to rend the very sea, and out of a blaze of phosphorescent light, that sent its radiations in every direction, rose a dim shape, cleaving the air to drop into another volcano, which opened to receive it with loud intonation. " Sea vampa, sure," Paublo whispered, as though he feared that the unknown would hear him. " Dey jes wheelin' an' wheelin', leapin', an' I reckon we's in a bad place." " Sea-bat," grunted Chief, as the ladies expressed alarm. " They jump five, yes, eight feet high." 3 Big Game at Sea "How heavy are they?" I asked, thinking of possibilities. " Three or four tons," replied Chief sententiously. This answer was unsatisfactory to some of the party, so we hauled close in shore near Long Key, where we listened to the explosions, as they seemed to be nothing else, caused by the crash of the return of the leaping fish. A school of sea-vampires, sea- bats, or devil-fish, as men call them, had wandered into the lagoon. I knew them by reputation and hearsay, but never had seen one alive; and when I announced that I was going to take one on the follow- ing day, if they were still there, the boys, as the negroes were called, all protested. " Why, marster, one of dem vampas yander is twenty feet wide, 'deed he is. Five years ago a schooner, seventy-ton burden, was layin' jes offen de pint yander; de capten had dun gone ashore an' all de crew 'ceptin' de cook was a-pickin' micramocs out on de reef, jes ober yander wha yo' see de ole wrack a-layin'; yes, sah, jes yander under de sudden cross. All at once dey hear de cook a-hailin' an' screamin' jes lak he crazy, an' lookin' up, dere was de schooner, sails furled, anchor down, a-sailin' outen de channel. De cook he ran 'bout lak he crazy; he don' want to jump overboard cause he 'fraid of de sharks, so he jes natchally yelled; an' de schooner sail on fo' half a mile, den stop, an' de men what had been fol- lerin' clim' board. What done it ? Why, de vampa 4 Trailing the Sea-Bat fish. Yes, sah, he jes pick up de anchor an 1 tote it off." Each boy had some particular story to relate as to the dangerous character of the fish and its gigantic size and strength, intended to convince the listener that its capture was impossible. I found that some of these stories were true. A sea-bat had towed a schooner up the channel, and while several attempts had been made to take one of these fish, it had never been accomplished in this locality. When I asked for a volunteer, after announcing my intention of trying this sport, the men were strangely silent. There was a superstition among them that the fish had some demoniac power ; that it could seize a man in its clasp- ers and hold him beneath its cloak-like body and smother him. I finally secured the services of Chief and Paublo, and by daylight the following morning we were on the water, the men pulling across the channel to the long lagoon which formed the break- water of the group to the east. My boat was a light cedar yawl, built in Boston, thoroughly seaworthy and prepared for the rough weather that is often experienced among the keys, by having under her forward and side decks rows of air-tight cans, which more than once had proved to be of good service. For weapons of offense I had the grains of the reef with which I had often taken large fishes. This harpoon consisted of a two-pronged spear attached 5 Big Game at Sea to a steel cap which fitted closely upon a long, pliable yellow pine handle. The barbs of the points were movable; when they entered a fish they closed, but when the slightest strain came they opened and pre- vented the harpoon from tearing out. A stout line or rope was made fast to the grains and led up the pole, and three hundred feet of it coiled forward in a large half barrel. Beside this I had a sharp coral chisel to use as a lance in case of necessity. Thus equipped, we were ready for almost any game, at least of the sea. The early mornings were usually ushered in by transformation scenes of splendid possibilities — staged in the heavens — and this was no exception. Long before the sun appeared the east was a mass of crimson clouds ; first deep, dark and ominous, grad- ually increasing in brilliancy, color and tint, until the sun burst forth in all his splendor. We soon reached the spot where we had heard the thundering of the sea-bat the preceding night, but the lagoon was apparently deserted. Chief suggest- ing that the fish did not come so far up until full flood tide, we turned and rowed to the south, parallel to the great fringing reef against whose sunken coral rocks the surf broke sullenly. Long Key — a sandy spit since destroyed by a hurricane — Bush Key and the long fringing reef two or three miles in length, formed three sides of the lagoon, which at high water was from four to twenty feet in depth and through a 6 Trailing the Sea-Bat part of which ran a deep blue channel. Acres were covered with branch coral, while the rest of the bot- tom was either white sand or had a scant growth of algae — the home of crawfish, crabs and various shell fish upon which I believe the big rays fed. The men rowed slowly down the reef by an old ship blown in by a hurricane years before, now lying ghostly and still, with a corporal's guard of pelicans, frigate birds and gulls; down by Bird Key, whose population of terns rose high in the air with bewilder- ing cries. I had begun to think that the morning was a poor time for vampire fishing, when Chief stopped rowing and pointed to the east. I turned in time to see a black triangular object waved above the surface ; it might have been the dorsal fin of a shark, yet no shark had so black a topgallant sail, or, indeed, so large a one. Paublo was gazing at it with protruding eyes and parted lips ; it was a rude awakening for him, as I believe he had considered it a forlorn hope, and secretly prayed that we might not see the dreaded fish. I turned the boat in the direction of the fin and bade the men give way. The trim cutter shot through the still water like a gull. Where I had sighted the fish the lagoon began to dip into the deep channel of the Gulf Stream as it flows between Cuba and the keys, and until nearly one hundred feet is reached every object on the bottom can be seen, so clear is the water. We had almost reached the spot when not one, but 7 \ Big Game at Sea five or six fins appeared, my exclamation causing the men to look around. I gave the tiller to Paublo, Chief taking the oars, and crept forward. As I picked up the grains I noticed that I could see the bottom distinctly thirty-five feet below. We had hap- pened upon a school of the monsters which were indulging in some game of the sea. There were, perhaps, ten or twelve in all, moving in a circle one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, and churning the water into a veritable maelstrom. Chief was slowly and noiselessly propelling the boat ahead, and we drifted about thirty feet from the circumference of the circle. Surely these fleeting, glistening figures were the witches of the world of fishes, as no more diabolical creature could be imagined. They resembled enor- mous bats, and in following one another around the circle, raised the outer tip of the long wing-like fin high out of the water in a graceful curve, the other being deeply submerged. Imagine a fish shaped something like a bat, the wings ending in graceful points, a vivid black on the upper surface and white beneath, a long whip-like tail, while from near the large and prominent eyes extend forward a pair of writhing, clasping finger-like tentacles three feet in length. Endow such a creature with marvelous activity and a constant desire to change its position and assume some extraordinary attitude, and possibly a faint conception of the actual appearance and per- Trailing the Sea-Bat sonality of these strange creatures circling before me may be obtained. As we slowly drifted nearer I could see them deep in the water, apparently going through a series of fantastic figures; now gliding down with flying motion of the wings ; sweeping, gyrating upward with a twisting vertical motion marvelous in its perfect grace; now they flashed white, again black, so that one would have said they were rolling over and over, turning somersaults, were it possible for so large a fish to accomplish the feat. Since then I have been informed by one who had opportunity to watch them on many occasions, that this is what they were doing, and is really a common practice of the big rays. As I recall this strange performance, the huge creatures would suddenly turn over and shoot along upon their backs, thus displaying the pure white of the ventral surface, then again turning at the surface, move along with the remarkable, undulatory, bird-like motion. All this passed in rapid review, and fear- ing that they would become alarmed I gave the word, and Chief moved ahead. I wished to select my game and make the throw as the fish turned, and to accomplish this I waited until several had passed. Finally we drifted directly in the path of the remarkable procession, the fishes pay- ing no attention to the boat. One dived beneath her, another came careening up from below, standing directly on edge, as nearly as I could determine, and 9 Big Game at Sea fairly exposed its broad back, not ten feet away; and as it glistened in the sun I hurled the grains into it with all my strength. The pine handle seemed to shoot into the air as it rebounded, then we became wit- nesses to the extraordinary agility of this monster ray. It appeared to fly into the air, rising, an appal- ing mass of flesh, out of the seething waters, its side wings beating the heated air as it rose, then falling with a crash and the reverberating sound we had listened to the night before ; fell as a square twelve by ten feet and weighing a possible ton might fall. As the heavy waves from the impact struck the boat, I stumbled into the bottom, rolling out of the way of the jumping line that was now hissing from the coil. The fish, after its first leap, had headed directly to the south, or out to sea, and the line was rising upward in coils. The Indian oarsmen rowed the boat ahead to lessen the strain when it should come, but so furious was the rush that I decided to check the fish before the rope was exhausted, and tak- ing a piece of sail-cloth as a glove I grasped a coil and held on. The boat was well under way, but the shock was terrific. Arms and muscles snapped, and for a mo- ment the rope smoked through the cloth; then Chief dropped his oars and took it, and we were under way driving the fish by a single rein. I had used the boat to capture man-eater sharks, and as a precautionary measure to prevent the line from getting over the 10 Trailing the Sea-Bat side, had a deep notch cut in the bow, in which it rested. With no little difficulty we succeeded in lift- ing it in place, the bow of the boat at the water's edge riding a heavy sea, which rushed ahead of us as an advance guard. In a short time the fish towed us into deep water, and then surged downward, keeping near the bottom, and we were forced as far astern as possible to keep the bow from going under. I noticed that Chief had taken out a big sheath knife, which he habitually carried in a leather scabbard, and held it in his teeth — a significant movement that was not lost on Paublo, whose terrified glance shot from the fast-disappearing keys to the hissing line ahead and back again. We were headed far out into the gulf, and for two miles or more the ray towed us at rapid pace. It was evident that if something was not done the line would have to be cut away or we would follow our wild steed indefinitely. I therefore directed the men to ship the oars and pull against it while I took a turn with the rope around the forward seat; but this powerful brake had no effect upon the fish. Then I determined to haul in and try to lance it. We were riow a mile and a half, perhaps more, to the south of Bird Key in the open gulf and began to feel the long swell that ever rolled in from the west, while an ominous squall cloud as black as night, to the south dead ahead, did not add to the pleasures of the situa- tion. The line was passed astern and we all " boused ii Big Game at Sea on," as Paublo expressed it; now gaining a foot, again slipping back, hauling, straining every muscle, slowly but surely forcing the light boat upon the fish to the accompanying shouts of Paublo and Chief — " ah ho ah," "ah he ho," "all together now," "ah ho!" Then would come a rush; the line would smoke through our fingers for ten or twenty feet, and we would lie back until the flurry seemed to die away to haul again. For some time we worked in this way, until I esti- mated that the fish was not more than twenty feet away, and had crawled out on to the little deck to peer down into the water, when the line rapidly rose, then turned so sharply to the left that I was nearly thrown overboard. The Seminole, who was in the stern, grasped an oar and aided in hauling the boat around; but she yawed and careened so that the water poured in; then the fish appeared at the sur- face forty feet away, its wing waving in the air like the black piratical flag it was, perhaps in derision, perhaps in defiance, then disappeared. The fish had turned the keeled boat in little more than its length and was now towing us directly back to the lagoon — a proceeding more than satisfactory, as a storm was rapidly coming, and if caught we would have to cut away; so we sat with a turn of the line about the thwart on the alert for any move. Steam could hardly have towed us faster; we flew through the water throwing clouds of spray over the deck, 12 Trailing the Sea-Bat racing with flocks of gulls that eyed us curiously, plunging among schools of Portuguese men of war and velellas, and in a short time without incident entered the lagoon, where I decided to bring matters to a finish and cut away rather than go to sea a second time. Whether the great fish was accustomed to go to a certain feeding ground and now returned in its terror from mere force of habit, I do not know, but the fact remains that it was rushing up the lagoon between Long Key and the outer fringing reef, into an almost perfect cut de sac, the water shallowing at every flap of its wonderful wings. I stood on the little deck and could see every movement of the strange fish, that in swimming over the white sandy bottom in water not over four feet in depth, displayed its outline perfectly. Chief had the oar, steering the boat after the fish, which, it was expected, would turn at any moment, while Paublo stood amidships holding the rope, which had a turn about the seat. The lagoon narrowed rapidly, and at high tide a small boat-channel was formed; at other times being too shallow and easily waded. Perchance the fish having passed this at flood tide, was again making for it, hoping to reach deep water, which was but a stone's throw away. The graceful, bird-like movements of its fins was a fascinating spectacle; a waving, undulatory motion which sent the ray along at a remarkable speed, and 13 Big Game at Sea the slightest increase of which forced it over the white sand like the shadow of a dark cloud. We were running parallel to the beach, and some negroes stopped and waved their hats as we shot by. Suddenly, without the slightest warning, the fish turned. I saw the pointed fin leap into the air until it stood upright, as the fish seemed to breast the water in the turn. I stepped back and shouted a warning to Chief. But it was too late. The bow of the boat was jerked, shivering and trembling, almost completely around, throwing Paublo over the rail into the lagoon, and was away almost before he recovered his feet and stood in water nearly up to his armpits looking at the retreating boat, doubtless with amazement seasoned with relief, as he could easily wade to Long Key. The fish headed for the outer reef, on which a heavy sea was breaking; drawing little or no water it could doubtless plunge over while the boat would either ground, or if it succeeded in making the reef, would doubtless be swamped in the surf. We took the line as Paublo dropped it, and surged upon it with all our strength, and were encouraged by finding that the fish was weakening. But we were rapidly ap- proaching the reef; another haul and we were nearly on top of our quarry, whose long tail was under the boat, the mighty wings pulsating just ahead. A patch of coral now loomed up, and this fortunate obstacle turned the fish and in the whirl the fin 14 Trailing the Sea-Bat seemed to rise almost over the boat, hurling the spray over us, and once more we were off up the lagoon headed for the cul de sac. I gave Chief the rope, and taking the big square- edged lance sent it into the black mass. A cloud of blood followed, while the speed of the fish was increased so that the bow was well under water, flush with the deck. Again and again I lanced the fish, but the blade was a chisel-like affair, and did not penetrate more than five or six inches. There was a duplicate pair of grains in the boat, and this weapon was also hurled into the ray's back, but still it rushed on, seemingly as vigorous as ever. I fully expected to see it turn again, but it held its course, heading directly for the narrow tide channel between Long and Bush Keys toward which Paublo was running along the beach of the former key. It was an excit- ing moment. The fish was alongside, yet we were going, as near as I could judge, at full speed. Nearer we came, flying over the roots of man- groves, over patches of coral and sea-grass, into a narrow channel hardly four feet deep and not thirty feet wide, with a flat on each side partly bare. Not a tenth of a mile away the sea was beating on the reef, which meant liberty, if not life, to the fish. But fishermen's luck was ours. The tide was so low that it left but two feet in the upper head of the channel into which we ran. The fish discovered its error too late, but made a clever attempt to rectify 15 Big Game at Sea it, turning and lifting itself partly out of water, roll- ing the boat over, throwing oars, grains, and fisher- men into the shallow lagoon. The turn cost the fish its life, as it ran high on to the narrow mud flat, where it beat the shallow water with its powerful wings, every movement urging it further out of its native element. Paublo, who had waded across the little channel, in his exu- berance, bounded onto the flat back of the monster and waved his hands aloft, while Chief ran in shore with the rope and presently had the devil fish securely fastened to a mangrove tree not fifty feet away. We had earned our game and were well exhausted. At high water the ray could have escaped by way of the channel through which, doubtless, it often passed. Stretched upon the hot sands beneath the strag- gling mangroves, Paublo humming a low barcarole of his own invention, Chief silent, but with a long smile fixed upon his countenance, we could not believe but that the writhing black mass was a monstrous bird, one of the uncanny pterodactyls which geologists dream about ; yet it was a noble quarry, " The struck eagle stretched upon the plain, No more through rolling clouds to soar again." The weight of the ray we could only conjecture, but it was doubtless over a ton ; and had this light and airy swimmer sprung upon the boat it would have crushed it like paper. 16 Trailing the Sea-Bat When the tide was at the ebb the black vampire, as the men called it, was high and dry, and was paced off. It was thirteen feet from tip to tip, ten feet long from its mouth to the base of its tail, which was about seven feet in length. It is impossible to convey any adequate idea of the appearance of this devil-fish, sea-vampire, this Manta brevirostra of science, which is so difficult to take that it more often runs away with boats than is captured, and of whose habits very little is known. Indeed, vampire fishing will never be a popular sport except among those who delight in an element of danger with their pastimes. Mr. G. E. Northrop, of Chicago, captured a very large sea-bat in the Gulf of Mexico in the summer of 1898, and in a letter to the writer described it as remarkable sport. The fish gave a hard fight, towing the heavy boat a long distance. Unfortunately the photographs of this fish turned out unsatisfactorily, though they gave some idea of the monster. The big ray was almost jet black upon its upper surface, the back being rough ; the under surface was white, with gray cloud effects here and there, giving it a marbled appearance. Popular fancy has given the fish a sting above the base of the tail, but this is a misnomer; it is without the serrated lance which marks many of the tribe which I took in these waters, one of which wounded a companion by striking its lances across his foot. 17 Big Game at Sea The mouth of the ray was of ominous dimensions, and afforded room for a man to lie very snugly coiled up within. The teeth were very small, but the extraor- dinary feature of this fish — the one which has given rise to many tales, true and legendary — is its two tentacles or claspers, fleshy objects about four or five inches wide and three feet long, which extend out- ward from each side of the mouth. Their office is undoubtedly to aid in securing food. When the fish is moving they are in constant motion, being whirled about like the tentacles of a squid, and that they are muscular and powerful has been demonstrated on many occasions. The natural movement of the clasp- ers is inward, and when any object strikes between them it is instinctively held — a proceeding which explains the undoubted fact that these fishes can run away with vessels. At least five instances of this were heard of on the reef occurring from Tampa Bay to Garden Key, and the Hon. Wm. Elliott, formerly of Beaufort, S. C, a famous hunter of this game, reports two instances from that State. In every case the vessels, always at anchor, suddenly moved off in a mysterious man- ner and were towed greater or less distances. The ray had collided with the chain, and, true to its instincts, threw its two tentacular feelers or claspers around it and rushed ahead, thus lifting the anchor. That the claspers are very powerful is well shown by the experience of Mr. Elliott, who, in endeavoring 18 Trailing the Sea-Bat to kill a large fish, which he had harpooned and run down, with a knife, felt his arm seized and held so securely that it became numb. He called to the men to hold the fish at all hazards; but it is obvious that if the animal which they had just hauled to the boat had made a rush and broken the harpoon or rope the sportsman would have been carried off in its embrace. That so enormous an animal can leap so easily and so high is remarkable, and I believe that this is a common pastime, as in later attempts to follow the fishes at night, I frequently heard the resounding crash that told of the return. The ray which I struck seemed to clear the water three feet, but Chief said that he had seen them jump five feet, while Mr. Elliott, already quoted, states that he has seen them bound ten feet into the air. On the outer reef this fish was considered a dan- gerous animal, and was never followed. Some years previous an attempt had been made to catch one which fouled a vessel's cable. The fish became impaled on the anchor, and when brought up broke away. It was then harpooned, but escaped after leaping partly on the boat, breaking the oars on one side, and seriously injuring the crew, who were crushed into the sinking craft. So the sea-vampire, which was supposed to suffocate its victims with its cloak-like wings, was dreaded, and that any one should consider it sport to follow such a creature 19 Big Game at Sea and hunt it down was more than the ordinary reef negro could understand. The negroes of upper Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, where the fish is also found, are equally afraid of it; yet, in 1845, t0 ta ^ e one °f these mon- sters was considered in these States the highest phase of sport, and the visitor to any of the hospitable plantations near Hilton Head would be sure to be invited to a sea-vampire or devil-fish hunt. The sport was followed with great abandon, and one gen- tleman had a record of sixteen sea-vampires taken with the harpoon in one season, the fish towing him from ten to twenty miles, and fighting from one to five hours. The waters of Port Royal Sound were the breed- ing grounds of the fish, and it is a singular fact that the wild excitement embodied in the sport was dis- covered in an attempt at retaliation on the part of the planters whose property had been destroyed by the rays. Those whose property abutted the Sound had water fences which marked the limits of their plantations seaward, and some had piers extending out into the water. The heavy posts, which would be in deep water at flood tide, were mysteriously hauled up, and I am informed by a gentleman from this section that the piles of wharves were occasion- ally similarly treated. For a long time the cause was unexplained, but finally a school of large rays was seen to sweep along and collide with the piles. The 20 Trailing the Sea-Bat fish evidently threw their claspers about them and in the violent struggles which ensued wrenched them loose. The sportsmen made the attack in eight-oared barges propelled by negroes, and when the strike was made the barge rushed away toward the ocean, several other boats being caught as they passed until the fish was towing a procession of craft. The initial fish measured twenty feet across, and from that time on the exciting pastime became the sport above all others of the Sound region. The catches were marked by many sensational features. On one occa- sion Mr. T. R. S. Elliott was the harpooner, and when the fish was struck it cleared the water, strik- ing the boat in the bow, sweeping away all the oars on one side, and sending her astern so violently that every man in the barge was thrown from his seat and one or two severely crushed. The man at the helm, James Cuthbert, was pitched headlong on to the deck, while Mr. Elliott took a flying leap into the air, landing upon the back of the struggling fish. He was fortunately hauled aboard before the ray got under way, and stood on the little deck, drenched, and raised a cheer as the boat moved off behind the wild steed. The legend heard in the Pacific that this fish envel- ops its prey with its cloak-like wings may be traced to the ancient authors, among whom Oppian writes, " It is the broadest among fishes " (Eurotatos pantessin 21 Big Game at Sea metichthusin) ; and he further describes its habit of seizing mariners, sinking with them and smothering the victim beneath its wings. This belief is still held by the pearl divers off the southern Gulf Coast. The truth is that while the fish makes a remarkable fight for its liberty, it is timid and never attacks ; the foul- ing of anchors, the leaping upon boats being mere accidents attendant upon the movement of a large fish in agony and fear. In following this sport in Port Royal Sound the sharks were often a factor to be dealt with, attacking the wounded sea-vampire in such numbers that while being towed by a fish Mr. Elliott took with a line as many as six hammerheads which were following the trail of blood; vicious monsters ranging up to nine feet in length. In its peculiar somersaults the bat is not unique, as I have repeatedly observed the California banded sheepshead roll over and over; yet in so large a fish it is a remarkable act. Merely venturing an opinion I am inclined to think that this may be a feature of courtship, and nowhere have the strange gambols been so often observed as in Port Royal Sound. Here the fishes were repeatedly seen by Mr. Elliott, as I saw them once in the Gulf of Mexico, and my father, the late Dr. J. B. Holder, saw them at Tampa, swimming in a circle, black and white flash- ing at intervals as they somersaulted ; now swimming upon their backs ; now vaulting into the air and while 22 Trailing the Sea-Bat in this position falling upon the back. Sometimes the act would be performed in deep water, the flash of the white ventral side alone telling the story of the turn; again the water would boil at the surface, the horns appear and the huge fish would roll com- pletely over until its tail lashed the air in its descent. So commonly was this trick performed that more than one of the fishes taken by Mr. Elliott was harpooned in the belly. It is believed that specimens measuring nearly thirty feet across have been seen. Mitchell refers to one caught in the West Indies which required six oxen to drag it up the beach; but the average ray taken on American shores, which the sportsmen may expect to find in the summer months from Port Royal Sound to Garden Key and up the west coast of Florida, and in Lower California, will rarely exceed eighteen or twenty feet in width — large enough to afford some of the most exciting experi- ences in the annals of sport with the spear at sea. So rare is this great game, so difficult to take, that every catch is an incident worthy of being placed on record. While this chapter was being written, a devil-fish was taken off Aransas Pass, Texas, which so well illustrates the remarkable staying qualities of the animal that I take the liberty of copying an article by Mr. W. G. Sterett, which appeared in the Dallas (Texas) News, describing the sport, or rather battle between the devil-fish, which for its size made 23 Big Game at Sea an extraordinary exhibition of strength. I had visited Aransas Pass the season previous, and hoped to find a devil-fish and renew the acquaintance of years before on the opposite side of the Gulf, but none were seen. Mr. Sterett is a wise man in his generation, as he determined not to tell his story until he could reinforce it by photographs of the catch, feeling confident that no one would believe it, and not knowing that Mr. Tomlinson, of St. Petersburg, Fla., had taken a num- ber in his specially prepared boat, and that devil-fish spearing was the manly sport sixty years ago in South Carolina. Mr. Sterett says: For two days before it occurred, four or five of these creatures were seen near the end of the jetties extending from St. Joseph's Island. They were on the surface, moving around something like cattle feeding in a pasture. Our party, which it may be well to mention was composed of the following gen- tlemen, since some of them may be worthy of belief, consisted of John W. Robbins, Austin; Eugene Cherry, Sherman; E. P. Gregg, Sherman; P. R. Markham, Sherman; O. C. Ahlers, Sherman; T. T. Fuller, Wichita Falls; Brig. Gen. Cleary, San Fran- cisco; J. W. Maxwell, Austin; Walter Crow, Waxa- hachie; Eugene Carley, Terrell; Capt. Walters, Houston; N. L. Buckner, Dallas; Dr. G. H. Wooten, Austin; R. C. Roberdeau, Austin; Butz Metzler, Dallas; Dr. E. V. Dickey, Dallas; L. A. Pires, Dallas; C. C. Cobb, Dallas, and myself. Nat- 24 (i) Hauling the Sea Bat to the Dock. (2) Side View. (3) Showing Lower Side of Fish. (4) Showing Back of Fish. Trailing the Sea-Bat urally the presence of these fish excited considerable comment and provoked suggestions as to how they could be taken. On the day before the capture nearly all of the party were at the end of the jet- ties engaged in tarpon, mackerel and sheepshead fish- ing. One of the creatures came near a boat with its mouth open as natural, since it is unable to shut it, and Mr. Cherry, of Sherman, threw his hook into it. In pulling it out it caught on the upper part of the mouth. There was a swish, a whirr of the reel, a convulsive grab for a firmer hold on the rod, a great deal of consternation, a surge of the prow of the boat bottomward and the snap of the line, which was musical to Mr. Cherry and his attendant. Butz Metzler, of Dallas, brimful of luck, pulled his line over the back of another with the result of imbedding his tarpon hook in some part of its body. A wail, a sort of wraith wail, went up from the boat which sounded, " I can't stop him." Metzler's boat went skimming for nearly half a mile, when his boat- man, with rare presence of mind, bethought him of his knife and thus relieved Mr. Metzler and himself from an embarrassing position by severing the line. General Cleary threw his bait and hook over another one of them, with the result of catching a fish, new to these waters. It was said that this fish was riding on the back of the devil-fish, but this story proved to be untrue. Now, when this experience was discussed in the evening it was determined that an effort should 25 Big Game at Sea be made to capture one of the monsters. Edward Cotter, the proprietor of Tarpon Inn, volunteered to make the effort if properly assisted by others, the Sherman, or Athenian, contingent of the party being especially anxious to attempt the feat. Among the visitors to this resort this year was one Mr. Mayer, of New York, an ardent fisherman, who comes to the place every year. On this occasion he brought and left a new harpoon. It consisted simply of a bolt of steel about six inches long and was a half inch in diameter. The weapon was made so that when the blow was struck the handle would come out, leaving the harpoon proper attached to the rope in the flesh of the victim. Early next morning the attempt was made, and a monstrous specimen was soon found, and when two of the party who were in a launch had reached within a few feet of the fish, which evinced not the least fear, one of them, named Kline, got up on his seat — he is a man of six feet and over, and of powerful build — and hurled the harpoon with all his strength. With a bolt of steel about the length of a railroad spike, with the weight of eight feet of half-inch iron rod behind it and with a man of marvelous strength impelling it, the harpoon sank into the mass of meat several inches. There was a boiling of water. The boat started as a flushed quail. The bow sank deep and away went the boat for the gulf. The two men, accustomed to the sea and things out of the ordinary, 26 Trailing the Sea-Bat settled in their seats in a moment. Each held the rope and, I think, had it around some sort of snubbin post at the bow. The sudden rush and speed might have broken the rope or the barbs of the harpoon in less skillful hands, but the craft was well managed. Rope was let out in the rushes. Rope was drawn in on curves or the least cessation of extreme effort on the part of the wounded monster, which soon demon- strated that its wounds or the restraint placed on it had rendered it unable to maintain a straightaway- course. The rest of the party sat in their boats, heard the thud as the harpoon was thrown, saw the two men in their boat fairly fly toward the ocean, but no one knew what to do to aid those who had made the attack. General Cleary and his boat were closer to the fish than any other person at the time the harpoon was thrown. His boatman started in pursuit, and as their boat was a light yawl or " dinghy/' as they call it there, he was able to keep in pretty fair distance. The fish made its first swerve from a straightaway course a few minutes after it was struck. It made a quarter or half circle and when it did it deary's boat attached itself to the boat of Kline and Farley. Now it had two boats to pull with four men. Soon it made another deviation and another boat threw its anchor in the Cleary boat. All the other boats, seeing the success of Cleary, were rushing as fast as they could to do as he had done. The result was that in half an hour the beast was 27 Big Game at Sea towing thirteen boats, in each of which were two men. The most of these boats were heavy sixteen- foot boats used for tarpon and sea fishing, while some of them were gasoline launches. All had been done that could be done by the generals in the fight. The policy was to finally tire out the monster and then drag him ashore. It was about half past ten o'clock when Kline threw the harpoon. Eleven o'clock came and the ray was scurrying around in the gulf with apparent utmost ease. Out to the ocean buoy, away beyond the Pass buoy, he took us. Around the ocean buoy he went with his string of boats, and round it again. Once he went so close to it that we thought he would foul us on the chain of the beacon, but there was no trouble. Then out in the gulf he went until the land had almost faded. Back he came again, some- times in a way to show he had lost nothing of his vitality and strength, and then again he was moving slowly enough to excite the cry from boat to boat, " He's all in," " He's giving up," " He can't last but a few minutes longer." But words of cheer of this kind died on the lips when the fish would gather up his strength and make taut the line of every boat as he fairly flew through his element. Twice, when he was circling, he took short cuts and went under the boats. In each case it was for all the world like a mad beast surrounded and it had resolved to break through. As he made these moves there was a, 28 Trailing the Sea-Bat scurrying in the boats, an untying of tow lines and a breaking away, each boat for itself. But as soon as it had passed out of the circle the boats were attached again and he proceeded with his heavy drag out in the gulf, close to shore, back toward the jetties, out in the gulf again, pursuing his way as a drunken man, staggering, uncertain, indefinite, blindly. The fun of the thing began to pall about half past twelve. The gulf was fortunately calm, but the tropical sun beat down fiercely, there was no ice water, men who had been up from daylight began to feel an unpleasant feeling in the region of the stomach. Then again there was not much sport in being dragged around in the ocean by a creature which no one but the man of the harpoon and his companion had seen. More than this, the fish appeared to be just about as strong as when first struck, and there was every prospect, unless he was further trammeled or injured, that he could drag his flotilla for a week or month. I have said there were thirteen boats attached to him, but not all were attached in the first hour. That needs explanation to the extent of saying that two or three came into the procession a little later. Treasurer Robbins got into line about an hour after the fish was harpooned. Dr. Wooten and Mr. Roberdeau got in a little later. Mr. Robbins gave frequent advice as to how to carry on the fight. I did the same thing. It should be said, to the credit of the boatmen actually doing the 29 Big Game at Sea work, that they paid not the least attention to either of us, thus showing their wisdom and avoiding the possible escape of the prize. It was suggested by some wise man in the battle — it was neither Rob- bins nor myself — that if we could receive reinforce-' ments we might triumph. It was suggested by some pessimistic gentlemen that if we didn't get reinforce- ments we would never get the fish. Finally it was agreed to hoist a signal of distress, though it was certainly a shameful thing for twenty- six men to do, and call out the life-saving crew. So we hoisted a red and white handkerchief on a fishing pole and stuck it as high as possible toward the sky. At this season of the year the life-saving service has a man at each station in the cupola on the top of the building. The watch at the Pass saw the signal, and with his glasses ascertained our trouble. He notified Mr. Cotter, who, with another harpoon and a Savage rifle, shooting a 30-30 soft-nosed bullet, came out to where we were yet playing the " ring around the roses " with what was once our prize, but which now had about reversed conditions and made us its prize. Cotter anchored his large launch and, betaking himself to a boat, proceeded with his weapons to the side of the boat immediately attached to the devil fish. But I am getting on too fast. Before Mr. Cotter came Walter Crow of Waxahachie, in a launch with his wife, who had been sloshing around fishing for tarpon and mackerel and taking a long shot now 30 Trailing the Sea-Bat and then at a snipe or other sea bird with a pump gun, arrived on the scene. Ardent sportsman, he was enthusiastic. He hauled up by the side of the boat of Klein and Farley. Some one suggested that Klein pull the fish to the surface and that Mr. Crow should shoot. At once a chorus filled the air, 11 Don't shoot; you might hit somebody "; " Don't shoot; the shot will scatter"; "For heaven's sake, don't shoot." Mr. Crow, evidently impressed by this loud and universal request, and further by the fact that the monster persisted in remaining twenty to thirty feet in the depths of the sea, turned his attention to relieving the two tired boatmen by assisting them at the ropes. And he did valiant service. When Cotter came alongside of the Klein- Farley boat he quickly got his harpoon ready and the ropes adjusted. Then Klein, Farley, Crow and Cotter used their supreme efforts to pull the fish to the top. For a time their efforts were unavailing. But after a while the line slackened a little and the bulky thing began to arise. Up, up it came, the personification of stubbornness and weight. When within two feet of the surface Cotter, with all his force, threw his harpoon. The monster, stung again, threw one of its flippers in the air, sunk in a flash, was gone again. Men who had been standing up in their boats to witness what they hoped would be the coup de maitre, fell back in their seats with a back-dislocating jolt. Again the monotonous travel 3i Big Game at Sea around the gulf began. It was about two o'clock. Two ropes were attached to the fish now, and the two could be used by two crews to stop him and get him to the surface. Time and fatigue werei required to stop him. Strength was required to get him to the surface. Time and fatigue did what was expected. The subterranean locomotive began to go slow. Then it stopped. Now was the time for strength. Down at the bottom the creature lay, full eighteen hundred pounds in weight. The two crews bent over to get hold of the ropes as near the water as possible. They heaved. From every throat came cheers of encour- agement. They heaved again and there was slack in the ropes. Again the cheers arose and the monster weight gradually came up to the surface. Cotter seized his rifle. Bang ! There was a splash. Away went the boats again. But there was one shot in him anyhow, and one shot from a Savage with a soft-nosed or dum-dum bullet means death. Again the creature slowed up. Again supremest effort lifted it to the top. Again, bang ! Then, bang-bang ! The creature sunk. But there was no tightening of the ropes on the boats. It had gone down under mortal, paralyzing wounds. Slowly again it was brought to the surface. The blood from it reddened the sea all around. Ropes were at- tached to it and then fastened to the big launch and back toward the hotel it was towed, while the victors, or those who had engaged in the hunt, went other 32 Trailing the Sea-Bat ways, since the launch could pull no more than the great weight which it had at its stern. When the shore was reached the island people and all the guests of the hotel flocked to the beach to see it. Thirty or forty boys and men tugged at ropes to get it through the shallow water to where it could be photographed and examined. Here it was raised by block and tackle and pictures taken. It was then lowered and Dr. Wooten, of Austin, Dr. Dickey, of Dallas, Dr. Greenwood, of San Antonio, Dr. Ahlers, of Sherman, and Dr. Cleary, of Califor- nia, engaged in a post-mortem examination. Captain E. H. Tomlinson, of Florida, previously mentioned, has probably had more remarkable experiences with devil-fishes than any one in America. He has built a non-capsizable catamaran from which he harpoons them. The following account of his most recent catch I take in part from a St. Peters- burg (Florida) paper: BIG DEVIL-FISH. Deep Sea Monster Harpooned off Egmont Key and Towed to City. Hundreds of people were on the streets in a steady stream for several hours Wednesday afternoon, the occasion being the bringing into port of a monster devil-fish sighted and harpooned near Egmont Key by Captain E. H. Tomlinson on Wednesday morning. 33 Big Game at Sea The monster weighed 1 200 pounds, measured thir- teen feet across, and twelve feet six inches from mouth to tip of tail, and there was " something doing " before he was landed. The launch Uncle Sam sighted the fish at ten o'clock Wednesday morn- ing between Fort Dade and Fort De Soto, on Egmont and Mullet Keys, and about one-half mile from land. The harpoon was thrown at ten-fifteen from the star- board side of the launch, and found one of the few soft spots in the tough hide of his satanic majesty of the deep, catching a firm hold. So well did it stick in fact that the heavy iron rod was bent before the devil fish was finally subdued. Instantly the fish dove deep, taking 250 feet of line at a whizzing gait, and when snubbed on the stern bitt, towed the launch half a mile, stern ahead. With the aid of Captain Will McPherson and Arthur May, the line was passed to the bow, and snubbing on the forward bitt, everything was ready for a tow, which was enjoyed by all except the devil-fish, for thirty minutes, the men occasionally taking in slack line, or losing line when the fish got especially energetic and spurted. At the end of an hour, the captors were able to get the fish near enough the launch to fasten a tarpon gaff into the lower jaw, made it fast on deck, and started for St. Petersburg. The party reached port, bringing with it its dis- tinguished captive at four o'clock in the afternoon, and landed at the city dock, at the foot of Central 34 Trailing the Sea-Bat Avenue. The news of the capture spread rapidly, and in a few minutes the dock was crowded with spectators. These as they left told the news to others, and thanks to thorough advertising, it was not long until nearly everybody in town it seemed, was traveling to the water front. Dozens of kodaks and cameras were in evidence, and the devil fish was the most photographed curiosity the city has seen for many a day. 35 CHAPTER II DIVING FOR TURTLES WHETHER it was the ill-concealed smile of incredulity on the face of my boatman, or the rashness of over-confidence I know not, but I had announced that I was going to take a big green turtle, single handed, on the outer reef, and the statement had aroused no little interest among the fishermen, wreckers and Conchs, who made up the little settlement on Long Key. It was April and intense heat — the advance guard of the long summer — was beginning to be felt; yet the days were perfect. The islands — a dozen or more — seemed like emeralds in settings of silver, rest- ing on an azure sea of glass. Not a ripple could be seen save that made by the fin of some vagrant shark; not a sound broke the stillness, except the occasional " ha-ha " of the laughing gull, and the musical and distant roar of the waves as they piled in upon the outer reef. The air of early morning was cool and delicious, and as the sun came up, suffusing the east- ern sky with long vermilion streamers, Long John would shove off his dinghy, and with myself as com- panion, scull out into the great lagoon, which formed 36 Diving for Turtles the central field of the growing atoll, and search for turtles or the large and gamy barracuda, both of which we took with the grains. Long John was well named. Nearly seven feet in height, thin as the conventional rail, angular as a manzanita tree, his face fiery red, from the combined results of Bacchus and the sun god, he was a land- mark; and standing in the dinghy, slowly sculling, his long grains-pole in hand, his small gray eyes fixed ahead, he looked from a distance like the mast of the boat; indeed, it was said on the reef that once when out with his mate, Bob Rand, he stood up, and stretching his arms wide apart as yards, boomed out a big foresail which sailed the craft into port. Long John's method of taking turtles, both the green and loggerhead, was to peg them; the weapon a three- sided peg (cut from the tip of a file and polished) which fitted into the long pole, or handle, and was held in place by a long cord. At this season of the year the turtles were found feeding on the lagoon bottom, and often asleep, when it was comparatively easy to approach them; for when alarmed they invariably rose to the surface to breathe before making off. At that time the peg of my companion would reach them, the long pole trembling through the air like a living thing. In the early days of these trips, during my novitiate on the reef, my station was in the bow of the dinghy, where I could readily see the black forms of the 37 Big Game at Sea turtles lying in water but six or eight feet deep — a striking contrast to the white sandy floor of the lagoon. Often John would scull the boat within six feet of them before they awoke. It was this cir- cumstance which led me into deep waters. I believed that if the dinghy could be brought within fifteen feet of a sleeping turtle I could slip overboard, and by diving, swim up behind, grasp the victim and wear it out in the shallow lagoon. 11 How long kin you stay under watah, sah ? I reckon it all depends on that," said Long John, and he reckoned further that if I could stay there twenty minutes it might be done. Bob Rand, another indis- putable authority, reckoned that a big loggerhead would reach around and bite off my arm, and regaled me with the exciting incident of a battle royal which he had witnessed between a shark and a turtle, in which the latter was the conqueror. Contrary to their expectations, all this only increased my desire to make an attempt, and, finally, the two fishermen agreed to aid me in what might be considered a train- ing for the event. In a word, we were first to go on what, on the reef, was termed a turtle turn. The game was to be turned, then placed in a " crawl " where I could, as Bob expressed it, " get my hand in " for the attempt on the open reef and sea. All this was alluring, and the first moonlight night found us crossing the channel between Garden Key and Loggerhead, the twelve-oared barge propelled 38 Diving for Turtles by a black crew whose songs and laughter went roll- ing over the still waters, despite Long John's warn- ing that it would frighten every turtle off the reef. The moon was just rising, the Southern Cross set in brilliants in the south, as the boat slid into the soft sand of Loggerhead. As we tumbled out the boys hauled the barge above high-water mark, after which Long John called the crew together and apportioned them off. Sam Pinckney was to take the point ; Paublo the bight; Dave King the cactus patch, while Tom Mallory was to go right across the island, and Scope down by Soldier Crab Point; and so on until the beach of the long isle of sand, with its bay cedar and cactus topping, was laid out into districts, each in charge of a " boy." Long John and I took our station two hundred yards down the beach, and here, in low tones, he gave me the details of turtle turning. The animals would begin to appear as soon as the moon rose, come slowly ashore, and deposit their eggs, in a hole above tide water, after which they would return to the water by a different route. To cover the entire beach the men were stationed along shore, two hundred yards or so apart, where they were supposed to lie concealed, either in the bush or in depressions in the sand. Every half hour they were to walk quietly down to the water's edge and then run rapidly along to the next station, watching out for tracks that led upward. In this way every foot of the shore was covered. The position Long 39 Big Game at Sea John had selected was in the lee of the south point of the key, where the gentle waves came purring up the beach in little eddies. The track of the moon on the water was a blaze of silver, reaching far away, in which the splashing and leaping of large fish could be occasionally seen. The stillness was almost absolute. Now and then came the weird cry of a wandering tern, or. the scrambling sound of the purple land crabs as they climbed the low bushes. Finally I heard a mysterious sound on the sand, and in the bright moonlight made out scores of almost pure white spirit crabs, perched on high legs, standing around us, evidently holding a conference as to what we were. At the slightest movement they would dash away in a wild scurry and reach their holes ; then when all was again quiet they would come pouring out to resume their observations. I was lying in a depression in the soft sand watch- ing these ghostly marauders, who seemed to be unde- cided whether to attack us or not, when Long John, who had been looking up and down the beach, uttered a slight click and touched my arm, pointing to the sea. There, right in the path of the moon, half in the water, half out, its back gleaming and glistening, was a huge turtle. It was looking the situation over and perchance had a suspicion that something was wrong. It remained in the same position four or five minutes, with its head raised as though listening, then seemingly satisfied, it came 40 Diving for Turtles crawling laboriously upward. It was headed directly for us, coming on slowly but surely, and in a few minutes it was twenty feet from the water. Long John did not move, waiting until the unsus- pecting turtle was within ten feet of us, then we sprang at it, and as I reached its side I was amazed at its size — the veritable king of the logger- heads, its back, broad enough to hold three men standing, its huge head and jaws showing plainly, while its long and ponderous flippers gave it the appearance of extraordinary width. As we sud- denly appeared the turtle swung seaward, whirling the sand in all directions in the violence of its rush. John grasped the shell between the flippers and gave a heroic lift, while I, missing my grasp, received a volley of sand from the flippers and fell upon my side. 11 Get in front," cried Long John, who, unable to make the turn single handed had swung himself upon the back of the frightened animal and was endeavor- ing to stop it by thrusting his feet into the sand. But to get in front and stay there were two different propositions. To face the ugly head and horny jaws of the great animal, without a weapon, was not to my taste, so after vainly resisting its charge, I fell back, and both of us grasped it by the side and lifted. Up it came a foot, and then another, Long John shouting all the nautical epithets of encouragement and invective he could think of; but the moment the 4i Big Game at Sea turtle's flippers were clear of the sand they came whistling through the air, striking me such a stag- gering blow on the side of the face that I lost my hold and fell against my companion, and down went the turtle. Again we seized it, and with a rush endeavored to turn it ; but despite all our attempts the animal fell back and struggled on in the direction of the sea. It was evidently too much of a lift for us, so Long John ran along the beach, returning with an oar just as the turtle was carrying me upon its back into the water. He stopped it for a moment by striking it upon its head, then, running the oar beneath it, we both took hold of the lever and with a shout had the monster upon its side; a moment later it was sprawling and helpless on its back, beating its armored breast with its powerful flippers in impotent rage, snapping at the oar and crushing the hard wood. 11 IVe turned heaps of turtle here and over yander, sah," said Long John, " but that's the onerest one of the lot. I reckon it weighs eight hundred pounds." The animal was so heavy that we could not haul it out of the water, and as the tide was coming in John started for the next station and brought back two men. The turtle was, with their help, then hauled up the beach where Long John lashed the flippers, each side together, with rope yarn by the simple expedient of cutting holes through the flesh with his knife. Our game was as vicious a specimen 42 Diving for Turtles as ever came under my observation in many later experiences. Its enormous head had a particularly ugly expression; its large eyes were sunken, watery and bloodshot, and when turned slightly in the direc- tion of its captors had a disagreeable menace. As I looked it over I came to the conclusion that an attempt to hold an animal of that size in the open water must fail. In the course of the night, seven or eight other turtles were taken. I had a hand in three of these turns, losing one turtle, which I ran across about five feet from the water. It turned with remarkable celerity, and though I lifted and threw myself upon its back, holding tight, it carried me down to the water's edge and into it, where I was forced to release it, to the amusement of the boys who came up in time to witness my discomfiture. In the morning the boat was rowed round and loaded with the spoils. Turtle turning, except when the animal is a very large one, is a clever trick. Some of the men could topple one over with ease, completely escaping the flying flippers. What was known as the turtle cor- ral, or " crawl," as the boys termed it, was an inclos- ure nearly half a mile long and about sixty feet wide, varying in depth from four to eight feet; the tide rising and falling through a gate which led to the open sea. Into this the turtles were liberated to fatten and await execution; turtle meat being the beef of this remote and out-of-the-way corner of the 43 Big Game at Sea world. The laying time of the turtles was the har- vest, and three islands of the group upon which the animals were found, were patrolled with more or less regularity, and with such success that in three weeks forty or fifty turtles of the green and loggerhead per- suasion were confined in the corral, which was so extensive that they might as well, so far as personal comfort was concerned, have been in the open sea. In walking around the wall they could be seen dot- ting the white sandy bottom, singly and in groups, occasionally rising to the surface to breathe and uttering a loud hiss, then dropping down to the bot- tom to sleep. One morning I determined to make the attempt to take a turtle, single handed, and having incautiously given it out to Long John, I found a small but enthu- siastic crowd at the tide gate awaiting me. There was no time lost in hunting; the game was plentiful, and the bottom dotted everywhere with the big black forms; yet as I slipped quietly into the water, near the tide gate, I felt that the most difficult part of my training for the grand prix of the outer reef was yet to come. I had located a large green turtle, which was lying in the center of the " crawl," in about eight feet of water, and slowly and carefully swam toward it. When about fifteen feet from it, I dropped under water, sank to the bottom, and swam rapidly toward the animal. The water was very clear, and in a few seconds I sighted the game lying flat, its flippers 44 Diving for Turtles extended, its head resting on the sand, apparently asleep. A few strokes brought me directly over it, then I quickly grasped the big creature with both hands, by the projecting shell just over the head. What happened during the succeeding seconds left a very distinct impression on my mind. I remember seeing the big head rise, the flippers strike the bot- tom, and in a cloud of sand and rushing water, I felt myself jerked to the surface with irresistible force; then dragged down again and away, on the back of as wild a steed as one would wish to mount on land or sea. The turtle in its alarm had instinctively dashed to the surface to breathe, then plunged down, with per- haps an undefined idea of washing me off. The remark of Long John that I might win if I could remain under water twenty minutes flashed through my mind, and I was fast giving out when the turtle rose again to blow. In reality it had dragged me only about fifty feet, but, so rapid was the rate against the water, that it increased the necessity for breath- ing. At the time, I believe I could remain under water about one minute under normal conditions, which were now certainly reversed. I allowed my- self to stretch out perfectly straight at first, thus aiding my steed, which was now flying along like a bird, and for a second time I was threatened with suffocation. I could feel the veins in my head swell- ing, my eyes seemed ready to start from my head, and 45 Big Game at Sea I was about to release my hold when it occurred to me to try and stop the animal. Acting on the idea, I drew up my knees and secured a position, which if the turtle had been on land would have been a kneeling one. This brought my body directly against the rushing water. The effect upon the turtle was instantaneous ; my changed position deflected its head upward, and out of the water we came, I gasping for wind, the turtle uttering a loud snort. As it plunged down again, I heard the shouts of the men on the wall, caught a " bravo ! " from some one, and real- ized that I had accidentally solved the secret of turtle riding. So no sooner did the animal dive and carry me to the bottom, then I immediately brought it up by kneeling on its shell. But the turtle did not sur- render at once. It swam on the surface when it could not dive, plunged downward, and turned on its side, endeavoring to wash me off ; but by continu- ally using my body as a brake, I succeeded, after a run of perhaps five hundred feet, in reducing my fiery steed to terms. I turned it in the direction of shal- low water, and finally gaining my feet, held it. The big animal had lost literally its wind. After some weeks of this sport I assumed that I was an expert in riding turtles, and was more than confident that I could take one on the outer reef. So one day Long John and I pushed off and sculled over to the lagoon, looking for a victim. The lagoon was cut in its very center by a deep channel, as blue 4 6 Diving for Turtles as sapphire — a veritable gem of the sea, which wound in and out in a mysterious fashion; its sides so steep and precipitous that, standing on the edge in six or eight feet of water, one could look directly down into the blue depths. We crossed this and presently sighted a turtle, perhaps one hundred feet from the edge. I immediately slipped overboard, and Long John, locating the position of the animal, carefully approached it from behind. It was fast asleep, and when within reaching distance I dived, while Long John backed away. I drew near with great caution, swimming low and deep, then, when directly over it, I seized it, pressing my knees upon the shell. The same convulsive rush to the surface followed, as on previous occasions, but this steed had never been turned, had never felt a grasp upon its shell, and the force of its plunge and rush was sufficient to loosen my hold. By good luck, more than anything else, however, I succeeded in retaining my grasp, though it was impossible to keep my knees on the shell, and the turtle towed me along, stretched at full length, at racehorse speed. It would dash to the surface, bringing its own and my head out of water, plunge down again, then, as though exhausted, sweep up, turning and tipping in a vain effort to rid itself of its unknown and mysterious enemy. The turtle had carried me down four or five times in its wild rush, and towed me some distance from the boat, in shallow water, when I heard Long John 47 Big Game at Sea shout something. I could not make out the words, but the next moment I realized their import, as the turtle plunged over the edge of the reef and dived into the deep blue waters of the channel. I made a desperate effort to stop it, but the turtle scented liberty from afar, and plunged down deeper and deeper. I retained my hold until I experienced intensely cold water, perhaps ten feet from the sur- face, then cast off, and swam upward, to be picked up by my solemn-visaged boatman with the remark, " It's jest like I told you, sah; if you kin stay down yander for twenty minutes, you kin do it." But I could not retain my breath twenty minutes. There are, unfortunately, limitations to this sport on the outer reef. 4 8 CHAPTER III TEN-ARMED GAME THAT there was sport of an exciting nature in the capture of a large octopus and its ten-armed ally the squid, which ranges from seven to sixty or seventy feet in length, dawned upon me when spearing specimens on the Florida reefs and among the islands of the California coast. No animal affects the imagination as do these weird uncanny creatures which more resemble a Gorgon's head, with its repellent snakes, than anything else. From early times writers have invested them with horror; painted them as giants of the ocean world; the very church giving sanction to the tales; Bishop Pontoppidan, of Norway, having described and fig- ured squids as krakens — monsters which were mis- taken for islands as they lay upon the surface of the sea — while other authors of the past century pic- tured them as dragging ships down by twisting their snakelike arms about the masts and rigging. In n The Toilers of the Sea " Victor Hugo vividly pic- tures the ferocity of the tribe; and the names, devil- fish, cuttlefish, became in the public mind synonymous with all that was terrifying and mysterious among 49 Big Game at Sea the denizens of the deep sea. That there was some foundation for these tales became evident several decades ago when giant squids were captured in New- foundland waters ; and later, whalers who follow the sperm whale have shown that the deep sea contains cuttlefishes sixty or seventy feet in length; creatures which, in their make-up, present an appearance at once terrifying and horrible; animals so large, pow- erful and active that, were they so disposed, a single specimen in open water could, doubtless, play havoc with a number of men, seizing them in its sucker- lined arms and drowning them with comparative ease. The largest specimen actually handled and measured by me was about fifty feet in length, including the long arms, and it would be difficult to conceive a more hideous object. The body is barrel-shaped, with an arrow-shaped tail, and in large individuals weighs a ton or more; the eyes are as large as saucers, black and staring. The head bears eight arms lined on the inner side with sucking saw- like discs; and two longer arms, which in the animal I measured were thirty feet in length, with sucking discs at the tips. Between the base of the arms is the mouth, with a toothed tongue, and a pair of beaks apparently identical in shape and color with those of a parrot, and quite as powerful. The ani- mal's mode of propulsion is to take in water at the gills and eject it violently through the siphon. Thus equipped, with ten snakelike arms, myriads of suckers, 50 Ten-Armed Game the beak of a parrot, a wonderful faculty of chang- ing color, and possessing an ink bag with which fluid it can pollute the immediate waters and hide its retreat, the squid is one of the most remarkable and uncanny members of the animal kingdom. When out of water it is soft and flabby, with little brace for its pliable body, yet in the water it has remark- able strength, and whalers have observed gigantic specimens wrapped about whales, which the latter appeared unable for the moment to dislodge. Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, is famous for its giant squids. One discovered upon the surface threw its arms over a boat nearly swamping her. Another came ashore and was secured in shallow water by throwing a grapnel into it, which, in turn, was fastened to a tree on the beach. The struggles of the monster, whose body alone was twenty feet in length, are described as terrible. The ten livid arms were constantly shot into the air, while masses of water discolored with ink, were ejected from the siphon, converting the adjacent water into murky foam. This giant was estimated to be seventy feet in length ; and doubtless the deep sea affords a hiding place for larger specimens. To attempt the capture of large uninjured squids is almost impossible. They are timid creatures, undoubtedly dreading the light, and those of great size which have been taken had been injured by whales or some disease; but even if they could be approached very few sportsmen would 5i Big Game at Sea care to try conclusions with an animal possessing ten arms any one of which might whisk a man from the boat and drown him. With the small specimens it is different, though their strength is disproportionate to their size, and a fifteen-foot octopus, or a seven- or eight-foot squid sometimes becomes active game when faced by a single man. Squids ranging from one to seven or eight feet in length are at times common on the Californian coast. On one occasion, as I was poling along the kelp- lined shores of Santa Catalina Island, spear in hand, I suddenly found myself in the center of a school of them, ranging from four to eight feet in length. The water appeared to be filled with phantom forms darting backward with incredible rapidity, changing direction as quickly, stopping to throw out their tongue-like arms, then dashing into shallow water and entangling themselves in the kelp, chased by a band of fierce tunas that were only stayed by the shallow water. After the melee I found that there were a dozen or more of the animals dead on the bottom, which were gladly received by the Italian fishermen who salted them down for bait. Three were later secured alive, and with great difficulty placed in a large tank in the zoological station, where they lived some hours, to the amazement of the local population, who had never seen so weird an animal ; and it is possible that squids of such size were never seen in captivity before. The largest was about 52 Ten-Armed Game eight feet in length, with enormous black staring eyes and long tentacles. So powerful was this gelatinous monster that when the tentacles were clasped to the glass of the tank I found it impossible with an oar to pry them off ; and it was evident that even these small individuals could easily drown a man in the open sea should they throw their arms about him. The appearance of these confined creatures beggared description. They at once blackened the water in the tank, through which their uncanny eyes gazed at the spectators. They fastened themselves by their suckers to the glass, and pumped water and jets of ink with inconceivable rapidity, keeping the water boiling, and ever and anon throwing the arrow-shaped tail out of the water. But the most extraordinary feature of this entertainment was the appearance of the body of the squids. Its normal color was a dark reddish brown, yet in the strong light it seemed to be the setting of a mimic thunder storm, so far as lightning was concerned, as its entire surface was ever flashing from pure white to all shades of red or brown with more or less rapidity. To test the strength of this animal, I grasped one by its short tentacles and endeavored to wrench it from its posi- tion, upon which it coiled snakelike about my arms and resisted every effort, but made no attempt to bite. In attempting to spear smaller specimens of the squid on the Florida reef, on one occasion I stationed my boatman in the bow, who leaned over with his 53 Big Game at Sea head within two feet of the water, to notify me of the presence of the game which were often to be found in the lagoon, lying near the bottom, simulating it in color. We came upon several squids on the sur- face, which, alarmed, sent a volume of water and ink fairly into the face of the astonished man, deluging his expressive countenance with streams of sepia, and were away before I could use the grains or spear. If the squids are uncanny the octopi, or devil- fishes, especially the large specimens, are diabolical in appearance, motion and habits. They are bot- tom animals, found on the reef in countless numbers and are disturbed by having a man lift or turn a coral branch, when the spiderlike creature is seen lumbering away upon its eight sucker-lined legs. When impaled, it at once becomes enraged and fights until killed. One of the first I caught, literally turned the tables on me. I was wading, spear in hand, in water waist deep, turning over the coral, when see- ing what I supposed was a shell, cyprea, I thrust my hand under the coral and was immediately seized by something which felt like a ball of snakes. I could feel them climbing up my bare arm, the intensely cold tentacles pressing their suckers into the flesh. I jerked my hand back suddenly, but the concealed animal held me firmly, having grasped the coral with its remaining arms. For a moment I stood with my face at the surface literally in the toils; then drop- ping the grains pole I reached down and tugged at 54 Ten-Armed Game the coral, the living chains tightening about my hand and creeping up my arm, a most revolting and uncanny sensation. Finally the coral gave way and I hauled twenty pounds, or more, to the surface; then breaking it I grasped my captor by its body and succeeded in wrenching it from its hold. It was evident that a large specimen could give a man a hard struggle, and he would be at a disadvantage in deeper water. This octopus, not over four feet across, sprang to the attack and held my hand in a vise-like grasp. As I tore off one tentacle, another one or two would insidiously creep up and take its place. The body, not larger than my closed hand, was continually changing color, from brown to black, then white, gray and red; its eyes gleaming with a green baneful light, altogether unpleasant, while, from its siphon streams of ink were expelled over my arm, dripping into the water and clouding it for several feet about. As long as I attempted to tear it away the animal renewed the attack, and finally, to prevent disagreeable abrasion on my arm, I held it still in the hot sun when it released its hold and dropped into the boat. Its object seemed to be to press its mouth and bills upon my arm, and this it did continually, and, doubtless, could have made an incision with its parrot-like beaks; but it made no attempt to accomplish this, nor was I ever bitten by the octopi, large and small, which I grasped with my hands in collecting coral. SS Big Game at Sea On the Florida reef the largest octopus I ever speared was not five feet across — radial spread — but so powerful are they that often when hauling them into the boat they would bring up fifteen or twenty pounds of coral, releasing it at the surface to cling to the boat with a strength that was astonishing in so small an animal. On the Pacific coast the octopus attains a much larger size, the great Octopus punctatus having been found with a radial spread of twenty-five or thirty feet. Many tales are current regarding the ferocity of these creatures which may be taken cum grano sails; at least in my experience I have found them timid animals, but in every instance ready to fight the intruder when attacked. The largest specimen I have seen in these waters was fourteen feet across. It was impaled on a trawl hook in five hundred feet of water off Santa Catalina. As it reached the sur- face it threw its arms over the boat, and as each arm was nearly seven feet in length, and as there were eight of them, they made over fifty feet of twining snakelike objects. The occupants of the boat were for the moment demoralized ; but they soon rid them- selves of the unwelcome creature, killing it with the oars. Large specimens are often brought up by the San Francisco fishermen, and several have given these toilers of the sea a sensational combat before they released their hold upon arms or legs around which the tentacles were thrown. A resident of Monterey 5* A Giant California Octopus. Ten-Armed Game stated to me that an octopus, at least twenty feet across, was found in a kelp-lined pool near that city, that undoubtedly displayed hostile designs upon him. He was leaping from rock to rock, and in passing a pool a long sinuous arm came, trembling, up from the weed and nearly caught him by the bare leg. He went for assistance, and the monster was finally captured, after resisting the strength of two or three men, although a stout rope had been fastened about its body, which was as large as a man's head. An acquaintance of mine, a naturalist, in collecting shells in the kelp-lined pools near Point Firman, heard the cries of some children, and on running to the spot, saw a large octopus crawling toward them, almost out of the water, raising its tentacles in the air. The children thought that it was chasing them, but undoubtedly cut off by the tide, and alarmed, it was making for deep water. The real danger in such a meeting lies in the horror inspired by the appearance of such a creature and the possible effect upon observ- ers with weak nerves. In hunting octopi along the rocks of Santa Catalina I found that large specimens came in with the tide, or crept from their dens to the edge of the water to watch for a species of crab that lived at the water line. By peering over the rocks I watched their maneuvers. Sighting a crab sunning itself in fan- cied security, the octopus would creep along, its body adopting the exact color of the bottom, until it 57 Big Game at Sea reached the very edge of the water. Here it would poise and gather itself, seemingly, like a cat for a spring, drawing back with the waves, then creeping on again; then like a flash of light two or three tentacles would come out of the water and seize the crab, and in a moment the body would follow in a series of horrible convulsions, taking the octopus entirely out of the water, and completely encompass- ing its victim. If the crab escaped, the octopus would sometimes follow it for several feet in a lum- bering grotesque fashion and then return. I caught many of these crab-feeding octopi by creeping upon them and grasping them as they lay in wait, and some of the large ones forced me to exert all my strength in tearing them from their hold. To determine their respective fighting qualities I caught a number and confined them in a tank, then inserting my arm under water I would approach them with fingers wide apart. There was the greatest difference in the combative- ness of individuals. Some paid no attention to my advance and allowed themselves to be stroked; and one large one I found as readily accepted my gentle scratching between its green eyes as a dog. Others again would advance to meet my hand, throw their arms about it and attempt to drag it beneath the rocks, while one, and the largest, invariably flung itself upon my hand and endeavored to cover it with the finlike membranes which connect the base of the tentacles. This is always the method of attack in 58 Ten-Armed Game deep water. The octopus retains its hold upon the bottom with two or three tentacles, seizes the victim with the others, then releasing the anchors, pounces upon its prey, the outspread membranes giving the animal the appearance of a miniature umbrella, which settles down upon the struggling victim as though to smother it, a movement which brings the mouth and biting beaks into position where they presently find a vital part. At various times I had from three to five devil- fishes in an inclosure, where I could watch them change color and test their strength. In confinement, if the tank bottom was dark, they assumed various tints, generally a dark reddish brown ; but the largest one was a tiger-like creature, about three feet across, with a ground of livid white covered with black or dark gray blotches, giving it a truly fiendish appear- ance, especially as the eyes were conspicuous and appeared to emit lambent gleams. The change of color was marvelous in its rapidity. In a special tank in which two of these prisoners were confined they occupied the corners, facing outward, with arms either coiled under or above them. At any offensive movement on my part, presenting my hand under water, the color scheme would change. A blush appeared to pass over the entire surface; and in a large squid I can only compare it to heat lightning, a rapid and continued series of flushing and paling, from deep brick red to gray. It was very evident 59 Big Game at Sea that the animals differ much in pugnacity. Some did not resent my touching them; others merely threw a tentacle in my direction, while one never touched me, but directed its siphon at my hand under water and sent a violent current in that direction, apparently endeavoring to blow my hand away. It was fas- cinating to observe the " range " this water gun had, and how by seeming intuition the devil-fish could direct it at my hand as I slowly moved it about while attempting to attract the animal's attention in an opposite direction. The assumption was almost irresistible that the siphon just beneath the eye, had a sense of its own, and could be directed at my hand and made to follow it while the eyes of the octopus were looking in another direction. But the latter are elevated, and doubtless not a move of my hand (a supposititious enemy) , which was passed about and around it in the tank, was lost to this uncanny cha- meleon of the sea. This devil-fish, that flushed and danced about in the water, assuming strange postures — now crouch- ing in a corner, now poised midway — was in a sense indifferent to me; but with the tiger, the black and white chameleon, he of the stripes, spots, and blotches, the approach of my hand under water was a menace, and all his movements were essentially cat- or tiger-like. Perhaps you have seen a lynx, wildcat, or mountain lion creeping upon its prey or preparing to jump when treed. There is a concen- 60 Ten-Armed Game tration of legs, trembling muscles, constant stepping of the feet in a limited area, bending of the back and switch of the tail, long or short. In this devil-fish eight arms coiled about it like snakes, trembled and vibrated as I thrust my hand down into its den. Colors raced over it as I bent over and watched it closely from the outside, where I could see through the polished plate glass every movement, throb, and change. At a distance of eight inches I could feel the curious current of water shot at my hand by the torpedo-like siphon; see the delicate weed in the water blown aside; and as my hand approached nearer and nearer the octopus crouched low, like a cat, its eight arms fumbling inanely, a trembling, Medusa-like object. Nearer came my hand, and like a flash of lightning, so sudden that it was startling, the octopus shot out one of its arms, that like a snake or lariat seemed to be flung at me, the rings of the end suckers striking my hand sharply, the entire animal springing forward. To brace itself, it threw one arm to the right, one below, one to the left, fastened by many suckers to the glass, while two others, as the sequel will show, seized its companion. I now gradually withdrew my hand from what may be considered the attack, and then advanced it, and doubtless to the devil-fish the situation was momentous and alarming. It crouched a moment, moving forward and back, then launched itself bodily at the enemy (my hand), striking it with sev- 61 Big Game at Sea eral tentacles, dropping back quickly and crouching for another spring, the action so sudden and force- ful, so startling, that the corner octopus sprang into the clear water and for a moment literally danced, floated, or poised, uncertain which way to go, then dropped to its corner again, rendering itself as incon- spicuous as possible. Again I retreated; the big devil-fish meantime crouching and spreading itself out, color melting into color, tint, and shade over its broad back, directing its siphon stream at its companion. I again advanced, pointing my finger at the animal and moving to within a foot of it. I could see it darken, take on a deep red hue, and then it flung itself bodily at my hand, and endeavored to cover it by a peculiar encompassing motion designed to smother it. A crab or fish is taken in this way, the web being spread over it, shut- ting the victim in its arms, and the scores of suckers forcing it to the mouth, where the nipping black parrot-like beak is brought into play. But the smothering action is invariable; suggestive and hor- rifying if we imagine it attempted by an animal thirty feet across. To meet this leap, holding the hand steady, and grasping the octopus, is a nerve-test to a novice. I confess that it was distinctly disagree- able to me, though I have caught and handled many of these animals of various sizes; but I held the devil- fish which gradually enveloped my entire hand, and by grasping it firmly I pressed my little finger over 62 Ten-Armed Game its bills, my palm over its eyes, and held it with all my strength. The animal held me tightly with one tentacle over my thumb, another through my fingers, and bracing itself by throwing out three anchors below, which caught the bottom and two sides of the tank, and three behind. I now endeavored to complete my pseu do- victory by lifting the octopus, but I could not tear this small animal from the sides. The devil-fish held on, pump- ing a stream of ink at me in its rage. By using my other hand I finally succeeded in prying it off ; then I pretended to be caught and tried to release it. But the warlike chameleon of the sea would have none of it. It threw its tentacles about my hand, pulled it slowly down into the corner, covered it as well as it could, but did not bite me. If my hand had been a crab, fish, or other octopus, it would have been at- tacked and bitten, but for some reason it did not attempt it ; in a word, the animal was perfectly harm- less, which I knew; there was only a slight scratch on my hand to tell the story, and this was received when I wrenched it away. This was a laughable conclusion to the threatening and warlike movements of the octopus. The animal, in point of fact, was a " bluffer," and well calculated to demoralize one not acquainted with its limitations. I know of no animal that has the power, by mere attitudinizing and the assumption of menacing ges- tures, to inspire the same degree of horror in the spec- 63 Big Game at Sea tator not familiar with it. This was illustrated when I requested an attendant when displaying this octopus to explain to visitors that it was perfectly harmless, then to enrage it, and ask spectators to take it out of the tank and place it in another, a substantial induce- ment being offered in one instance. But among the many observers not one could be found who would touch the quivering, color-changing creature poised for its harmless spring; the terror inspired was com- plete and intense. 64 CHAPTER IV THE AMBER JACKS DOWN along the Florida coast, beginning with the splendid beach of Fernandina, the sea rolls in with tireless energy and laves the sands with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, the vast volume passing through the narrow channel and widening out in the North Atlantic. There is hardly a rock or stone to be found along shore, and the high- est point, in all probability, from New York to Cape Florida, is a diminutive hill near the beach, which I have often climbed at Pilottown on the St. John's. The beaches vary much in general appearance to the close observer. In one place they are wide, the sea retreats at the ebb tide a remarkable distance, and the stroller along the sands can wade out a long way in shallow water, and ships that are wrecked at high tide are high and dry at the ebb. Again the beach is abrupt and precipitous. The area of breakers is narrow and soon reaches deep water. On the north side of the St. John's the channel comes suddenly in shore, and on the south the sand dunes are ever changing, like the island of Anacapa. In calms they 65 Big Game at Sea lie like sleeping monsters, huge krakens hauled upon the sands basking in the sun ; but should the wind rise they begin to move and a single day will so change them that the landscape of one day is blotted out and replaced by another. I have followed these dunes from the Jersey shore down nearly to the mouth of the Rio Grande, and they are everywhere fascinating in their shapes and habit. Along the Texas and lower Florida coasts a strange outer bar has formed, a long attenuated ridge of sand, a series of islands formed by the so-called passes, as Aransas, in Texas. On the Florida coast this outside reef, island or sandy barrier forms the so-called Indian River that lies between it and the mainland, making possible some of the finest fishing in the south. The beach of the outside island is often wide, a splendid hard boulevard, and again deep water approaches the shore and many kinds of big fish come in. At the mouth of the St. John's I have had sport with the channel bass, sea trout, call him what you will, but for the really hard fighter of the east coast of Florida one should try the waters near Palm Beach, Lake Worth Inlet, Miami and various regions in the vicinity of Biscayne Bay and from there down the reef to Key West, and camp on the trail of the amber jack. Palm Beach is perhaps the most convenient place to try this fish and one of the best grounds, as this fine game for some reason comes in here so 66 The Amber Jacks near shore that it is taken from the dock at times. But the best fishing is some distance off the beach, anchored in a small boat beyond the breaking of the swell. The amber jack doubtless frequents the deeper waters of the Gulf Stream here, and its appearance so near shore is merely a foraging trip, as in localities where small boats can lie along the submerged reefs further down the coast the fine fishes may often be seen swimming along the reef in deep water. We may imagine ourselves shoving off some fine morning, the men skillfully pulling the boat through the surf and anchoring off the sands where the amber jacks are known to be. The air is soft, and the wind, what there is, is warm. The boatmen are blacks who know the country well, and the boat is soon anchored in a spot where some unknown angler in the past hooked a fish that towed his boat far out into the Gulf Stream before it was gaffed. The equipment for the sport is a 16-ounce rod with a single tip, a tuna or tarpon reel, holding 600 feet of 21- or 24-thread line, a mere thread one might think with which to play so large a fish, but not found wanting. The bait, a live " spot," is cast thirty or forty feet away, and the anticipating part of the sport is begun. The current is strong and sweeps the bagging line, and ever and anon the click will sound a note and the angler's pulse will start and throb ; but when this has happened several times 67 Big Game at Sea and found to be the current, or a jellyfish sagging on the line, the angler quiets down and views the landscape o'er — the long line of sandy beach, the groups of palms, and off at sea the deep blue waters of the mighty current sweeping on, freighted with semi-tropic treasures for other and distant lands. The boatman is telling of certain catches he has seen when, like an electric shock, comes the sharp staccato of the click. There is no mistaking it; no tide rip here. And see! look! the line stiffens, straightens out like a wire, trembles a second, throwing the water in crystal drops, and then the game is given the butt and the reel screams, high and low, as the unknown jerks the line away in long and splendid bursts of speed. There is always the thought that it may be a shark or a ray, or some undesirable vermin, but you have taken the amber jack before and its sturdy cousin of the California islands and there is no mistake about it. Springing to your feet, with the butt of the rod firmly in the leather socket around your waist, you see what a game fish can do, what splendid strength is brought into play as it races away, dragging the line from beneath your thumb and the heavy brake, seem- ingly playing with it. Fifty, one hundred, two hundred feet of line slip away before the fish is stopped, and then it appears to strike heavy determined blows at the rod, sweep- 68 The Amber Jacks ing around in a splendid half circle, the line cutting the water and the fish rising with a peculiar motion. Amber jacks have been hooked here that no man could stop ; in the language of the boatman, " they simply walked away with the line," then when the end came never stopped; and there is seemingly no limit to the powers of this fellow. The angler has a start, the thumb brake of leather stops the run and the big reel begins the pitiless work, and while the jack races it is insensibly coming in all the time. More than once it realizes this and plunges down, and if the water is deep enough, sulks and bores like a salmon and with ten times its force. But the water is comparatively shallow, and the game can only break away and dash off fifty feet to be checked again and again. But it never really sur- renders, never really discovers that it is in the toils. Like its cousin, the California yellowtail, it fights until it is in the boat, and even then I have seen a fish double and send itself whirling out of a barrel into the freedom of the sea. The angler can now see the jack as it races around the boat, and the black boatman fingers his gaff ready to give it the quietus. Nearly thirty minutes have slipped away, and the attempts of the oarsman to keep the angler stern first to the fish and the powerful rushes have carried the boat out from shore where the fish has plenty of water. The man at the rod begins to feel that he has earned his fish. In box- 6 9 Big Game at Sea ing, fencing or broadsword play there is a " let up," time for rest, but in this duel with the amber jack it is all one round, and arms and fingers are stiff and ache. Pressing the thumb on a leather pad for half an hour, holding a stiff rod in one position, is deadly, and the amber jack appears to ha-ve taken its second wind. Perhaps there is a third wind for amber jacks, as suddenly, when coursing along at the sur- face it apparently sees the boat and goes crazy, plunging down to the mad acclaim of the reel, tear- ing off the hard-won line and carrying despair into the angler's soul. But this is the beginning of the end, and holding the rod and line firmly the angler dips the point to the surface and lifts, " mans the pumps," lifts for all he is worth, gains three feet on the sulker, then dropping the tip, reels rapidly; and so ever repeat- ing the trick — the only remedy when fishes will sulk — he regains his lost line and has the splendid fish in sight again. There is a flash of silver, yellow and green, a display of surface below the resilient rod, then the reel works it on to the quarter, and as the patch of color surges, hissing along, the negro gaffer drops his weapon quietly, skillfully under the fish and lifts it just under the gills, holds it firmly for a moment while the spray and spume fly, then depress- ing the rail, he slides the gallant fighter in, where it hammers the bottom as the angler perchance swings his hat to some distant and less fortunate friend still 70 Author Fishing for Yellowtail (Amber Fish) at Santa Catalina. The Amber Jacks at anchor. These are the moments of joy in the life of the angler, and surely life is not a failure along the Gulf Stream and is worth living. The boatman gives the fish the quietus and holds it up, a sort of giant bluefish, and indeed a cousin, but a fish of entirely different mold. It is about five feet long; the scale limit is sixty, and the indicator as the fish is hooked on goes down with a sag, sug- gesting that eighty pounds is more like it. The amber jack is nicely proportioned, calling to mind the bluefish, but the head is larger in proportion to the body, and solid, and the body is thick and high beneath the dorsal. The dorsal fin extends nearly to the tail and has a streak of gold in it like that of the California yellowtail, its Pacific cousin. The side fins are dusky and gold ; the ventrals dark, even black, and vivid yellow. All the under surface is a vivid silver blazing in the sunlight, while the upper surface is green or amber in the water, flashing blue when out and presenting a blaze of iridescence often as the fish dies. Few fishes so impress one with their evi- dent power and sturdiness as this amber jack which the ichthyologists call Seriola lalandi; a fish which averages twenty-five pounds and in its prime tips the scales at over one hundred. Later when four or five jacks have been added to the score they are taken in, the largest one weighing nearly seventy pounds, all in all one of the finest fishes of the summer seas. 7i Big Game at Sea At Palm Beach there is much rivalry in the amber jack field, and some splendid records are held by the gentlemen who fish there. Mr. Wm. Lawrence Green held the record for many seasons with an 8iJ^-pound fish which he killed after a hard strug- gle. This record was beaten by Mr. J. B. Caldwell, who in 1905 took an amber jack with a 21-thread line, rod and reel, that weighed 92 pounds; and this may be said to be near the limit. Mr. Green stated that he fished the amber jack waters for five years before he made his record of 8ij4. Some of Mr. Green's fish weighed as follows: In March, 1904, No. 1, 46 inches, weight 34 pounds; No. 2, 50 inches long, weight 42^ pounds; No. 3, 60 inches, weight 67*^ pounds; No. 4, 61 inches, weight 67 pounds; No. 5, 60 inches in length, weight 8i>^ pounds. My own amber jack fishing has been mainly on the extreme outer reef, and for several seasons I was content with one fish of good size. Long, East, Garden, Bird, Middle, Sand and Loggerhead Keys rose directly in the Gulf Stream that came sweeping up from Yucatan and the winter home of the tarpon. The water was beautiful in tint and tone, and the reef of branch coral stretched away for miles, cut here and there by vivid blue channels, the type of all that is beautiful in color. The water was filled with delicate forms of jelly fish, the fairy-like Physo- phora with its blaze of colors, the luminous colonies of Pyrosoma and chains of Salpa. I had fished for 72 The Amber Jacks days for the elusive amber jack along these sub- marine gardens and without luck, until one day while trolling with live mullet, the strike came and the sport was on. It is difficult to find any fish with which to compare this fish, its power and strength are so great. I was hardly aware that I had hooked it; my line was deep in the heart of the channel, and suddenly the amber fish had me in its toils, racing away with the light dinghy and 300 feet of line, evidently reaching the bottom to come pulsating up to the surface with great throbs easily felt on the line, to stop when checked and give back blow for blow. The amber jack of the Pacific Coast is the great game fish of the people in Southern California waters, where it is known as amber fish, but more particularly as yellowtail (Seriola dorsalis) . It is longer, more slender, the head not so large and the body not so thick, and there are no dusky spots nor lines ; the fins yellow as gold, and a stripe down the side of gleam- ing yellow. The upper surface is green or amber, the belly silver. The yellowtail ranges from fifteen to seventy pounds here and comes in from the deep water in March or April and remains about the islands from San Clemente to Santa Catalina or San Nicolas until December. I have taken them from the wharf at Avalon Bay nearly every month in the year; but they are not supposed to be here in the two cold months and are generally absent. But in 73 Big Game at Sea the months named, or in May, they suddenly appear in large well-broken schools, soon breaking up into smaller ones. Then the sport begins, not for the expert few, but for all the people who may fish, and in July or August one of the most remarkable fishing sights to be seen anywhere is staged off the placid waters of Avalon Bay, Santa Catalina. Here possi- bly two hundred boats may be seen, the anglers, with rod and reel, fishing for the game yellowtail or amber jack. They are anchored about twenty feet apart, and form a compact floating town or assembly, fish- ing in water of the deepest blue about one hundred feet or more in depth just at the entrance of the bay. Now and then comes a shout and a boat cuts loose from the throng and is rowed or towed away, and the angler is seen to be in the toils, the fish jerk- ing the rod down to the water's edge in sharp blows while the reel sings. There is nothing, at least in these waters, quite like this splendid rush, fairly demoralizing to some. I have seen a man jerked from a pier by such a fish. Another on receiving the strike was seized with a species of buck fever and trembled so that the fish ran away with all the line — 600 feet — and would have taken the rod had I not gone to the rescue; yet these fishes average but seventeen to twenty-five pounds. I have seen one that weighed eighty pounds, and the largest catch with a rod is, I believe, fifty-one pounds. 74 The Amber Jacks The yellowtail is so common in these waters that if fished for in the eastern fashion with handlines, a boatload could be taken; but the nine-ounce rod and number-nine line prevails, and fifteen or twenty minutes are devoted to the catch which comes slowly up through the blue water like a star. Four or five such fishes satisfy the most ardent angler along these isles of eternal summer. 75 CHAPTER V THE BIOGRAPHY OF A MAN-EATER* IT was down on the Pagos reef, where the green melts suddenly into seas of turquoise, that the man-eater first saw light. He was born amid scenes of blood and sudden death; ushered into the world amid pitiless attack, and saved, of all the hell- ish brood, by the swirl of waters, the uplifted sand cloud, caused by savage kinsmen in their ruthless charge and cannibalistic feast. His first act was a drama in the struggle for exist- ence. There was no one to teach him how to swim, to breathe, to see, and instinct, that inheritance of the ages, bade him lie limp and motionless. Being of the same color as the sandy bottom, a livid tawny gray, he crouched, and was buried by the shroud of falling particles as they sifted down through the green and opalescent water. He was about one foot in length, lank, pliable, soft and tender. He did not have a bone in his body, indeed never had ; he was an embryo killing machine * This article in its entirety is fiction, a study of the man-eater; yet every inci- dent is based on my observations of sharks covering many years, and I give it as a possible history of a typical shark of the open sea. 76 The Biography of a Man-Eater of gristle, with just the suggestion of sharp teeth around his jaws. For hours he lay, a mound on the sand, resting easily on his big pad-like pectoral fins and tail that fell over upon his side; then as darkness came, he moved restlessly, flung his tail to one side, and was surprised to find that he shot forward and found himself in midwater. He could move, was buoyant; then fear came again, and alarmed at his exposed position, afraid of he knew not what, he swung the limp tail, shot ahead and ran blindly beneath the edge of a wall of projecting branch coral which formed a cheval de frise to the channel. No more fortunate position could have been selected; indeed, it was prophetic of the good luck which followed the man-eater all his life. The jagged points of the coral were so many bayonets over his recumbent body. He had found a snug harbor, and that it was safe was evident by the numbers of crawfish which occupied a similar position along the line, brandishing their serrated whips and assuming an air of hostility and bravery which was the merest presumption. As night came on the young shark shifted from side to side, working the sand out so that he could lie with ease, gradually forming a nest in the soft sand the shape of his yielding body. His eyes, which were of the exact shade of his skin, but spotted with black, now began to take in objects near at hand. 77 Big Game at Sea He was terrified at the strange sights, which, as the darkness deepened, flashed and scintillated in every direction; now as starlike objects, again as comets pulsating on through the water with a fiery train; and as large fishes surged by, the entire mass of water blazed with such a golden radiance that the young man-eater fell back against the coral of his den trembling and quivering with fear. The very bottom of the sea was paved with won- ders. Small animals bored their way upward through the sand emitting a spark of light, which grew and expanded, out of which darted a firebody which made its undulating way to the surface. There were strange noises — crashing, tumbling concussions now and then, which shook the ledge, and ever and anon the water about him moved and the delicate fire- like jelly fishes seemed to sway to one side. It was a night of terror to the young shark, thrust into the world defenseless and half made up. All night he lay quietly, now and again prodded by the serrated spine of an inquisitive crawfish, while once a sprawling many-armed octopus crossed over him — a nerve-racking sensation — as this infant man- eater had nerves, and realized it until he was six feet in length, when they gradually became obliterated. In time the light of day came and he observed that the water over him was much lower than it had been ; it had dropped away, as it were, and then see- ing that he was partly covered by sand, he fell asleep 78 The Biography of a Man-Eater and did not awaken for some hours when he saw that the water over him was deeper, that in some way it had risen. He now began to feel like trying his tail again, and the sandy plain being clear, he twisted about, flinging his tail boldly to one side, and rose high into the clear spot, so high, indeed, that he became alarmed as the field of vision opened up, and duck- ing his head, swung the remarkable tail from side to side and plunged down, so rapidly that he ran his head into the sand and lay there, frightened and dazed. But the motion was too delightful to resist, and again he gave the long swing and rose upward, then allowing himself to drop he found that he was balanced to such a nicety, that when he moved his tail he sped directly ahead and so fell into a swing from side to side and moved on and on. The white sand led gradually upward with coral on all sides, and as he wandered on, he observed that the smaller inhabitants of the place fled from him. He suddenly came upon a very high and beautifully colored fish twice his own size, and was about to drop to the bottom and hide, when he was amazed to see the angel-fish dart away. Then for the first time there crept into the man-eater's brain the idea that he was a power, that for some reason he was dreaded and feared, and at once his side swing became a swagger and he shot through the water with such rapidity that he rose up the side of the 79 Big Game at Sea sandy slope and came into a region of delights, his home or ranging ground for many a day. He felt the water moving over him in waves. He could see that it was now and then breaking, form- ing a foam that was hurled downward with such force that the water all about him was filled with minute globules or particles which, when he breathed, seemed to fill him with new life and vigor. His gills opened and shut rapidly, and with difficulty he restrained the desire to surge ahead at full speed and test his powers. He was now moving over great coral heads tinted with olive and dotted and spangled over their surfaces with brilliant flowerlike objects. On every side were gorgeous plumes waving to and fro, some in brown, some in yellow, while clumps of reticulated fans of vivid yellow and lavender added to the brilliancy of the scene. Amid these objects were countless small fishes, all in radiant colors. Lying on the sand were long brown shapes, like worms, and blooming from every crevice were flower- like anemones, their petals moving gracefully in tidal measure. The sea floor over which the young man- eater swam was set with a mosaic of algae : masses of scarlet, blocks of tender green, bits of blue, yellow and white; every dead coral rock, every vantage ground being painted in splendid hues. But the man-eater saw none of these. He swam heavily on until, exhausted, he fell into the friendly vase-like shape of a huge head of coral and lay pant- 80 Big Hammerhead Shark. Length 8 feet, 5 inches; weight, 200 Pounds. Caught at Avalon, Santa Catalina Islands. The Biography of a Man-Eater ing beneath a great lavender-hued gorgonia. For two days he was caged here, not having the strength or intelligence to rise upward and escape. On the second day a young crawfish fell upon his head and instinctively the jaws of the young man-eater opened and closed upon the victim. A crunching sound, and the shark, tasting flesh, scenting prey, swung himself about, shaking the morsel as a dog would a rat, toss- ing the mud high above the surface of the head, clouding the water, out of which he rose. He had eaten, tasted blood, though white, and from now on his one object was to destroy. For several months he lived this life, slowly mak- ing his way over the splendid tropical floor of the ocean, sleeping at times in the crevices of rocks, or between coral heads, or under them, foraging where he could, darting clumsily upon octopi, crabs, even starfishes, or any miserable creature which could offer no resistance, thus early in life displaying his sordid nature. The young shark never left the shallows, and at the end of a year, nurtured on good diet, had materially enlarged. He was now three feet in length; his tail long and powerful, his body notice- ably bulky. But the greatest change was in the mouth. The first row of teeth was well defined, sharp and serrated. The eye was a little larger, but still the color of sand paper, with no expression. He had begun to change his diet. He discovered that crawfish and other crustaceans went out on the shal- 81 Big Game at Sea low flats at night to feed, and that rays came there to hunt them; so one night, instead of coiling up in a coral head, the man-eater, following a little channel through the reef at high tide, swam across a lagoon of sand overgrown by short sea-weed. Conchs were lumbering along on this grassy floor, and in the sub- marine herbage were big yellow crawfish, tough and dangerous. Suddenly there came floating along a ray with its birdlike motion. As it drew near, the shark rushed blindly upon it and by sheer bulldog ferocity seized and held it. The ray lashed the enemy with its whip- like tail, then doubled and flung its sharp serrated spines against the shark, inflicting a wound that was followed by a pink cloud that slowly permeated the water. The beadlike expressionless eyes of the man- eater turned inward almost out of sight, but in no way did he exhibit pain; he held on, gripping harder, scenting the blood fiercely, tasting the flesh of his victim. When the ray became passive he swung it, gripped it again, and bearing down upon it, tore and lacerated it, striking down the weed with powerful blows of his tail, sending the crawfishes dashing across the submarine mesa. Engaged in this fierce attack, the man-eater was suddenly struck, knocked aside by a sand-shark twice his size; but he circled about with savage menace, retreating only when fairly put to flight by his oppo- nent. Every night now he foraged, learning that 82 . The Biography of a Man-Eater nearly all animals feed at night in this land of plenty. In all his wanderings the man-eater never exhibited any interest in a certain locality; he never returned to the same place twice. He had no sense of location, no mental action that gave him an interest in any part of the reef sufficient to produce a desire to return, no memory beyond that which blood pro- duced. He slept or rested when he grew weary, and often swam continuously for days; at times at the surface, when his fin would make broad showing above the water, cutting it like a knife. He swam on, eternally on, but generally in a circle — an instinc- tive movement, which kept him near the lagoon. At the end of three years the man-eater was six feet in length. He had increased prodigiously in bulk, was especially heavy just behind the head which was enormous and threatening. When his jaws gaped, as they sometimes did to throw out some para- site, an array of teeth would be seen, the front row upright, pure white, larger than a man's thumb-nail and perfect triangles, their edges like saws. Back of these were ten or twelve rows of similar teeth lying flat in the mouth, unsuspected, but called into action when blood was tasted and some victim attempted to escape; then all these fierce knives sprang erect and sank into the flesh of the enemy making escape impossible. The shark had changed in many essentials. He was lighter in color, nearly white beneath; the upper 83 Big Game at Sea lobe of the tail was longer, lithe and capable of remarkable power; but the eyes now appeared smaller and were, if anything, more inexpressive, and gray. Its motion was dignified, yet there was the same peculiar swing given by the tail, and when he wished to turn, the massive head was jerked slightly in the given direction and the tail swung to meet it. He had now several boon companions. Three or four remoras had joined partnership with him, fishes about a foot in length, black, with a peculiar sucker on the top of the head. When weary of following the shark they merely attached themselves by the sucker to his back and were towed along. The others were several little striped pilot-fishes, which hid beneath the shark's head. They were very curious and darted out at every strange object that appeared. The man-eater at this time had developed a re- markable power of scent. A dead animal half a mile away could be traced up the wind or current with marvelous quickness and fidelity. His plan when a scent was found was to beat up against it like a ship against the wind, swimming with great rapidity, turning the instant it was lost; and as this was always on the surface, with his big dorsal fin out of water, he was not a pleasing sight to men in a boat who had left their fish hanging overboard. The spectacle of a shark of extraordinary bulk darting about in so erratic a manner was taken by some as menacing, and they resented it in various ways. 8 4 The Biography of a Man-Eater All this time the man-eater had remained in one general section, not straying beyond a radius of five miles, but as years passed he became a wanderer, and when about fifteen feet, or more, in length, like a very ghost compared to the nurse sharks he once slept near in the lagoon, he left shallow water and took to the open sea. It was about this period that the shark became a public character. He began to swim up and down the reef taking as his route that of many of the coast steamers, ranging from about the latitude of Charleston to Key West, at times cross- ing the Gulf Stream. It is not to be supposed that he had gained any idea of locality. He haunted this region merely because he had certain limitations. He swam north until the water lost the temperature which suited his nature best, and to the south until it grew too warm. A certain skipper of a steamer which sailed from a northern port sighted the shark early in 1861 off Cary's Foot Light, the shark following the steamer for several hours, his dorsal fin high above water, crossing and recrossing the steamer's wake in a pecu- liarly rapid manner. For three consecutive trips the shark was observed, and then one of the passengers fired at him cutting a notch out of his dorsal fin, by which the shark was known for years, nearly always being sighted in the run from Cape Florida to Havana. The shark was named " Old Bill," and there was not a superstitious sailor on the run who 85 Big Game at Sea had not taken a shot at him or attempted to capture him. The man-eater could not be induced to take a baited hook, and it was believed by many of the men that he followed the vessel waiting for a wreck; and when a certain ship disappeared in a hurricane and went down with all on board in the Florida Strait, it was said that " Old Bill " went down with her. In any event, he disappeared for months. He was now eighteen feet long, of enormous bulk. He rarely went north of Hatteras and then only in summer, when he followed the shad schools north, making the turn at Long Island in June and the coast of Maine some time later in summer. His habits had changed. He preyed upon dead animals, had become a scaven- ger, and would follow a cattle ship half way across the ocean to feed upon a dead steer. He appeared to be too heavy to run down a horse mackerel, and the smaller fishes evaded him altogether, though occasion- ally he found a school of mackerel surrounded by a net and would dash into them, crazed by the scent of blood and slime, and gorge himself with them. He was utterly insensible to pain, as while en- tangled in a net he was lanced several times by an infuriated fisherman; but the men noticed that he did not stop eating, paying no attention to the wounds; and when his size was seen, the skipper ordered the men aboard the schooner. On another occasion when entangled in a net near Gloucester, five miles off 86 The Biography of a Man-Eater shore, he destroyed it, rolling over and over, biting the net, tearing it into countless pieces. A doryman attacked him with a harpoon upon which he turned savagely, gripped the cutwater in his teeth, nearly crushing it and lifting the boat several feet. The men pulled off at a glimpse of his size, and the next day some of his teeth were found in the planking. One summer he came up the coast searching for some cattle steamer, but finding none he swam on, and attracted by the fishing boats, followed several. Food was scarce. Horse mackerel eluded him. One day he ate a huge jelly fish in desperation, and next seized and rent a mass of kelp in which a dead fish was wound, which brought on a frenzy for food and blood. A schooner was fishing near by, and as the men hauled up fish, he would take them off, carrying away the lines and filling his mouth with hooks to which he paid little attention. Finally the fishing stopped and he came to the surface some distance off and seeing a dory anchored, swam up to it, then circled around it. His appearance must have terri- fied the man for he grasped an oar and struck at the shark shouting for help. It was said later that the shark deliberately tried to tip over the boat by rising beneath it; but it is an historical fact that over a dozen men and women on the schooner saw the man- eater rush at the dory, rise over it amidships, saw the unfortunate man waving his arms, then saw him strike at the shark with the oar; but the man- 87 Big Game at Sea cater fell partly on the dory, crushing it down, and then both disappeared. This incident occurred off Nahant, and for several summers the shark haunted the New England coast and the Gulf of Maine. He repeatedly attempted to capsize boats off Boon Island, and terrorized the dory cod fishermen and others by rising beneath them and swimming about their boats. The " Big Shark " under which alias he was known, is still remembered by the old fisher- men of the coast. The shark had earned his title of " man-eater " beyond question, and his nature changed with the acquirement. Though starving at times he haunted vessels, paying little attention to the large migrating schools of fish which most sharks follow up and down the coast. In his soggy brutal mind he asso- ciated ships and this new game, and the small gray eyes had learned to distinguish between the animate and inanimate parts of a vessel; a floating, rippling flag over the stern of a propeller did not deceive or attract, but men who were hanging in the chains or over the rail painting or scraping ship sometimes saw a strange but mighty shadow below them and crawled aboard, terror stricken, with an undefined fear. The man-eater had at one time been quick of motion, a swift hunter. He had learned the tricks and customs of the fishes. He knew when the blue- fish migrated, the millions of shad came in from the deep submarine plateau upon which they win- 88 The Biography of a Man-Eater tered, and with others he had followed them, lurk- ing about the mouths of rivers, often creeping in, devouring other sharks or eating the hundreds of shad in nets. He lurked about the gulf-coast islands for some time and laid in wait for the silver king, the tarpon that came up from the South American coast in February, and he soon learned to watch until a fisherman had hooked a tarpon, and more than one will recall feeling a sudden strain and seeing a huge white-bellied figure rise five feet with the tarpon quiv- ering in his maw. Again he followed the horse mack- erel in the spring, lurching along far beneath them, yet keen on their scent, following the peculiar oily exudations from their scales which followed them for miles, as a hound would a fresh trail, making rushes at night and often running a school inshore, losing them on the sands where the fishermen lanced them and wondered why they came ashore. This and more the great shark had done, but now his enormous bulk, his slow movements suggested a different life; the huge creature had reached the demoniacal climax of his development. He had fourteen or more rows of white serrated, knifelike teeth; he moved with great deliberation, and was apparently incapable of rapid movement; but this was not altogether true, the shark was really a type of activity. He could dart ahead or from side to side, or turn upon his side with matchless grace, but he rarely did; he now plowed slowly along search- 8 9 Big Game at Sea ing for the objects which suggested the game of his choice. It was this change of habit that made the great white man-eater an ocean wanderer. He avoided the shore and attached himself to a large ship which sailed from Boston to Liverpool; trailed it, like a hound on the scent, for days; laid by it in storms and calms, and every bucket of refuse thrown over brought the man-eater up from astern with a rush. He finally lost the trail of this ship in chasing some- thing which was thrown over, and was a thousand miles or more at sea. He swam in every direction, hoping to pick up her scent or wake; now madly, again swimming slowly. He dived down a quarter of a mile, searching for the bottom which was three miles beyond, but was driven up by the cold to swim along the surface on calm days. The marvelous turquoise tints of the ocean's heart, its splendid virile life, its strength, its ponderous movements, its silvery tracery, the frosting of the sea as it broke, made no impression upon his sodden brain. The wonderful illumination of the sea at night, its real comets and constellations of vivid phos- phorescence were not seen by him as he moved along. It mattered little to this blood hunter that the ocean was a realm of beauties, that each crystal drop was buoyant with life and countless lovely forms. He failed to note the splendors of the huge jellies whose tentacles of living lace brushed over him in a cloud 90 The Biography of a Man-Eater of color — lavender, blue and pink — all were unseen by this incarnate appetite without sensation or desire beyond carnage. Swimming aimlessly along one day, the shark crossed a familiar scent. Several Mother Cary's chickens were fluttering over the surface after some substance foreign to the clear waters. At once the great bulk shot into action. It rushed across the line, caught the scent, lost it, turned savagely and caught it again, then dashed on into the wake of a great ship bound for Rio. For days he followed, now astern, again lurching along the quarter with one ugly eye cast upward; again sailing along the surface, his big dorsal fin cutting the water. He was fired at ; hooks were tossed over baited with salt pork, but the man- eater paid no attention to them. He crossed the line with the ship, grew gaunt and ugly, and was forced to catch a porpoise or starve, so well did the wind hold, and finally entered the harbor at Rio and failed miserably in an attempt to capsize the boat of a pilot. Meeting an outgoing steamer, the man-eater trailed it up the coast to Barbadoes. Here he found a small sailing vessel bound to the westward, and so reached Aspinwall in the Caribbean Sea. The water was intensely hot and he lay out in deep water, cooling his massive bulk, during the day, going inshore at night, occasionally chasing the great rays whose leap from and return to the water sounded like the discharge of a cannon. 9i Big Game at Sea One day the shark entered the harbor late in the afternoon and swam in the direction of the anchor- age, a huge uncanny menace. The crew of one ship were in bathing. They had a topgallant sail over- board and were swimming in it suspecting the pres- ence of sharks. The man-eater swam beneath and around it and was seized with a frenzy at the scent that drifted away. He began to swim rapidly, first in one direction, then in another, circling the ship about twenty feet below the surface, then rising. At this time one of the sailors, more venturesome than the rest, swam out into the channel, and the shark catching the scent, swung its tail from side to side and darted upward, baring its notched fin to the sun- light. " Ahoy there ! " came from the foretop. " Come aboard! " The lookout did not utter the word shark, but the swimmer turned and struck out. " Way third cutter! " rang out from the quarter- master. The boat struck the water with a crash, naked men fell into her and seizing the oars gave way. Men never pulled like this before ; yet the man in the bow, boat-hook in hand, urged them on in God's name. The swimmer was still twenty feet away when the shark shot ahead assuming a titanic shape. He turned slightly though not upon his back, and for a second the man in the bow saw its ghastly form 92 The Biography of a Man-Eater against the blue, then in a moment of horror realized that he was too late. The white shark with the notched fin was noticed at Aspinwall several months where desperate efforts were made to capture him, then he attached himself to a northbound steamer and followed her through the Strait of Florida, by Cuba, up the Bahama Banks, leaving her by a singular fatality where he was born, near Cary's Foot Light on the Florida coast. Here he was attracted by a fleet of wreckers. He lingered here a few weeks, then dogged a tramp steamer to Bermuda, and one day went to sea on the trail of a British cruiser. But she was only going out for gun practice, and as the huge sullen brute came boldly to the surface and circled about the vessel, glaring at her with his beadlike eyes, the big lateenlike dorsal cut- ting the water, one of the men asked permission to fire at him, and cleverly sent a ball through his gills. Then came the culmination in the career of this insatiate monster, wounded to the death, but so in- sensible to injury that the scent of his own life blood reached his brain before the sense of pain, his first move being not alarm, but desire. Frenzied by the lust for blood, rapine and slaughter, the man-eater turned and dashed through the deep red cloud, and was rushing savagely from side to side in search of himself, when a second shot cut the soft spinal mar- row. The great mass dropped inert. For the first time the powerful tail did not respond ; the huge lips 93 Big Game at Sea gripped tightly, the rows of gleaming teeth stood erect for a moment, then the small expressionless eyes convulsively turned inward, the pilot fishes darted wildly about the dropping head and open gills, the black and white remoras were along his tawny sides hard and fast ; the man-eater was dead. In one of the great British museums is the mounted and splendid specimen of a shark. The length is given as twenty-five feet, and the card attached to it states that it is an adult specimen of the white shark or man-eater, Carcharodon. It was donated by the officers of one of His Majesty's ships. It is a per- fect specimen of this rare shark, if we except the wound or notch on the dorsal fin. 94 CHAPTER VI AN OCEAN SWASHBUCKLER IN the summer months about the islands of South- ern California the angler may see a long, slender fish dash out of the blue water at an angle of forty-five degrees. Instead of turning gracefully, as does the tuna, it falls heavily, with a loud and reso- nant crash. Perhaps this is repeated several times, in which case the observer obtains a fair though fleeting view of the swordman of the sea, the living rapier, whose carte, tierce and lunge are more than effective among a host of its associates. There are several species of these fishes found in Californian waters, from the common Xiphias to the spearfish, trim, warlike and menacing. Ordinarily their movements are slow; swimming along the sur- face, allowing a boat or yacht to approach them; but when roused by the presence of an enemy, or by that of prey, the fish becomes a veritable type of activity. Schools of young mackerel or barracuda are its spe- cial prey, and dashing into them with the speed of a cannon ball it slashes to the right and left, myriads of silvery pieces falling in a shower to tell the story of its prowess. These it does not always stop to 95 Big Game at Sea pick up, but, seized with an insatiate lust for blood, continues charging the school again and again, until the water is filled with the dead and dying. The number of swordfishes observed in this local- ity, and especially the appearance of a large school of adults in the San Clemente channel last season, aroused the question of their possible capture. One fisherman procured a New England swordfish outfit, and proposed going into the sport with the regula- tion " lily iron " ; but before an opportunity offered, the report came from a boatman that one of his patrons had hooked a swordfish, and for a few moments had played it with a tuna rod and line — a statement which aroused no little interest among those anglers who are essentially seekers after the big game of the sea with rod and reel. This unheard-of occurrence, in American waters, at least, of hooking a swordfish took place near the great Sphinx Rock, which constitutes the end of Santa Catalina Island to the southwest. An angler was fishing for yellow- tail — a fish which runs up to forty pounds or more, and was using a rod weighing about fourteen ounces with a 21-thread cuttyhunk line. He was trolling near shore, not one hundred feet from the edge of the kelp bed, when an unusual strike came; not the ordinary tug and downward rush of the yel- lowtail, but a fierce jerk, which sent the music of the reel humming through the air, followed by a marvelously quick rush almost around the boat. It 9 6 An Ocean Swashbuckler was something totally new in the angler's experience, and he instinctively rose to his feet to see the game, when a sharp, long-pointed object became visible — the weapon of the swordfish. Apparently it was coming toward the boat, so the angler hesitated and was in favor of breaking the line, but the boatman, possibly seeing new laurels in the venture, urged him to play the fish, which now turned and bore away with a speed that made the reel sing and the line whistle and hiss through the water. " You have him, sir ! " whispered the boatman. " He has me," was the retort of the angler, who was pressing down on the thumb brake as hard as his conscience would permit; and this was the truth. Large tunas had been turned within six hundred feet with the same tackle ; but the swordfish, so far as could be learned, was not swerved a foot from its course. It charged directly away from the boat at a mar- velous speed, and in less time than it requires to think it, the line became exhausted, snapped, and the first swordfish hooked in these waters was away. This was the simple episode which aroused interest in the possibilities of this sport. It is evidently a question of line, and it is the opinion of some anglers that with a full thousand feet the big fish might be rounded up; and if once turned, the man at the reel could control the situation. That there would be an element of danger in this fishing goes without say- ing, and is well illustrated by the experience of an 97 Big Game at Sea acquaintance in the Indian Ocean. Being an expert angler, he always carried rods and reels with him on his travels. Upon reaching one of the islands of those waters he found the commonest fish to be the huge-finned creature known as the sailfish, from its enormous dorsal fin, which, richly colored and raised high above the surface, resembles the sail of some Venetian craft upon whose canvas is emblazoned the arms of the owner. He found that it was the cus- tom to bait these fish by throwing out chum, in this way enticing them around the boat within reach of spear or harpoon; as the fish eagerly took the offer- ings, he assumed that they could be hooked and deter- mined to try it. Upon announcing to the native fishermen what he proposed doing, he was met with incredible tales regarding the ferocity of the sailfish. One man had had a brother killed. Another had his pirogue sunk by a monster fish, twenty feet in length, and still another related that an enraged fish had charged his vessel, plunging through the sail and nearly kill- ing some of the crew. Incredible as it may seem, this but added fuel to the flame of the angler's ambi- tion, and he lost no time in his preparation for the sport. He learned that the swordfishes frequented a bank several miles off shore, and, having secured a somewhat clumsy boat and four men to row, he accompanied several pirogues one day to the ground, where he baited his hook with a fish resembling the 9 8 An Ocean Swashbuckler mullet, and had his boat rowed slowly along. He had a reel of English make, which held nearly twelve hundred feet of 24-thread braided line, and a heavy rod of about the class used for the tarpon, with which he had taken large sharks up to three or four hundred pounds. It was not long before one of the men called his attention to an object in the water two or three hun- dred yards away; it appeared to be the sail of a minia- ture craft vividly colored, moving leisurely, but proved to be the dorsal fin of the famous sailfish. Presently others were seen, and at one time four or five were cruising about ; their splendid fins glistening in the sun in tints of red, purple and black. At the angler's order the boat was directed across the course of the fish, and was so accurately calculated that the bait was dragged directly before the leading fish, which swerved slightly to one side, and with a quick movement seized it. The sportsman waited a moment, paying out ten or fifteen feet of line, reck- oning on the hard jaw of the fish, and then hooked it. He was familiar with the leap high into the air of the silver king, but in response to his move- ment there rose from the sea a fluttering sail-like fin, scintillating with color, and the body of a slender fish with long dangling finlets, with a sword of such size that the men dropped their oars in terror. Accord- ing to the angler, the fish appeared to be eighteen feet in length. Clearing the water, it fell back with a 99 Big Game at Sea mighty crash, and the singing of the reel and the jerking motion of the rod told of the rush of the fish. It was irresistible, and the brake had to be used with great caution to prevent burning the line. An element of the excitement was the disappear- ance of the other fishes, which the frightened boat- men said would attack the boat. They entreated him to cut the line; but he held the rod stiff and vainly attempted to stop the rush. Three hundred — five — eight hundred feet had gone, and it was evi- dent that the end was coming, when suddenly the line slackened ; the next moment three or four quiver- ing fins were seen rushing along the surface. " We are lost, master ! " cried the terrified boat- men. " They see the boat." The fish were coming at a marvelous speed, their fins throwing the water high in air; but the angler reeled furiously, took in all the slack of the overrun he could and bade the men keep the stern of the boat to the fish, thus offering the least resistance. The men crowded into the bow, ready to leap overboard, vociferously hailing a neighboring pirogue, while the angler sat reeling as he had never reeled before, not knowing whether or not he was to be spitted. On came the fish, presenting a splendid spectacle of color, with their sails three feet out of water; but when within a short distance from the boat, they swerved and plunged down deep into the ocean. The men now seized the oars, and in obedience to orders, pulled ioo (1) The Walking Fish. (2) Catalina Rock Bass. An Ocean Swashbuckler in the direction of the fish, hoping to gain; but the line came taut, and the reel again whistled and screamed. " Pull ! row ! " cried the angler, straining to keep the rod in position, which the fish jerked downward. The men bent to their oars. " Pull ; pull ! " reit- erated the excited fisherman, as a terrific jerk landed the tip of his rod a foot under water. The natives pulled for their lives, forcing the clumsy craft through the water at a tremendous pace. The delighted angler soon saw that he was, at least, not losing line, and by careful manipulation he gained eight or ten feet. The boat was now under full headway, and as more strain could be put on the line, he gradually stopped the rowing, and finally had the fish towing the boat by the mere thread — the seeming enigma in tuna fishing. For half an hour the fish plunged along, occasionally swimming to one side, but always followed by the boat which one man was now steering. All the time the angler was gaining; very slowly, it is true, but foot by foot. The men were still afraid of the fish, and one and all insisted that when the school found out that the boat was the cause of the trouble, they would charge and endeavor to release their comrade; but it was the unexpected which happened. The fish was slowly reeled in, and when within sight of the boat, made a splendid rush beneath it, the men leaping to their feet in their fright. The angler, however, had the IOI Big Game at Sea game in hand, and not wishing to take the chance of a gaff, told them to stand by with the harpoon. As he brought the great fish around again, a won- derful sight with its gaudy fins, enormous black eyes and menacing sword, the head boatman hurled the heavy spear into it. The sailfish fairly doubled up under the shock, deluging with water the fisher- men, its sword coming out and striking the boat. A moment more and it might have escaped; but one of the men seized it by the sword, while another threw a rope around it, and the big game was theirs ; in all probability, the first large swordfish ever taken with a rod and reel — at least, to the knowledge of the writer. Including the sword, the fish was sixteen feet in length, its splendid dorsal fin three and a half feet high. It was Histiophorus gladius, specimens of which have been seen in these waters ranging up to twenty-five feet in length, and weighing fifteen hundred pounds. Such a fish is a menace to ships, as well as to those who go down to sea in them. That such sport would become popular if culti- vated in Southern California waters is doubtful, as there is an element of danger in it to be considered — that of being rammed by the fish; and as many of the tuna boats now have from two to four horse- power engines, they would undoubtedly go to the bottom if injured by a revengeful swordfish. Despite this, several swordfishes were landed with rod and reel at Santa Catalina in 1906-7, and the fish has 102 An Ocean Swashbuckler taken its place among the great leaping game fishes of the region. The record of the Tuna Club is 150 pounds, and a swordfish cup has been offered for the largest fish of the season. That swordfishes are a menace to life has been demonstrated on many occasions. A fisherman on the coast of Maine was astonished to see the sword of a swordfish crash up through his dory. A similar attack occurred on the Long Island coast, the sword, according to Professor G. Brown Goode, barely missing the man, who, with great presence of mind, seized the sword, broke it off, and plugged the hole with his coat. The extraordinary force of these blows can hardly be realized or credited. Sir Joseph. Banks cites an instance where the entire sword was driven through the hull of a ship; competent judges testified that it would require ten blows of a hammer weighing thirty pounds to produce a like result. The British ship Dreadnaught was injured so badly by a swordfish, that she was obliged to make port and go on the ways. The smack Wyoming from Gloucester, was similarly injured, and the crew had great diffi- culty in keeping her afloat. The smack Morning Star, of Mystic, had a remarkable experience with a large swordfish off Hatteras. She was struck so vio- lently that she began to leak badly, and had to make Charleston. The sword had pierced the planking, timber and ceiling. The planking was two inches thick, the timber five, the ceiling was one and a half 103 Big Game at Sea inches of white oak. Even more remarkable was the force expended upon the whaler Fortune, of Ply- mouth, by one of these fishes. The weapon had been driven through the copper sheathing, an inch board of under sheathing, a three-inch plank of hard wood, then through twelve inches of solid white oak timber, and then through two and a half inches of oak ceil- ing, finally penetrating an oil cask. Such a weapon .can only be compared to a projectile, and doubtless jnany vessels or boats have been destroyed in this manner; sunk, as was the United States Fish Com- mission sloop Red Hot, by being pierced by this swordman of the sea. 104 CHAPTER VII THE TAKING OF BIG GAME FISHES THERE is one stage in the playing of large game fishes when the surest angler, while putting on a bold front, feels himself giving way before a relentless foe, supposed to be a victim to his skill. As I recall the really large fishes which I have taken with rod and reel, harpoon, or cast-line, I am inclined to confess the truth that I was often the one actually caught, and that the game was but add- ing to the under-the-sea gayety of the nations by playing me. The tarpon, tuna, black grouper, black sea bass, amber jack, Bahamian barracuda, and others are the big game of the sea, and when taken in a thoroughly sportsmanlike manner they afford the excitement of the tiger or lion hunt, and often much danger. Hunt- ing big game, or catching big fish is strenuous sport, and not every sportsman is fond of it. I fancy a man must be born to it. Those who have a pen- chant for hard riding after the hounds, who feel inspired by a wild race across country, where the chances of neck-breaking are in one's favor, who feel actual enjoyment in the knowledge that a tiger may 105 Big Game at Sea leap upon them at any moment, or that a rogue ele- phant is ready to charge, and those who find it inter- esting to play a fish that is likely to sink the boat or crash through it, all these belong to a class which typifies the ideal of sportsmanship, where the human animal divests himself of nearly all the advantages which nature has given him and enters the lists with the chances on the side of the lower animal. The nearer the sportsman comes to this, certainly the nearer he approaches the highest plane of sport, whose motto the world over is " fair play." It is a matter of congratulation that regard for the rights of the lower animals is increasing all over the coun- try, and that attempts are being made to raise the standard of sport. While hunting for big game as a sport is of extreme antiquity, honored by the precedents estab- lished by famous hunters of all time, the capture of great game fishes is a more or less modern pastime. Twenty or thirty years ago a tarpon or a tuna reel was unknown, and the sportsman who said that a two or three hundred-pound fish could be caught with what is technically known as a 18- or 21-thread line, would have been classed with Ananias, the patron saint of all piscatorial romancers. I recall being warned by a boatman at Santa Catalina, but a few years ago, that it would be dangerous to hook a tuna, as men had been jerked overboard by these fishes and drowned. I was told the same story by 106 The Taking of Big Game Fishes my boatman several years previous in the vicinity of Boon Island Light, on the Maine coast. My Indian boatman on the Florida reef considered me mad, I doubt not, when I remarked that I could take a big devil-fish or a sawfish with the grains from a small boat. I recollect when some journal came out with a letter in which the writer offered to defray the expenses of any angler who would go to Florida and successfully take a tarpon with rod and reel. The impossible came to pass; hundreds of tarpon are caught every season with a mere thread. The giant horse-mackerel, or tuna, has been conquered.* An acquaintance fought a gigantic sail, or swordfish, in the Indian Ocean with rod and line until the fish leaped through the sail. The giant ray is taken, and has long been classed among game fish in the Carolinas. The big game fishes of the world are compara- tively few in numbers. Some of them are as follows : The tarpon, record rod catch, 223 pounds, by Dr. Howe, of Mexico, attains a weight of 300 pounds; black sea bass, California, 700 pounds, record catch by Mr. L. G. Murphy, 436 pounds; leaping tuna, 1,000 pounds, record catch by Col. C. P. Morehouse, 251 pounds; the jewfish of Florida or Texas, 800 pounds; the Bahamian barracuda, 100 pounds or more ; black grouper, 600 pounds ; the white sea bass, j * The author took a 183-pound tuna with rod, reel and a I -thread line in four hours. 107 Big Game at Sea California Gulf region, ioo pounds; yellow-fin tuna, and others not so well known. Then there are a num- ber of fishes of large size to which the term game would not be applied by some, yet, were it not for prejudice, would be ranked among the hard fighters of the sea. Such is the remarkable leaping shark, caught among the tarpon at Aransas Pass, and which is so perfect a mimic of its acrobatic neighbor that I watched its leaps for some time, completely deceived. Several of the sharks, as the hammer-head, are lusty and game foes to the angler who desires the acme of strenuous sport. Sharks may be taken with either rod or handline, and what sport is to be had by a single man, matched against a large shark, from the beach or boat, depends upon the man. Many years ago, when residing in what might be called a shark country, I indulged in these contests frequently, and was more than once outmatched and outfought. I enjoyed the struggle, though often forced to sur- render, breaking or cutting the line rather than be towed into dangerous waters by a foeman so large that I never even saw its outline against the blue waters. Some of the rays are hard fighters, and the most exciting game for the harpoon, which I have de- scribed in a previous chapter, is the huge ray, Manta, an altogether uncanny and mysterious monster, with a habit of running off with small vessels. With these I would class the sawfish, a vigorous contestant, in 108 The Taking of Big Game Fishes whose wake on the Florida reef I have found variety and action sufficient to satisfy the average craving for exciting sport. These fishes attain a length of fifteen or sixteen feet, and such a one, which weighed 600 pounds, was taken by Mr. Edwin Vom Hofe with a tarpon rod, reel, and No. 15 line, after a most vigorous contest. Such are some types of what may be termed the big game of the sea, all of which it has been my good fortune to take. Almost every angler or grainsman has his peculiar method of fishing, and the following lines may be taken merely as illustrations of how one angler ac- complished the killing : Nearly all anglers who follow big game at sea have an elaborate equipment, which can be housed in a small valise made for the purpose ; such an outfit can be ordered from any of the large dealers, and would consist of a reel sufficiently large to hold 600 feet of a No. 21 line. What is known as a tarpon or tuna reel is now made, costing from twenty-five to seventy-five dollars, and is as perfectly constructed as a watch. This reel multiplies several times, and is provided with a patent internal drag to prevent overrunning, and is rigged with a leather thumb-piece strapped to the lower crossbar. In addi- tion to this, some tarpon and tuna anglers strap a piece of rubber upon the rod above the reel, and with a thumb stall, provided by tackle dealers, press upon the line here. There are also several attachable brakes or drags. I have found the thumb and upper 109 Big Game at Sea brake sufficient for ordinary work, though I have often wished for something else when my line was melting away before a Texas tarpon or a Santa Cata- lina tuna, which apparently nothing could stop. It should be said with emphasis that a cheap reel for this fishing is impossible — a waste of time, patience, and money. An ultra complete outfit, ready for all emergencies, will contain two reels. There will be room in the bag for several lines. I believe a 2 1 -thread is large enough to catch any fish that can be handled, and anglers like Mr. John C. Hecks- cher, Mr. Vom Hofe, Judge A. W. Houston, or Colonel Morehouse could easily demonstrate the pos- sibility of taking the largest tarpon or tuna upon a No. 15 or 18 line; it is merely a question of time. If sharks are plentiful, and it is necessary to take the game in at once, a No. 21 line, or even a 24, is per- haps admissible. I have never used a line larger than the first mentioned, and have taken tunas and other large fishes with a 15-thread. The line must be of the best quality, and will cost from three and a half to four dollars for 600 feet. This line, in which lies the secret of taking big game, is a marvel of strength. It is of Irish linen, carefully made, and one which I have in mind, called No. 15, is tested to pull a dead weight of thirty pounds, while the No. 24 is tested to forty-eight pounds. Such lines cost four dollars for 600 feet, or about forty-five dollars per dozen. Before using, the line should be thoroughly no The Taking of Big Game Fishes stretched. The bag should contain a brass drier, upon which the line can be wound after using, and it is well to reverse it daily, if in constant use, and exam- ine for broken strands, as by these tokens the angler shall discover why the biggest fish always escapes. When a large fish does obtain its liberty it is either from defective tackle or poor manipulation. In the selection of hooks every angler has his fancy. The length and structure of the leader, snood, or snell is considered an important feature by anglers. It should be of tinned piano wire, six feet long, with at least three large swivels, and the fish- ing receptacle should contain a supply of tinned piano wire for this purpose; or, better, a large supply of ready-made hooks and leaders, a box of large swivels, a few sinkers, a cork float, a pair of cutting pincers, round and flat, a sheet of emery paper, a knife, small patent oiler for the reel, flat file, extra guides, spool of silk, a measuring tape, a little kit of tools packed in the handle, a drinking cup, some simple remedies for cuts and bruises, and the outfit is fairly complete. The angler should have two rods, or a rod with two tips — what is known as a tarpon or tuna rod — either noibwood, greenheart, split bamboo, ironwood, or lancewood. Personally I have used greenheart more than anything else, and I believe noibwood is a species of greenheart, highly commended. The rod for the very largest fishes should weigh about twenty-six ounces, and be six feet nine inches in length, and in in Big Game at Sea two pieces, one long tip and a short butt. Such a rod, with a butt of hard rubber, tip of noibwood, silver mounted, with double silver and agate line guides, etc., will cost about twenty-two dollars. It is enclosed in a soft cloth case, and with other rods, perhaps packed in a leather trunk case, a luxury and con- venience. It is also a good plan, if going to Florida, Aransas Pass, or Catalina, to box rods and check them. It is one of the pleasures of angling to possess a box or kit as described, more or less complete; yet it is not always necessary. If the angler is going to Santa Catalina he will find each boatman equipped with the best of rods, reels, and lines; if the angler breaks a fine rod or expensive line, he is expected to pay for it. At Aransas Pass, at the Tarpon Inn, the headquarters of the Aransas Pass Tarpon Club, of which Mr. L. P. Streeter is president, rods, reels — in fact, the entire equipment — can be purchased or rented. In Florida, if the angler is going to the tar- pon grounds down the coast, or to Tampico in winter, he should invariably take his own tackle and not depend on finding it, though I am informed that good tackle can now be had here. If the angler desires to enter the lists with the Aransas Pass Tarpon Club, the Light Tackle, or Tuna Club of Santa Cata- lina, organizations which set the standards of sport in America, he should use the tackle advocated by these clubs, which is a six-ounce tip and a No. 9 line for all but the very largest of fishes. 112 The Taking of Big Game Fishes With such an equipment, varying according to tastes, the angler is ready for action, and to find big game fish goes to one of the three more or less well-defined regions. Florida, beginning with Indian River, including Key West and the outer reef up to Cedar Keys, may be considered one. Here the sawfish, giant ray, jewfish, barracuda, and black grouper are found. The season begins, except for tarpon, in December, and March generally marks the arrival of the first tarpon. At Indian River the later the arrival the better the fishing, and as far south as the keys between Cape Florida and Key West, the angler will find sport earlier and at all times. Of course the summer season is the best for sport. I tried it for several years, but the intense heat and the mos- quitoes more than off-set the additional catches. If midsummer tarpon fishing in comfort is desired, I would advise Aransas Pass. Here, at the little town of Tarpon, or at the Aransas Pass Tarpon Club, attractive conditions are found in midsummer — an omnipresent breeze, day and night, no malaria and few if any mosquitoes; conditions hard to be believed, but true. Here are the jewfish, the jack of a size to test the strength of the angler, king fish, hammer- head, the leaping shark, and tarpon, in such numbers that it is a rare occurrence for an angler on any day to draw a blank. Aransas Pass is reached by boat or cars from New York — by the former to Galveston, and by the latter to San Antonio; from here the 113 Big Game at Sea Aransas Pass railroad is taken to Rockport. A daily mail boat now runs from here fifteen miles down and seven out to Tarpon. A third locality for big game fish is the Southern California islands, reached via Los Angeles. We may assume that the game is tarpon and the objective is Captiva, or some pass on the west coast of Florida. The boat, an ordinary yawl, has a chair seat rigged astern, on the outer edge of which, be- tween the angler's legs, is a leather socket fastened to the seat to receive the butt of the rod — a solace for many a weary angler. A small mullet, or a slice of mullet, is used for bait, and the boatman rows or anchors according to the conditions. Many anglers use a leather or wired line snood or leader, so that sharks, which are often annoy- ing, can readily take the hook and not weary the fisherman. All being ready, the angler sees that his reel is lashed to the rod, overreels, pays out forty or fifty feet of line, and wets his leather drag-brake, so that the first rush will not burn off the line. This is not so important as in tuna fishing. Not a tuna was taken, though scores were hooked, until some one thought of it; prior to this it was supposed that the lines were defective, but the trouble was that the intense friction burned the slender line, or a thread, and the line broke. Whenever the complaint is made of very frequent breaks in standard lines, anglers will 114 The Taking of Big Game Fishes do well to see that their fish do not make long rushes with a dry line. The angler makes himself comfortable, and keeps his rod always raised slightly, at an angle over the quarter, never pointing directly astern. The right hand grasps the butt, the thumb resting lightly upon the pad, while the left hand grips the cork grip above the reel. A strike comes; perhaps it is a nib- ble, perhaps a long, firm strain, as the tarpon is bound by no fixed laws or precedent. At this point some successful anglers strike at once; others give line, having in mind the extraordinary mouth of the tarpon. Unless the strike is very heavy, followed by an instantaneous rush, I give the fish some line, overreeling two or three feet, on the supposition that the fish requires a few seconds to properly seize the bait; but manifestly the angler must adapt himself to circumstances. Assuming that we have given several feet of line, it immediately comes taut. You quickly bend the tip of the rod a foot, perhaps two or three, toward the fish, and then sway back with an ener- getic movement — not a jerk — at the same time press- ing hard upon the brake with the thumb; this is called giving the fish the butt — a process adopted at many stages in the play to stop a fish, or force it to change its direction, or to leap. Usually such a movement hooks the tarpon, and is almost invariably followed by the convulsive leap of the splendid fish into the air, where it appears to hang for a moment — "5 Big Game at Sea a truly astonishing sight that has bewildered more than one angler and filled him with all the symptoms of buck fever. The fish has jumped in wild fear, like a bucking mustang, and when in mid-air endeav- ors, by a convulsive side movement and opening of the mouth, to fling out the hook — a trick often suc- cessful. At this stage of the game, the angler, if he has himself well in hand, will drop his rod point, keeping the line fairly taut and out of the water, but not at such a tension that a violent swing of the massive head can take it unawares and break it. Into the water, perhaps upon its back, the monster drops, and the thumb is now pressed upon the leather brake while the fish makes its first rush — usually the most vehement and terrific — tearing off one hundred and fifty or more feet of line with incredible speed. Here many fishes are lost, especially tunas ; the angler presses too hard upon the brake, and the line breaks. The pressure should be governed and tempered by intuition, and in this regulating the brake, while the fish is making a terrific rush and the reel is screaming, lies much of the skill. It depends upon the angler how soon the rush will stop ; but the moment the least sign of slowing up comes the thumb should be pressed vigorously, the fish stopped. Now the right hand springs for the first time to the handle of the reel, the butt is placed in the leather socket, and the subsequent operations depend upon circumstances. The fish has 116 The Taking of Big Game Fishes been stopped — that is, is not taking any line from the reel, but it is forging around in a semi-circle, or is moving steadily ahead, towing the boat. If it is a shark country, there is no time to waste in observing the play of the fish or taking time; on the contrary, if sharks are not plentiful, the angler may proceed with a certain amount of deliberation; but it is an axiom with nearly all anglers that if the fish is large it must be fought constantly, and not allowed to obtain its " second wind " ; if this is not done a large fish will continue the contest interminably. A tuna has been known to tow a boat fourteen hours and wear out two men, ultimately escaping. I played such a tuna four hours and was towed nearly ten miles, despite the fact that I fought the fish con- stantly; but I was nearly outclassed. The fish weighed 183 pounds. A hammer-head shark which I played two hours required five boats to tow it to the shore. We have stopped the fish; the right hand is now on the reel handle, and dropping the tip of the rod, the reel is turned, rapidly eating up the line; then, when the tip*reaches the water, the thumb slips back to the brake and the angler slowly lifts the fish. Then the tip is rapidly dropped, and the right hand slides over the handle again, which is whirled around, gain- ing at least six or seven feet, or the length of line equivalent to a fourth the arc of a circle, or from the perpendicular top of the rod to the surface of the 117 Big Game at Sea water. This is known as " pumping," from the up-and-down motion of the rod, and is difficult to accomplish at first, as the fish is liable to rush at any moment, and the novice fails to shift from brake to reel handle, or vice versa, quickly enough ; but after some practice the motion is readily acquired, and the fish brought in with astonishing celerity; in fact, to hold the rod stiff and attempt to reel in a fish out of hand by merely turning the crank — as one would a trout or bass, as the uninitiated angler invariably does — is almost a physical impossibility, especially in the case of a large fish ; and I have seen a fisherman, ignorant of the art of pumping, work for an hour, perhaps, over a twenty-pound yellowtail. The man held the rod stiff and turned the reel, when the fish made a rush, the flying handle playing havoc with his fingers. By pumping, a large fish can be brought in with rapidity and ease ; but sooner or later the fish leaps again, when the hand must be on the brake ready for the rush, which may be repeated time and again with infinite variations. The tarpon, or any large fish, should be kept as near the boat as possible, and much depends upon the boatman. At the first cry of the reel — the tell-tale, which keeps the boat- man posted — he stops rowing, and when the fish is hooked, backs water, thus enabling the angler to gain on the fish, and, all through the vicissitudes of the fisherman and the various phases of the contest, it is his duty to keep the fish on the starboard quarter, 118 ■:\ fit-i :: >v 2S B S3H (i) The Puff Shark of California and Its Eggs. (2) The Rose of Paradise Fish. These Photographs Were Taken from Life Under Water at the Avalon Zo logical Station. The Taking of Big Game Fishes though some anglers prefer it directly astern, or as near that location as possible. Leaping and rushing, the tarpon, under these manipulations, comes slowly in, and is finally pumped alongside. It is well to be ready now for an espe- cially vicious rush ; but it is generally a short one, and the angler ultimately succeeds in reeling the fish up until the end of the five-foot leader is near the tip. The tip of the rod is now slowly and steadily passed forward, the thumb being on the leather brake, and the boatman, gaff in hand, watches his opportunity. A poor gaffer, or an excitable one, will ruin the sport; but assuming that the man understands his duty, he will wait until the fish is amidships, or the angler gives the word, when he will slip the gaff — a long pole with a sharp, powerful, steel hook at the end — beneath the fish, and, with an upward jerk, impale it in the throat or nearer the mouth if possi- ble. Boatmen are usually provided with a clumsy barbed gaff of indifferent point, with which they have difficulty in gaffing. The gaff should be slender, but strong; the point long and extremely sharp, so that a moderate jerk will impale any fish, and it should be fastened to the boat by a rope twenty or thirty feet in length. I have frequently had the gaff jerked from my hands by a large black sea bass ; to have held on would have been to join the fish in its native element. As the boatman gaffs, the angler overruns his line 119 Big Game at Sea with the right hand, raises the tip of his rod, and, with thumb on the brake, awaits developments. The well-drilled gaffer will not attempt to gaff until the fish is exactly where it should be. The man who becomes rattled, hooks at the fish wildly, or strikes at it with the gaff overhand, or gaffs it in any other, way than described, is the man for the angler to avoid, as he will either cut the line or in some way jeopardize success. The best of gaffers may miss the fish, especially in a seaway, and the angler must always be ready for a fierce rush; the line must be clear; the boatman or gaffer must, as a rule, not touch it (in the Tuna Club tournaments this would disqualify an angler for a record) ; and if the rush does come the angler checks it as soon as possible and pumps the fish to gaff again. Assuming that the gaffer has secured it, he lifts its head as high as pos- sible and holds it while it goes through the inevitable flurry, which has on various occasions drenched me. Then when opportunity offers he steps upon the gun- wale, if the boat is of proper beam. The fish's head is slowly raised and the boat tipped to the extent of safety, when the big fish slides easily into the boat to again assert itself. Every boatman should carry a canvas sail or semi-bag six or eight feet square, which can be hauled over the struggling fish, aiding materi- ally in quieting it. Many anglers shoot tarpon at the gaff, or in other fish endeavor to disable them by throat-cutting, but one is governed by circumstances. 120 The Taking of Big Game Fishes Assuming that the fish has been successfully taken aboard, felicitations are timely. If the boatman has done well, he should be complimented, and the angler will not be proof against the statement of the latter that, " he'll be dogged if he ever saw a tarpon so well handled before " ; and as " Mat," " Billy," or " Jim " wipes his lips, he really believes it. Such, with variations, may be said, at least in my experience, to be a typical catch, although it is the unexpected which always happens in fishing, and the resources of the angler are frequently exhausted. Thus a well-known tarpon fisherman had a fish leap into the air, and, as it came down, crash through the bottom of the boat. At present few anglers gaff their fish; they are unhooked at the boat, or towed ashore. In the former instance the angler plays the fish until it is fairly " tamed " ; then the gaffer grasps the line, which is doubled or trebled for a foot or more above the leader for this purpose, and holds the fish while he inserts a short, unbarbed gaff under the lower jaw; by this a clever man can hold the fish firmly and detach the hook, releasing the fish after taking an estimate of its length or weight. If the fish is large, or the sea is too high, the fish is beached — a most laborious operation, if the beach is some distance away, as the angler must hold the fish, keep it headed to the boat, having the line reeled so far in that the first swivel is against the agate tip. The reel is held by the thumb brake and left-hand thumb 121 Big Game at Sea stall, and the oarsman rows as rapidly as possible to the beach. If the fish is large it may break away several times during this operation, to be pumped in again; and as it approaches the shallow water it will invariably make a last effort. Reaching the beach, the boatman leaps over, takes the line by the trebled portion, and drags it in, the angler slacking out as it goes by, overrunning his reel, always ready for a rush, as, if the boatman is forced to drop the fish, he must be ready to take it without giving the fish any slack line, which often would be fatal. Assuming that the fish has been beached, it is measured, length and girth and weight determined by the old fishing formula — the square of the girth in inches multiplied by the length in inches, divided by 800 will give the approximate weight. In tuna fishing almost the same tackle is used; a 21-thread line is amply large. The smaller the line the greater the test of skill. The tuna boats at Santa Catalina are the most perfectly equipped fishing boats to be found anywhere, being built and designed for the purpose, and are eighteen or twenty-foot launches, rigged for two anglers. The fishing is in blue water, six or eight hundred feet in depth. The fish swim in pairs, as a rule, or in a school, and when the strike comes it is a swift surge; the fish comes for the boat along the surface at full speed, and does not stop; hence the angler is not required to set the hook, the fish almost invariably hooking itself. Sharks are 122 The Taking of Big Game Fishes rarely a factor here, hence the angler can take his time. Some have the boatman pull against the fish; others, who would make a short fight, have the boat backed after the game, reeling when they can. An instantaneous plunge, or rush down, may be expected — in some fishes so irresistible that the entire line is unreeled; and here most of the tunas are lost. By legitimate thumb pressure an average fish should be stopped before it takes two hundred feet of line, and then the angler will find that it is nearly three hundred feet directly down, yet towing the launch slowly but surely out to sea. Pumping — but now vertical — is resorted to, and repeated rushes may be expected; some away, some at the boat, when the line must be reeled in with all the rapidity possible, and the hand transferred quickly to the brake as the fish turns and charges. With a light rod I have brought a ninety-five pound fish to gaff in forty minutes. Many anglers, with short, stiff rods, bring their fish to gaff in from ten to thirty minutes; but particularly game fishes often fight for hours, dying suddenly of heart failure. Tunas are always gaffed, and in the man- ner described in tarpon fishing ; the difference between the fishes is that the tuna jumps only when feeding. Its rushes are more vigorous — down instead of out; being caught in deep water, its fighting powers are at least twenty-five per cent, greater than those of the tarpon. The tuna and tarpon are types of fishes which bite 123 Big Game at Sea or strike on or near the surface, though the tarpon is often taken on the bottom. In the black sea bass of California and the black grouper of Florida, both of which attain a weight of three or four hundred pounds, we have examples of bottom fishes, though I have taken them both in thirty feet, or less, of water. The same tackle as described is used here, a short rod being advisable, owing to the fact that a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound fish is a terrific weight in itself to lift. The black sea bass is a nibbler, and will often u fool around " the bait, which is five or six pounds, or more, of albacore meat, or a seven-pound live white-fish. When the strike comes the line is allowed to run over eight or ten feet; then, as it comes taut, the hook is driven in with a strong, sway- ing back rather than a jerk. The response is imme- diate, and, with a hand or cast line, I have almost been jerked overboard by a three-hundred-and- forty- seven-pound fish. The rush is shorter than with the previously described fishes, and the black grouper, especially, is a wild and often untamable steed, tow- ing the boat hither and yon, while a black sea bass has been known to resist an angler for three hours and tow him far out to sea. The great barracuda, which attains a length of six or seven feet, affords features and incidents which may be said to be between the extremes described. I have taken it on the surface and in mid-water, and found it a splendid game fish. The same tackle can 124 The Taking of Big Game Fishes be used as in the case of other large fishes, but it should be lighter. The preceding methods are those adopted and used by the Tuna Club of Santa Catalina, founded ten years ago by the author for the protection of the oceanic game fishes of California. The 21-strand line was advocated to lessen the catch, and foil the " fish hog " and his tribe, but many anglers use a 9, 18, and other small lines. It is believed that the 21 -thread line is the logical size for the largest fishes mentioned, but the Light Tackle Club, founded by its President, Mr. Arthur J. Eddy, of Chicago, which has its headquarters at Avalon, CaL, advocates a rod which weighs but six- teen ounces and a 9-thread line for fishes under one hundred pounds. The action of these two clubs places sea angling on a very high standard. They offer valuable prizes for the record fishes taken ac- cording to their rules, and the yearly tournaments are of much interest. Those who take a twenty-pound fish with the tackle of the Light Tackle Club are entitled to a bronze button; a forty-five-pound fish brings among the joys of the catch a silver button, while a sixty-pound fish caught with this thread en- titles the angler to a gold button. And twelve anglers have qualified, taking the yellow-finned tuna up to sixty pounds and over. The prizes of this club for the season of 1906 were as follows: 125 Big Game at Sea CUPS For the largest gold button fish of the season, sil- ver loving cup; won by Mr. Arthur J. Eddy, of Pasadena, Cal. ; kind of fish, tuna ; net weight, sixty pounds. For the largest albacore of the season, silver loving cup, presented by W. H. Hoegee Company, Los Angeles; won by Mr. Gustave J. Frickman, New York; net weight of fish, thirty-eight pounds, eleven ounces. PRIZES For the largest tuna of the season, first prize, silver mounted rod; won by Mr. Arthur J. Eddy, Pasa- dena, Cal. ; net weight of fish, sixty pounds. Second prize, reel; won by Mr. T. McD. Pot- ter, Los Angeles ; net weight of fish, fifty-five pounds, two ounces. For the largest yellowtail of the season, first prize, rod, presented by W. M. Hunt, Jr., Avalon; won by Mr. A. A. Carraher, Avalon; net weight of fish, thirty-eight and one-half pounds. Second prize, reel, presented by the Tufts-Lyon Arms Company, Los Angeles; won by Mr. T. McD. Potter, Los Angeles ; net weight of fish, thirty-eight pounds. For the largest albacore of the season, first prize, rod, presented by the Pasadena Hardware Com- 126 The Taking of Big Game Fishes pany, Pasadena, Cal. ; won by Mr. Gustave J. Frick- man, New York; net weight of fish, thirty-eight pounds, eleven ounces. Second prize, Pflueger reel, presented by the Enter- prize Manufacturing Company, Akron, Ohio; won by Mrs. H. H. Cotton, Los Angeles; net weight of fish, thirty-seven and one-half pounds. For the largest white sea bass of the season, first prize, rod, presented by Tufts-Lyon Arms Company, Los Angeles ; won by Mr. Arthur J. Eddy, Pasadena ; net weight of fish, thirty-four pounds. Second prize, rod, presented by Harper-Reynolds Company, Los Angeles; won by E. H. Brewster, Avalon; net weight of fish, thirty-two pounds. For the largest bonita of the season, prize, 900- foot 9-thread linen line, presented by Mrs. C. H. White, Colorado Springs, Colo. ; won by E. H. Brew- ster, Avalon. For the largest skipjack of the season, prize, 900- foot 9-thread linen line, presented by Mr. E. H. Brewster, of Avalon; won by Mrs. Stella W. Mc- Neil, Colorado Springs, Colo. To elevate the standard of sport, the Tuna Club gives a tournament every year. The following are the prizes of the year 1907, and a typical announce- ment of the tournament: 127 Big Game at Sea "The Protection of the Game Fishes of California and the Establishment of a Higher Standard of Sport." President, First Vice-President, Charles F. Holder, Thos. S. Manning, Pasadena, Cal. Avalon, Cal. Second Vice-President, Third Vice-President, Col. C. P. Morehous,, W. H. Burnham, Pasadena, Cal. Orange, Cal. Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, L. P. Streeter, F. L. Harding, Pasadena, Cal. Philadelphia, Pa. Alfred L. Beebe, T. McD. Potter, Portland, Ore. Los Angeles, Cal. The Ninth Annual SUMMER SEA ANGLING TOURNAMENT OF THE Santa Catalina Island Tuna Club May i to October i, 1907, Inclusive The Santa Catalina Island Tuna Club in the interests of a higher standard of sport, the protection of game fishes, and the higher development of the art of sea angling (rod and reel) on the Pacific coast, announces its Ninth Annual Sea Angling Tourna- ment to be held under the rules of the Club at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, California, from May 1st to October 1st, 1907. The game fishes referred to in this tournament are divided into two classes. CLASS A Leaping Tuna, Black Sea Bass, and Swordfish of any kind. Rod and reel, rod to measure not less than 6 feet, 9 inches in length, tip to weigh not more than 16 ounces. By tip is meant that part of the rod from the reel seat to the tip. The line must 128 The Taking of Big Game Fishes not exceed standard 24 strands. (If the angler desires to use a standard 9-thread line for these large fishes, he may use not less than a 5-foot tip, weighing not more than 6 ounces, the butt not longer than 14 inches.) CLASS B In this are included all other fishes, Albacore, Yellow-fin Tuna, White Sea Bass, Yellowtail, etc. Contestants in this class must use rod and reel. The tips must not be less than 5 feet in length and must not weigh more than 6 ounces; butt must not be longer than 14 inches. The line in this class must be a standard 9-thread linen line. RULES Anglers must bring fish to gaff entirely unaided. The fish must be reeled in fairly; a broken rod either before or after gaffing disqualifies the angler, it being assumed to display a lack of skill. The tournament is open to amateurs only, professional fishermen or those engaged in allied industries and members of their families are barred. PRESENT HOLDERS OF CUPS AND RECORDS ARE: LARGEST LEAPING TUNA— (Thunnus thynnus) C. F. Holder, Pasadena, Cal., season 1899 • .183 pounds Col. C. P. Morehous, Pasadena, Cal., season 1900 251 pounds Mrs. E. N. Dickerson ..... F. S. Schenck, Brooklyn, N. Y., season 1901 F. V. Rider, Avalon, Cal., season 1901 . Ernest E. Ford, season 1902 John F. Stearns, Los Angeles, Cal., year 1902 H. E. Smith, season 1903 216 pounds 158 pounds 158 pounds 1 74 pounds 197 pounds 94 pounds General A. W. Barrett, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1904 131 pounds 129 Big Game at Sea RECORD BLACK SEA BASS— (Stereolepis) F. V. Rider, Avalon, season 1898 T. S. Manning, Avalon, season 1899 F. S. Schenck, Brooklyn, N. Y., season 1900 A. C. Thompson, Pomona, Cal., season 1901 . H. T. Kendall, Pasadena, Cal., season 1902 . Edward Llewellyn, Los Angeles, Cal., 1903 . H. L. Smith, New York, season 1904 . L. G. Murphy, Converse, Ind., season 1905 . LARGEST YELLOWTAIL— (Seriola) F. V. Rider, Avalon, Cal., season 1898 . F. S. Gerrish, Jacksonville, Fla., season, 1899 R. F. Stocking, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1900 T. S. Manning, Avalon, Cal., season 1901 Dr. Trowbridge, Fresno, Cal., season 1902 F. P. Newport, season 1903 H. Meyst, Chicago, 111., season 1904 J. E. Pflueger, Akron, O., 1905 . A. A. Carraher, 1906 .... 327 372 384 384 419 425 402 436 pounds pounds pounds pounds pounds pounds pounds pounds 41 pounds 37 pounds 48 pounds 33 pounds 47I pounds 46 pounds 44 pounds 43 pounds 38J pounds LARGEST WHITE SEA BASS— (Cynoscion) C. H. Harding, Philadelphia, Pa., season, 1904 . 60 pounds LARGEST SWORDFISH— (Tetrapturus) Edward Llewellyn, Los Angeles, Cal. . . . 150 pounds PRIZES No. 1 TUNA CLUB SILVER LOVING CUP (Donated by the Banning Co.) For the largest Leaping Tuna of the season over 100 pounds. This cup remains the property of the Club, the name of the 130 The Taking of Big Game Fishes winner being engraved upon it. It is the most interesting and hardly contested cup of any sea angling club in the world.* No. 2 THE MONTGOMERY SILVER CUP (Presented by Montgomery Bros., Los Angeles) This trophy becomes the property of the angler who shall hold the Tuna record (ioo pounds or over) three successive years. No. 3 THE TUNA CLUB GOLD MEDAL This hardly contested for medal tells a remarkable story of almost incredible contests with the greatest game fish known in the annals of sea angling. It bears the name of winning anglers and remains the property of the Club, the name of the successful angler being added every year. No event in the entire range of sea angling lends more honor to the sea angler than to have his name inscribed on the bars of this medal, which goes to the angler taking the largest leaping tuna of the season over ioo pounds. No. 4 TUNA CLUB GOLD BUTTON The angler taking the largest Tuna of the season becomes eligible to, and receives the gold button of, the Tuna Club, an insignia (showing a gold Tuna on a blue background with name of the club) known all over the world as an evidence of remark- able contests with the king of large game fishes taken with the tackle specified by the Club. No. 5 EDWARD VOM HOFE PRIZE For exceeding the Club record, Rod and Reel, donated by Edward Vom Hofe, of New York City. (Tuna.) ♦The Leaping Tuna referred to in this tournament is the fish known to naturalists as Thunnus ihynnus, the largest of all the bony fishes. 131 Big Game at Sea No. 6 THE MOREHOUS TUNA CUP Col. Morehous, ex-president of the Tuna Club, offers a silver cup to the angler who will exceed his record under the Tuna Club rules. No. 7 HOLDER SWORDFISH CUP Charles Frederick Holder, of Pasadena, Cal., founder of the Tuna Club, offers a silver cup to be known as the "Swordfish Cup," to be contested for under the rules. The angler taking the heaviest fish of the season shall have his name engraved on the cup. By securing this record for two successive years, he becomes the owner of the cup. No. 8 BLACK SEA BASS TUFTS-LYON CUP For exceeding the Club record. No. 9 RIDER-MACOMBER GOLD MEDAL The medal goes to the angler taking the largest fish of the season. No. io JOHN F. FRANCIS GOLD MEDAL For the largest Yellowtail of the season, John F. Francis gold medal; winner's name to be engraved on gold bar each season, medal to be property of the Club. No. ii HARDING CUP Mr. F. L. Harding, of Philadelphia, Pa., awards a cup for the largest Bonito of the season, to be won three times. 132 The Taking of Big Game Fishes No. 12 THE EDDY LIGHT TACKLE CUP Arthur Jerome Eddy, President of the Light Tackle Club of Avalon, offers a cup for the largest Yellowtail of the season. Light Tackle club rules, 16-oz. rod, 9-thread line, etc. No. 13 THE NORDLINGER LADIES' CUP (Presented by S. Nordlinger & Sons) The lady taking the largest Yellowtail of the season will have her name engraved on the cup. No. 14 THE C. H. HARDING TUNA CLUB WHITE SEA BASS GOLD MEDAL The angler taking the largest fish of the season, over 60 pounds weight (9-thread line, etc.), shall have his name en- graved on the bar. No. 15 THE L. P. STREETER ALBACORE SILVER MEDAL {Thunnus Alalonga) The angler taking the largest albacore of the season, over 40 pounds (9-thread line, etc.), shall have his name engraved on the bar. No. 16 YELLOW-FIN TUNA CUP (Yellow fin — Thunnus maculates) The angler taking the largest fish of the season (9-thread line, etc.) shall have his name engraved on the cup. 133 Big Game at Sea No. 17 THE COL. D. M. BURNS CUP (Value $400) Goes to the angler exceeding the Tuna Club record of Leap- ing Tunas — 251 pounds. No. 18 THE T. McD. POTTER CUP (Value $400) To the angler taking the largest red button fish. RULES All catches must be reported at once to a member of the weighing committee, weighed in his presence and posted. Tackle must be exhibited with the fish, no allowance for shrinkage. Anglers shall fish with but one rod at a time and take fish abso- lutely unaided. The club recommends a 21 -thread line for Leaping Tuna, Black Sea Bass and Swordfish, and No. 9 for all other fish. Resident Weighing Committee T. S. Manning, Chairman; E. L. Doran, W. H. Burnham, L. P. Streeter, L. H. Brewster. It is extraordinary what influence the co-operation of gentlemen has in accomplishing angling reforms. Previous to the formation of the Tuna Club, fishes were caught at Santa Catalina wholly with hand- lines. To-day, rods are used entirely. There is not a boatman at Avalon out of the large number, who would allow its use in his boat. Every fish has a fair chance for its life, fair play, a square deal, a line 134 The Taking of Big Game Fishes being used so small and delicate that the slightest mis- take breaks it; indeed, I am told that when an alba- core weighing sixty pounds takes 600 or 800 feet of a No. 9 line, the latter often breaks itself under the severe strain. The action of these clubs could be imi- tated all over the country to advantage, and the man who entertains the belief that the best angler is he who catches the most fish, should be put to the blush and drummed out of the fishing grounds of America. 135 CHAPTER VIII A TIGER OF THE SEA THE angler held a polished vibrant noibwood rod with a grip of iron, but the line dangled listlessly in the wind. It had come whizz- ing at him with the coils of a snake a second before, and his face had perceptibly whitened beneath the coat of tan that one takes on along the Kuroshiwo in California. " Did you see it, Jack?" he asked the boatman and gaffer who had jerked the lever of the little launch and was sending her inshore at the top of her speed. " Did I, sir? I think I did. You're the first gen- tleman ever played a killer." " I don't know about playing," replied the angler; " I only hooked him and he went into the air." "Yes, sir," answered the gaffer; "but he was hooked all right, and it was the old one that ran under the line. Did you see that fin, sir? Five foot, if an inch, and the light lavender half circle on its back?" " Suppose I had caught it, and I think I could have played it; it was not over six feet in length, not longer than a big tuna." 136 A Tiger of the Sea " Why, the dam would have bitten the launch in two; she could do it, sir. She was thirty feet long and had teeth like spikes." The angler laughed. The boatmen around the channel islands of South- ern California have a pronounced respect for the " killer " — the small, toothed whale that frequents these waters the year round. The angler had been trolling with a small sardine for the amber fish, and a school of killers or orcas had quietly come up, the infant of the school had seized the bait, been hooked and sprang into the air, showing its entire length. As the tall knife-like dorsal fins of the old whales pierced the water everywhere, showing that they were excited, the boatman stood not on the order of going, but immediately put in toward shore. Not that he was a coward, far from it; he knew the possible danger when a young whale has been attacked and the adult animal can find the cause. The adult gray whale has been known to follow a boat so far inshore that she beached herself in frantic endeavors to reach the human despoiler and many a lonely grave in the sands of Lower California might have as its epitaph, " Killed by a revengeful whale." Few animals known to man possess the savage and murderous nature of the small whale-like animals known as killers or orcas. They pass under various names as black fish, killer, orca, kill fish, sea tiger, and deserve all the titles. The shark may be a man- 137 Big Game at Sea eater; is a sodden blood-lustful brute, a scavenger of the seas, a midnight prowler seeking devious paths to accomplish its ends; but the killer charges the largest of all animals, the whale, and the story of its life is one of relentless carnage. " Whole kingdoms fell To sate the lust of power ; more horrid still The foulest stain and scandal of our nature, Became its boast, ' One murder made a villain, Millions, a hero.' " Lines which might well apply to the orca in its raids upon the animal life. For a number of years I have watched the move- ments of a school of orcas in the Santa Catalina Channel, one of which was hooked by an angler in the manner described. They are present the entire year presumably, but are more common in the sum- mer months, sailing up and down, having a rendez- vous off what is known as the tuna fishing grounds, a range of five or six miles in extent, from Long Point on the island of Santa Catalina to the sea lion rook- ery on the south end. The reason for this is obvious, as the savory tuna is a tid-bit, a bonne bouche for the orca, and doubtless the greatest of all fishes often falls a victim to its rapacity. Then, too, the sulphur- bottom whale frequents the Santa Catalina Channel, several often being seen, as well as the gray whale, each of which is at times a victim to the fury 138 %■ m ■ K&5 Si k& * (i) A Catalina Sculpin. (2) Home of the Sea Urchin. A Tiger of the Sea and rapacity of these smaller but toothed cannibal whales. Such an attack was witnessed several years ago off the Bay of Avalon. The channel was as smooth as a disk of steel and of that blue that seems a reflection of the sky. Suddenly not far from the rocky cliffs of the islands a large whalebone whale shot into the air, flung itself out of the water, returning with a mighty crash, so near a boat that the occupant saw the details of what was apparently a tragedy. As the monster rose, clinging to its head were seen sev- eral black and white creatures, which appeared to be fastened to it, and the leap of the whale was to shake them off. The whale evidently sounded and came out of the water a moment later like a catapult, swinging its tail about and around with relentless fury, striking blows that would have wrecked a large vessel at contact. The whale, which was sixty or more feet in length, was attacked by these hounds of the sea, the orca or killer; they had seized it by its huge lips and were clinging with all the ferocity of a pack of bulldogs. In vain did the giant swing its deadly tail. The nimble foes leaped over it, avoiding it with ease, directing their attacks at its most vulnerable point — the throat, lips, and tongue. Impelled by the fascination of this duel of sea mon- sters, the observers drew nearer and watched what was in all probability one of the most remarkable 139 Big Game at Sea sea fights ever witnessed by man at so close a range. They were so near that the blood of the whale changed the water about them from turquoise blue to incarnadine ; and the waves created by the leaping and rushing of the ponderous body made their boat rise and fall, as though on a heavy sea. The orcas tore the wide lid-like lips of the whale, biting great pieces from the tongue, and, crazed with the lust for blood, rent the huge creature until it seemed completely cowed, lying on the surface, making ineffective swings from right to left, rising, then sounding in a fury of indecision and fright. For nearly half an hour this combat continued, then the whale, apparently exhausted, was literally hauled down and disappeared. The following day the orcas were sailing up and down the channel as though nothing had happened. As they leaped into the air when attacking the whale, an excellent opportunity was afforded the spectators to observe their beauties, as this tiger of the sea is a most striking and attractive animal. They appeared to be twenty or twenty-five feet in length, the skin a polished jet-black marble-like sur- face, devoid of the slightest parasite, smooth and glistening in the sunlight; black above, pure white beneath, a contrast so sharp that when leaping in mid-air and the ventral surface turned toward the observers, they appeared like white whales, while from the opposite side the spectators would have seen 140 A Tiger of the Sea a figure of inky blackness. Rising from the smooth back was an enormous dorsal fin that stood out like a great cleaver cutting the waters, a totem by which the orca could be recognized from far away. Be- neath the eye was a clear oblong white or lavender spot appearing like a huge grotesque organ of vision ; and as though to emphasize its oddity, the orca had a vivid pronounced crescent-shaped saddle of creamy maroon color just in front of the tail fin and partly encircling it. I have frequently seen this in contrast with the vel- vet black of the back, as the big killer swam slowly along with dignified pace always at the surface, its big dorsal, like a lateen sail cutting the air. Generally the animals move in a line four or five m succession, the fins resembling diminutive black sails, conspicuous and menacing. Such a school is a family party, a very large male, several females possibly, and two or three young. These schools may be seen in summer off the island of Santa Catalina, rarely coming in nearer than half a mile, slowly parading up and down in the lee of the island mountains. I have made various attempts to photograph these animals, but with poor success. But once I had favorable conditions and was nearly on top of them, when one of the party became demoralized at their size and we had to turn back. On another occasion I followed them in a heavy launch and succeeded in reaching a point just 141 Big Game at Sea over the tail of one; but the big creature did not come up, at least within a reasonable distance, but for some seconds I looked down upon the animal as the boat's bow cut through the boiling water occa- sioned by the working of the screw-like tail just beneath me. Once I observed the leap of a sixty- or seventy- foot whale in these waters, possibly to avoid its enemies, the orcas. The giant rose slowly and delib- erately out of the water until it appeared to stand on its tail on the surface — an absorbing spectacle — then gradually sank into the sea. In attempts to photo- graph a large whale I followed so closely that the prow of the boat appeared to be almost directly over the tail that was working like a large propeller forcing the tons of flesh along. There are two orcas well known in the Pacific: Orca ater, with its saddle of maroon, and Orca recti- penna. The latter is the largest and cannot be mis- taken, as its dorsal fin is as remarkable in its way as the upper lobe of the tail of the thresher shark. It is often six or seven feet in length, tall, slender, and rigid except at the very top, which occasionally falls over in the air. The long-finned orca claims the northern regions as its hunting grounds, while the maroon saddle variety is found in warmer latitudes off Southern California, though this is by no means a hard or fast rule. In the North Atlantic is found the Orca gladiator, a fierce and relentless creature, 142 A Tiger of the Sea and Eschricht is authority for the statement that this animal, or a specimen twenty feet in length, was seen to kill and eat thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals, the animals being taken from the stomach after capture. The long-finned orca is a fury in every sense. It roams the seas, enters bays, follows up rivers and preys upon animal life of all kinds, from whales of the largest size to salmon. It has been known to swim near to rocks in hope of snatching seals or sea lions from their rookeries, and is at times successful. Some years ago a whaler in the Northwest had killed a large whale, and had the animal alongside, when it was attacked by a school of orcas. They doubtless were half-starved, and crazed by the scent of blood that extended away a long distance, probably followed it up like hounds, immediately attacking the whale. The men with spades and lances cut and slashed at them, inflicting terrible blows ; yet, despite this, the orcas literally tore the whale from the ropes and carried it off. The orcas are very clever and intelligent, a fact illustrated in their method of capturing their prey. They know that the breeding season of the seals in the Northwest is a propitious time for feasting, and assemble promptly and play havoc with both young and old. They even attack animals as large and well armed as the walrus, and show their cunning by swimming far under the ice floes, coming up near 143 Big Game at Sea the walrus herd, butting through the ice with tre- mendous force, and in the confusion seizing the young which have been lying on the backs of their mothers in fancied security. The jaw of the huge man-eater shark, with its many rows of serrated teeth, is a menace, but it does not compare to that of the orca. The head of the latter is extremely power- ful, and the heavy jaws are provided with great tusk- like ivory teeth, well devised to crush and tear the largest of animals, its method of attack well justify- ing the title the tiger of the sea. The capture of so vigorous an animal as the orca or killer as a sport would hardly appeal to one familiar with its ways. Off the channel island of Southern California, where the maroon-saddled killer, as described, is common, it has never attacked any one, and except on very rare occasions display- ing a disagreeable officiousness, demonstrated by fol- lowing up boats, once chasing a small boat nearly to the rocks, doubtless in curiosity, possibly thinking it was some kind of a whale like itself. But the dignified procession of orcas on certain warm days was so attractive and inviting to certain landsmen that they determined to take one, or at least to make the attempt. The party provided them- selves with a heavy shark line five or six hundred feet long, a heavy hook constructed for the purpose, and to the extreme end of the line fastened an iron- bound box. The hook was baited with a thirty- 144 A Tiger of the Sea pound amber fish and floated in the pathway of the killers, some ten miles out in the channel. After several days of waiting, a long line of killers came swimming along, and by rare good fortune ran foul of the amber fish and took it. The line was held until it came taut, then four of the fishermen pulled; and that they hooked the huge creature was evident, as it leaped into the air and swung itself so violently that it dropped partly on its side, lashing the water for a few seconds, then sounding. During this brief struggle, the remainder of the school appeared to be intensely excited, darting about as though in search of the cause of attack, then sounding. In a few sec- onds the line was jerked overboard and the launch plunged ahead, her bow deep in the water, the men going aft to lighten her. The killer towed them four or five miles, then finding it impossible to move the animal or haul it in, or the launch over it, they cast off the line and box. The killer had now reached the deep part of the channel, given by the fishermen as " no bottom," and apparently appreci- ating this fact, the killer sounded and carried the large white box out of sight. That it exploded under pressure was probable, as it did not come up, at least, was not found, and the big game anglers, who had hooked one of the largest of the sea animals capable of being hooked after the fashion of fishes, returned to shore, convinced that a " killer " could not be stopped, at least in this manner. 145 Big Game at Sea Killers have been harpooned on the California coast, but the oil taken does not justify the danger of the chase. It is not difficult in summer to creep upon them. A large whaleboat was put within ten feet of an orca, the harpooner successfully tossing his weapon into it just back of the saddle. Into the air went the vicious and powerful tail of the orca, just missing the boat, fanning the atmosphere a few seconds, then disappearing with a force and speed that was ominous. The " starn all ! " of the whalers was shouted at the second of impact, and the double ender shot backward, as the harpoon's thud sounded. Like a snake the coil of rope leaped into the air, and the old whalers stared at the rapidity of the move- ment. It appeared like a nebulous cloud, a phantasm of indistinct snake-like coils poised for a strike. This killer evidently assumed a position twenty or thirty feet below the surface, and for some time ran like a racer, coming slowly to the surface to breathe, then to drop and renew the rush from this unseen and terrible enemy that was clinging to its very vitals and could not be shaken off. The killer finally car- ried them into a heavy sea where the pace was so fierce and uncompromising that they took everything as it came. No rising over seas here; they hit them strong and full, cut and bored through them, the spray caught by the wind beating against their faces and like specters of the sea rising from the crests of waves to beat them back. The fishermen laid back 146 A Tiger of the Sea on the line and hauled, one dropping off to bail now and then, but despite every effort they could not gain a foot. For some time this sea tiger ran madly through the seas; now on the surface, where the tail fin cut the water like a knife, then plunging down, as though with the demoniac idea of carrying the unseen enemy with it ; but being an air breather, it was forced to the surface to plunge again and again into the heart of the Kuroshiwo. The sea rising under the strong west wind, the channel was filled with white caps. The orca seemed to gain strength with the contact, and sped on and on until the patience and endurance of the men was about exhausted. The open sea was before them, still no one said cut away, though it was evident that if the orca was killed, it could not be towed in through such a sea to port, ten miles distant. What could be done? They gave a mighty haul on the steel wire-like rope; the loud chanty was swept away from their lips by the wind, then without warning the tension of the wire relaxed, the game rushed sav- agely to one side, came up into the air, as though in fear, and fell, a slack line telling of the finish. Whether the orca had been killed or carried off by a huge shark, or whether a companion had cut the lines was never known ; but many were the views and opinions as the boat fell away before the strong west wind and ran down the channel for the little bay, hull down, seemingly on the edge of the world. 147 CHAPTER IX BIG SHARKS AS GAME THE shark is not generally considered a game fish, but rather a loutish scavenger, a bait- taker, and a general nuisance, to be hauled in, strung up, and executed with derision. Yet, despite its reputation, I am inclined to champion this maligned boneless monster, basing its claims to gameness upon many bouts I have had with it, often single-handed, in various waters from Maine to California. If one does not undertake shark-fishing in a sports- manlike manner, there is very little sport in it. The typical method of shark-fishing is to bait a large hook with a piece of salt pork, fasten it to a hawser, and, if it is caught out at sea, trice the shark up to the main-yard, all hands laying on to take part in humbling what they term the common enemy. So handled, the shark has no opportunity to dis- play its powers. If, however, it is fished for with a recognition of what constitutes fair play, it often becomes a foeman well deserving the attention of the sportsman. 148 Bonito Shark, Taken with Rod and Reel at Santa Catalina. Big Sharks as Game I have taken sharks ranging from sixty to one hundred pounds with a rod and 21 -thread line, also with a nine-ounce rod and a 9-thread line, and found it excellent sport; in fact, one of the most exciting con- tests it was ever my good fortune to have was with an eight-foot shark, which I hooked in Florida when standing almost waist-deep in the surf, fishing for hog-fish. The hard-fighting creature towed me half a mile down the reef before it was brought to what usually would have been the gaff, but, in this instance, was release. Ordinarily a shark twelve or fifteen feet in length is considered game for twenty men. It is hooked by two or three ; the others then take the rope, and the big fighter is run up on the beach helpless; but if a man matches his skill and strength single-handed against so large a fish, a vast amount of sport may be enjoyed. True, it is sport of a gladiatorial kind, a fight to the finish, when the superior animal is often overmatched; but the true sportsman is, I fancy, much more satisfied to be defeated single-handed by a large fish than to be one of a party to take it by unfair means. It has been my good fortune to catch sharks of all sizes in many waters, and nearly always I have been able to afford the game a fighting chance. When this is done, I can commend the shark as a game contestant. What I mean by fair play is to take all the sharks up to one hundred and fifty, or 149 Big Game at Sea even two hundred pounds with a tuna rod and out- fit, which may be briefly described as a sixteen- or eighteen-ounce, seven- foot rod, and six hundred feet of 21-thread line. Larger sharks, up to one thousand or more pounds and from ten to fifteen feet in length, should be taken with the handline from a light boat; and, assuming that the fisherman delights in lusty sport with more than a spice of danger in it, it can be commended. Most of my shark-fishing has been done on the extreme outer Florida reef, the home of various kinds of sharks, ranging from so-called man-eaters, thirteen or fourteen feet in length, to ugly shovel-nosed sharks ten or twelve feet long; yet the legends of the reef did not record a single instance of*a tragedy from these fish. I was once witness to the sinking of a boat off a certain favorite fishing point where I had often, by pouring over beef blood and other " chum," conjured up a seething maelstrom of these hounds of the sea ; yet the three men forming the crew, whom it was impossible to save, and who drowned, were not touched by the sharks which infested the place. Of course, every sportsman who came down the reef to this jumping-off place in the direction of Yucatan was entertained with weird stories of con- flicts with sharks and taken out shark-fishing. The usual outfit for the sport was a light boat, the greener the hand the lighter the craft; and it was 150 Big Sharks as Game considered rare sport among the habitues of the key to see a novice " cross-bucked," as they called it. This consisted of being thrown out of a dinghy by a shark which jerked the line from the bow over the rail, invariably capsizing the boat and forcing the fisherman to leap into the water. As the victim had been duly impressed with the ferocity of the sharks and regaled with stories of anglers taken from boats, this was something of an ordeal. I had a boat built and equipped for shark-fishing. She was sixteen feet long, of cedar, very light, with a small deck which covered an air tank, while a row of cans along the sides, decked over, made her so buoyant that she would, when filled with water, hold eight or- fen men. The line was a small manila rope three hundred fee*t long, with a four-foot chain and a hook of steel, of royal dimensions. Thus equipped, two fishermen, eager for a trial of conclusions with the tiger of the sea, would row to a certain point of the reef which juts out into the channel, and anchor by hooking on to the coral a boat-hook which could be easily hauled in. The ancient and honorable chummers of the New England fishing guild would have looked with amazement at the methods here employed to ensnare the largest game. Negroes were engaged to tow out the rejecta- menta of a slaughter-house, beef blood was poured overboard, and, not long after, the waters would be swirling with sharks fighting for the food, tearing it 151 Big Game at Sea apart with so much action and expression that a pack of hounds was invariably recalled. Among these monsters was one whose length was estimated at fourteen feet. I determined to try and capture this individual, but it was difficult to select one when there were so many. A large steel hook and chain with swivel was baited with a ten-pound grouper and adjusted to a float so that it hung four feet below. Hardly had this drifted clear of the bristling coral when it was the object of attention on the part of several sharks. They did not rush at it after the approved method of the shark in the popu- lar story, but with deliberation, guided by unerring sense of smell. Ahead of them, darting here and there, was an advance guard of several pilot-fishes; while each shark had its bodyguard of remoras — black, eel-like creatures, which clung to the dusky sides of their hosts like leeches, their slender bodies writhing and twisting as they were towed along and presenting an attractive appearance. Several sharks of comparatively small size ap- proached the bait, which was deftly jerked out of their way whereupon they would turn clumsily, wheel about, and try again. Finally, up out of the deep sea came the great man-eater, looking so colossal that one felt that it would be a matter of chance whether it could be brought to terms. It swallowed the huge bait at one gulp, swinging its head to one side with an impatient movement as the serrated teeth crunched 152 Big Sharks as Game upon the chain. As my companion lifted the coral hook I paid out the line until perhaps ten feet had been taken, and then jerked the steel point into the monster's throat. The response nearly carried me overboard. Though well prepared for it, I was thrown against the rail upon my knees, and was elbow-deep in the water before I could relinquish the line, which went over the side with an ominous hiss. The stout manila rope, carefully coiled forward, went leaping into the air like an endless snake as my companion turned the boat in the direction of the flying fish and stood ready with the oar to steer her directly in its wake. The shark would have taken the entire line had I not seized it with a piece of canvas when about two hundred feet had gone, stopping it with a turn, first seeing that it had slipped into the notch in the bow made for the purpose. The first rush of the shark, indicating its alarm, was in the nature of a stampede, in which every shark in the vicinity, apparently, joined; so that for a while our boat seemed to be the center of a shark brigade. I could distinctly see their forms beneath and on each side of the boat flying along with us. The effect of checking the line was possibly to enrage the stricken shark; it crowded on more speed and pulled the light boat down almost bow under, so that the deck was nearly flush with the surface, and on each side rolled a wave of foam as though from a launch. 153 Big Game at Sea The shark had, either by chance or from knowl- edge, turned into the outer channel, which led directly out to sea, and was momentarily edging into the deeper blue channel which was one of the arteries of the atoll. It became necessary, therefore, to slack away the line. I was doing this when, without warning, the monster made a terrific lunge. Per- haps it had been attacked by some even larger shark, or had suddenly awakened to its danger ; in any event, it bore away about fifty feet of the line with a rush; then, turning quickly, jerked the rope from the slot and over the gunwale amidships. It was a trick well devised — if, indeed, it was a trick — and well carried out, and had I not been able to slack away the line at once, the boat would have filled. As it was, the water poured in as we sprang to the weather side, now in air. As I let go the line the boat righted and the rope went whirling and hissing out. It was a moment's work to slip it into the notch again, and away we went in the original direction, the boat a third full of water. The channel ran to the north for half a mile, then turned to the westward and spread out into a wide passage of unknown depth. The shark, apparently, was making for the open sea, and once it got where the water was five or six hundred feet deep it would sound, and nothing could stop it. It was necessary, then, to turn it, if possible, before it reached deep water; so we took up the line and heaved, bracing 154 Big Sharks as Game back hard against the seat; but after working ten minutes the only perceptible effect was that we were going faster, while the line was so taut that it hummed like the string of a musical instrument. We then shipped the oars, my companion holding and backing them against the fish, and a bucket was tossed over and towed. These expedients seemed to urge the shark to fur- ther efforts, and on we rushed, headed for the outer sea. It was manifestly impossible to stop the shark, and we had the alternative of being towed an indefi- nite distance or of cutting the rope. Two miles ahead was a fishing-boat, so we decided to continue the struggle until she was reached — hauling on the rope; making a foot, now and then, but more often losing two or three. After perhaps another mile the bucket and the oars had evidently made themselves felt, and there was a noticeable relaxation. The shark was rising; either it had met a shoal reef and was climbing its banks, or it was losing strength. We assumed the latter, and hauled the boat upon it, foot by foot. Before we had gone another mile I could see the dusky form, not ten feet below, swimming sturdily along with a powerful movement of its tail, the pilot-fishes and remoras still alongside, as though nothing unusual had occurred. I held the rope in the bow, with knife between my teeth, ready for an emergency, lift- ing when I could, and my companion, coiling the slack 155 Big Game at Sea amidships, prepared for the rush which we knew might come at any moment. We had been towed perhaps three miles against the obstacles, and finally saw a gleam of white and felt that the finish was near. Giving the word, we both hauled with all our strength, and were repaid by the clank of the chain against the keel — the game was ours. But not yet. The monster rolled over several times; then, feeling the bow against its nose, turned and seized the cut-water in its cavernous mouth and crunched it, driving the serrated teeth into the wood. Then, hanging on like a bulldog, it made a rush ahead, lifted the bow out of water and almost capsized the boat. My companion very nearly lost his balance, land, thinking that we were going over, hailed a fishing-boat about two hundred yards dis- tant; but we righted, and grasping a heavy oak gaff, I thrust it into the maw of the shark and fought it off. I had the chain in a firm grasp with a turn, and the mouth of the man-eater was not more than three feet from my face, as terrible a living guillotine as could be imagined. Row after row of serrated teeth could be seen, one row erect, the others lying flat except when in use, and forming a veritable pavement. To handle such a shark, weighing perhaps fifteen hundred pounds, was no easy matter, as its mere weight was an obstacle to progress. The game had been brought, theoretically, to gaff, but to land it was i 5 6 Big Sharks as Game another proposition. The size of the jaw and the complete equipment of porcelain-like teeth were the incentives, and it was decided to attempt it. The man-eater was triced up to the bow, and would have to be transferred to the stern to tow. During our attempt to accomplish this it turned the tables on us and almost swamped the boat. All this time the line had not been lifted from the slot in the bow, and it was necessary to do this with dispatch and transfer it to the scull-hole in the stern without giving the shark any slack or oppor- tunity to break away. The moment was selected after a paroxysm of whirling and rolling, which, thanks to the freedom given by the swivel hook, it could do. My companion placed the line in the stern, and at the word I released the chain, sprang to the stern, and hauled with him; but the shark, feeling itself apparently free, dived beneath the boat. It had perhaps eight feet of line, and jerked the stern down with so much force that the boat was again a third full before the line could be slacked away. We held on, and within fifty feet stopped the shark and held it until the boat was bailed out. Then, again, began the work of hauling in, this time up to the stern. When within ten feet of the latter the shark began to swim doggedly along, heading up the channel; and in this position we sat, holding the line while our huge steed towed us within half a mile of the point from' which we had started, where, after 157 Big Game at Sea having hauled us in all perhaps five miles, including circles and rushes, it gave signs of weakness ; its strug- gles almost ceased except for an occasional lunge, and from here it was towed in; yet this occupied nearly two hours, owing to its repeated lapses from the quiescent state. Reaching the beach, the line was tossed ashore, and two score men pulled the shark up on the sands,, where it was found to measure between thirteen and fourteen feet in length; but it was the girth of the monster which made the greatest impression upon the average observer. It was impossible to weigh the huge creature, but few of those who saw it placed the weight at less than fifteen hundred pounds, and every ounce of it was game. On the Californian coast the Bonita shark abounds, and in the neighborhood of Santa Catalina they afford great sport. Recently several large Basking sharks have been taken on the Californian coast; one observed by me measured nearly thirty-five feet in length, small com- pared to some which reach fifty or more feet in length on the Atlantic coast, where there was a large and important fishery a century ago. The progressive Japanese established a shark fishery at Monterey some years ago to catch the members of a large school which lay off that part in summer; but the first shark they caught came suddenly to life and killed several men, and i 5 8 Ground Shark. Length I I Feet, 8 Inches. Caught with Rod and Reel by Capt. A. W. Lewis at Santa Catalina Islands. Big Sharks as Game so utterly ruined their boats that the fishery was abandoned. An acquaintance of mine stated that once in Mon- terey Bay a huge specimen of these sharks followed him about for hours, becoming so attentive that he came in shore. This shark, which was estimated to be thirty or forty feet in length, placed its head directly beneath the rudder of the launch about three feet down and held that position. These huge creatures are harmless, having ex- tremely small teeth, and doubtless live on sea weed, and on small fishes and animals of various kinds. The specimens caught off the Southern California coast became entangled in nets, involving great loss to the Portuguese and Italian fishermen. At Santa Catalina sharks of remarkable size are taken with rod and reel, and in other ways — it being not unusual to see huge Grouper sharks, twelve or fifteen feet long, brought in by anglers, while Mack- erel and Thresher sharks, Hammer-heads, Oil sharks, and many more fall to the anglers especially in Sep- tember, when the big game comes in from the outer sea to prey upon the schools of fish which abound in the vicinity of the island. 159 CHAPTER X THE HIGH LEAPERS THERE is probably no question associated with angling, especially sea angling, about which observers differ so radically and materially as that of the leaps or jumps of fishes. This is due possibly to the temperament of the ob- servers. Some anglers see marvelous things when under the excitement consequent upon the landing of a large fish. I have heard an angler, who was known to be thoroughly conscientious when not under the uncanny influence of St. Zeno, relate, when fishing, the most extraordinary tales of what he had seen ; and the deplorable part of it was that he thor- oughly believed that he had been a witness to these marvelous and impossible experiences. With this and other pernicious examples in the perspective, I approach the subject of leaping fishes with caution, calmness and self-control that would not be possible to the layman who jots down in his memory, not what he really sees, but what he thinks he sees and would like to see. The most stupendous of all leapers of the sea is the whale — but the whale is not a fish, I have seen a 1 60 The High Leaders monster weighing hundreds of tons, possibly eighty feet in length, rise slowly and deliberately out of the water until it appeared to be dancing on the surface, almost clear of it, then sink slowly back. Such a leap is on record in the annals of the British navy. A large whale cleared a boat, going completely over it, an estimated leap of twenty feet in air — how many in a lateral direction was not known. The leaps of fishes are usually of three general classes : they leap in play or sport, to escape from an enemy, and in feeding. In the second class we find most of the great game fishes, as the tarpon, king fish, black bass, shark and others. No better place to observe leaping fishes could be devised than the lagoon of the outer Florida reef, or the inner bays or lagoons that stretch along the low coast of Texas. Here the water is very shallow, ranging from four to fifteen feet — often shallower; and when drifting in this enchanted region in search of certain channel bass holes, which my boatman assured me were there, I believe I have seen some very remarkable leaps. I cannot say that I was perfectly cool, in a literal sense, as the mercury was up among the eighties, as it often is along the Texan coast in August, but I was abso- lutely calm as my boatman dropped anchor by a cer- tain hole and I prepared to give battle with the gaff- topsail cat fish, king of all the bait stealers. I had barely cast my first shrimp when I saw a fish shoot out of the water at least fifteen feet to wind- 161 Big Game at Sea ward. It came through the air like a flying-fish and landed in my boat, not a foot behind me, at which the boatman, a calm and meditative man, a philosopher from 'way down near the Rio Grande, who was opposed to work on general and well-founded princi- ples, remarked that we were not " skunked." This fish was a pompano, and in a few moments another left the water near the same place. I noticed it at the very second of its rise; saw it gradually go up until it was four feet from the surface when it deliberately turned, or fell over upon its side, and came sailing along, after the fashion of a California flying-fish; at least the broad surface tended to bear it up, just as the wings of a flying-fish support this large and heavy fish, and it came cutting through the air and, to my amazement and the grim delight of my philosophical boatman, dropped into the boat. So I am prepared to say that the pompano can leap fifteen feet into the air, but whether the turning to obtain the benefit of its flat surface was accidental, or with a purpose, I leave the reader and the modern nature writer to decide. These pompanoes were doubtless alarmed and were attempting to escape from some enemy, and on that eventful morning four or Hive fishes jumped into our boat. This is often the fate of the mullet, which is a graceful leaper covering four or five feet under pressure — the school rising like rippling silver. The leap of the sardine is a dazzling performance, 162 The High Leaders and my boatman at Santa Cruz, California, told me that once in drifting over a black school of anchovies, similar to the one I was then watching, a big whale came shooting up beneath them, probably engulfing half a ton and demoralizing the school to such an extent that the anchovies nearly filled his boat by pouring into it — the whale just missing it. Comparatively few anglers have taken the tarpon, the very prince of leapers. Its splendid bounds into the air are always made when hooked, and often in play or in pursuit of its prey. Tarpons differ much in their leaping power; in my own experience, it is the long slender fish which excels. Who can calmly and stolidly analyze such a jump, such a stupendous exhibition of lofty tumbling? I confess that I can- not; and would not if I could. When the Silver King is in the air showing its deep red gills, I am there too, drinking in the excitement of it, and frankly, what I record is what I think I saw, and I believe it to be as near the actual facts as one can make them. There is no hard and fast rule for the tarpon. The moment it is hooked its stupendous tail sweeps the waters and forces it up into the air. If the fish is pointed upward it may shoot ahead, rising gradu- ally four, five, six, eight, ten, or even more feet, and cover from ten to thirty feet in a horizontal direction. Such a leap I observed at Aransas, when fishing with a short line. My fish rose directly before me and so 163 Big Game at Sea near that the spray went splashing over us. The next second I saw the tarpon over my left shoulder, going through the air like a meteor, and I believe in that jump it cleared nearly fifteen feet. I was near the long jetty, and the next moment my tarpon was crossing the channel in a series of splendid bounds, like a band of silver, dashing over the green and red waters until I had lost nearly six hundred feet of line, then it turned, and still leaping occasion- ally, came around in a great circle. It is well to quote some one else when one's imag- ination is inclined to soar into a mental empyrean. It has been my good fortune to meet Mr. F. T. Reed of Oklahoma, who impressed me as a calm and judicial angler, and who is one of the most skillful patrons of St. Zeno to be met either in Florida, Texas, or Santa Catalina — all of which grounds he fishes and fishes well. Under the stand of Mexican Joe, I met Mr. Reed and Mr. L. G. Murphy, who won the tarpon record in July, 1906, and the former related the following: " While at Aransas Pass last summer I caught a good many fish, and my opinion is that I have seen at least ten feet of blue sky between the fish and water while on the turn, and have had as high as nine or ten good jumps from a long, lean fish. I saw a hooked tarpon go on to the finished jetty at the Pass. Also hooked and landed one that jumped over the jetty where it was not quite completed. Think I 164 The High Leaders have seen them jump twenty feet in distance when coming toward the boat on slack line. Tarpon while feeding on their natural food rarely, if ever, go over four feet in the air. I have seen on several differ- ent occasions the channel between Mustang and St. Joseph Islands at the Pass, fairly alive with leaping tarpon, who were coming down with the shiners and knocking them in every direction. The fish were so plentiful and were out of the water so much that it was dangerous to row a boat among them." Few anglers have taken as many tarpon as Judge A. W. Houston, of San Antonio, and I have had the pleasure of fishing with him in the Aransas Pass. In the evening at the old Tarpon Club (now, no more) we often exchanged opinions and experiences regard- ing the leap of the Silver King. As to his own obser- vations he said: " The leap of a tarpon is so attractive and exciting, especially when he has been hooked, that one is very liable to overestimate the height which he attains, and I shall therefore be so conservative in my estimate as not to exaggerate the facts. When first hooked, I am sure that I have seen them leap fully ten feet above the surface of the water. While sitting in a chair in my fishing-skiff I have had one jump over my head, which must have required him to attain a height of between five and one-half and six feet from the water level. I am sure, in my experience in landing about three hundred of these fish, that I have often i6 5 Big Game at Sea seen them attain a much greater height. I have what I consider perfectly reliable information that a tarpon leaped over the rail and on to the deck of a Gulf Steamer (Morgan Line), which required it to attain a height of from fifteen to eighteen feet. I did not see this incident, but from my observation of the fish I should readily believe the statement." J. C. Van Blarcom, Esq., of St. Louis, who has had a wide and interesting experience with the tarpon, writes me : " On one occasion I was sitting in my boat, about thirty yards, back of a friend who had hooked a tarpon, and at a distance of sixty yards from his boat the tarpon made a leap, which I wit- nessed, and as my friend was holding his rod, which was seven and a half feet long, perpendicularly, I was able to approximate the height of the leap from the fact that from where I sat looking over the point of the rod, the fish made his turn from two to three feet clear above the point. According to my figures this leap was eighteen feet in the air and I do not think I am more than a foot out of the way." It should be remembered that these anglers are not callow sportsmen, or green hands, but skilled anglers who have observed the splendid leaps again and again. I have seen a tarpon hanging in the air, parallel to the water, ten or twelve feet, I believe, above it, and coming on at an unknown speed, thrash- ing the steel-like tail to the head and back, to drop into the water with a surge and roar. Again I 166 The High Leaders have seen the fish rise head first, like a tuna, come out and turn gracefully. I have seen them belly up, beating the hot air with tremendous blows; indeed, the experienced tarpon angler has seen the fish in every position, and possibly the jumps observed by Mr. L. G. Murphy were the most spectacular, at least of any which I recall. He stated that he hooked a tarpon at Aransas, a six-foot fish, which made a series of six leaps across the channel, each of which was at least twelve feet in height — a magnificent series of aerial performances; and when I say that Mr. Murphy has taken twenty-four tarpon in a single day, and holds the record as well for the largest black sea bass rod catch in the world, four hundred and thirty-four pounds, it can be imagined that he is not an imaginative or excitable person. When fishing in the St. John's River, Florida, for tarpon in 1876, I was told by an officer of the steamer Ella Morse that a tarpon sprang aboard of her and landed in the lap of a man who was sitting on the upper deck in front of the pilot house; and any one who knows the tar- pon, who has been on intimate terms with it, can well believe that none of these incidents suggest the limit of its powers as a high jumper. Perhaps the most extraordinary leap of a fish I have witnessed was that of the big ray or manta, which has an enormous square surface, the contact or return being a remarkable spectacle. I believe I have seen a manta fifteen or eighteen feet wide, Hwt 167 Big Game at Sea feet clear in air, but would not be willing to make affidavit to it, confessing to more or less excitement; and I have had a big one leap so near my boat at night, in a lagoon on the Florida reef, that the return of the fish made waves which almost capsized the boat. The manta has huge, outspreading wing- like fins, a long ox-whip-like tail. In air or water it resembles a huge bat, and in course of aerial flight, its wing-like fins are bent in graceful undulations; altogether, when near at hand, not a reassuring spec- tacle, except to the few men who enjoy the sport of its capture. Many of the rays are notable for their acrobatic feats. In Texas a big calico ray, spotted like a tiger, came within a few feet of jumping aboard my boat, and if I had had sufficient patience the feat might have been accomplished, as never was there a more remarkable place for leaping fishes than the shallow lagoon reaching away from Corpus Christi toward the pass at Tarpon. One of the interesting fishes of Florida and the Gulf is the kingfish. I have taken it at Key West, to the east up along the keys on the edge of the Gulf Stream, and along the barrier reef which forms the last of the lagoon at Garden Key, forty miles west of the Marquesas. I have seen them in the air, but do not pretend to be an authority on the leap, as those which I took were mostly from a row-boat trolling slowly with mullet bait. Under these con- 168 The High Leaders ditions they are incomparable game fishes, but not, at least in my experience, jumpers. Judge Houston tells me that they never leap when hooked, but when feeding he has seen them go eighteen feet into the air, a record which gives them rank with the tarpon ; and Mr. Reed, already quoted, who has a record of fifty-nine tarpon in four consecutive days, told me that the kingfish jumped when trolling from a fast- going launch, a method in vogue at Tarpon, Texas. Mr. Waddell in referring to his experiences at Aran- sas with the kingfish states that the leaps of the king- fish for the bait trolling at high speed are marvelous. " Without exaggeration," he says, in the Forest and Stream, of April 21, 1906, " I have seen them make rainbow jumps fully fifty feet long and twenty high; and once I saw two of them make such jumps at the same instant, and exactly abreast. It was a magnifi- cent sight; although the fish thus jumping seldom if ever misses the bait it is by no means always hooked. It is," continues Mr. Waddell, " curious that not- withstanding its great leaping ability the kingfish never leaves the water after it is hooked." This is equally true of the famous leaping tuna. In twenty years' experience in the tuna country I have never seen a fish leap after being hooked, or after the fashion of the tarpon, and have heard but one angler state that he had seen such a leap. The tuna, which ranges up to fifteen hundred pounds in weight, jumps for pleasure and to secure its prey, 169 Big Game at Sea the California flying-fish — the latter a jumper and soarer of no mean parts. Exactly how high a tuna can leap it is difficult to say. I have seen the water beaten into foam by them four miles distant, and have a photograph showing a fish — a black streak at least a mile distant, high in air — a jump of cer- tainly ten or fifteen feet ; and it is my opinion, based on what I have seen, that it is possible for a lusty tuna at full speed to project itself twenty feet into the air and twenty or thirty feet in a horizontal direc- tion. I judge the latter possible from the leap of a big tuna which cleared the kelp and landed high on the rocks at Santa Catalina. I have often stood in the center of a school of leaping tunas and watched them ; but the situation is not one suggestive of repose or peace of mind. The most extraordinary example of their leaps occurred to me about a mile off Avalon Bay. I was in a skiff which weighed not over one hundred and twenty-five pounds, so light that I did not dare to cast my bait, as any of the fishes would have towed me away or capsized the boat; so I stood and watched the equilibrists. They were feeding on a school of flying-fishes, the latter darting into the air like great dragon-flies, passing over my boat, dashing beneath it — scores in the air in every direction ; and look which way I would, there were also tunas in the air; no chance leaps, no miscalculations, but each one a per- fect angle and line of beauty. 170 The High Leaders The flying-fishes were on the surface, and the big game were charging them, churning the blue ocean and beating the still waters into foam that formed a white area acres in extent. In all probability, other tunas were swimming some distance beneath the sur- face, and these were the leapers. Sighting a flying- fish they would charge upward and, missing it, dash into the air at an angle of sixty degrees, go up, and up, like a gleaming arrow, then with perfect grace turn, and for a tenth of a second hang — a horizontal bar of silver and flashing yellow — one hundred or three hundred pounds of animation; then the head would drop and the tuna would fall into the sea without perceptible splash, having formed a perfect curve. The tunas were everywhere in air. I ex- pected one to drop into the boat, when the experi- ence of Senator Quay might have been repeated, in which a tarpon went completely through the boat; but nothing of the kind occurred, and I stood on the seat at least twelve inches from the water, and saw fishes five or six feet long turn almost as high again as my head; so I believe I am within the bounds by stating that I saw tunas fifteen feet in air. I have seen flying-fishes at least thirty feet in air, but blown there by a sudden gust of wind. These lines are written between attempts on the Santa Cruz and Capitola coast, California, to watch the leap of the sea-going salmon of the Bay of Mon- terey. The salmon come here in countless thousands 171 Big Game at Sea in April or May and remain, as a rule, until October. I have taken a number trolling, but due to the heavy tackle they would not leap, though this fish fre- quently does, clearing several feet. The leap of the salmon in fresh water especially up falls and rapids, is well known. The rainbow trout is an especially game leaper. Recently in the beautiful Soquel, which flows down from the Santa Cruz mountains, one sprang into the air six inches to meet my hook; and I have known large specimens to make splendid leaps. In the Klamath Lake country, when fly fishing for big rain- bow trout, I was much entertained by their leaps, some three- or four-pound fish making a series of jumps in Crystal Creek, where I made numerous and futile attempts to photograph them in mid-air. One fish which I hooked appeared to turn a double somer- sault. Mr. Alfred L. Beebe, one of the clever fly fishermen of American waters, who has fished the lakes of Oregon for many years, and who has landed a remarkable number of large trout, tells me he has seen a three and a half pound rainbow trout take thirteen successive leaps across the river before com- ing to the net ; and I sat in the bow of a skiff at Peli- can Bay for an hour or more trying to photograph the living rainbows which Mr. Beebe lured to his March brown fly and into the air, but failed, owing either to the rapid gyrations of the fish or my own cumbersome methods. It was an exhilarating spec- 172 The High Leaders tacle, as following the first rush away, the trout, usually of large size, would surge upward and go whirling into the air, its marvelous tints caught by the sun, blazing and scintillating as the fish reached the air again and again. The gar is a leaper, going at times into the air eight feet, I have seen the leaping shark at Aransas three feet in air on the end of my line; and the leopard shark of Catalina is a clever jumper when taken in shoal water. Black bass are famous for their leaps of two and three feet — remarkable when the size of the fish is considered. A chapter could be written on the leaps of the lady-fish and the ten- pounder; they are cousins of the tarpon, and mem- bers of the circle which includes the most agile acrobats of stream and sea. The two swordfishes taken with rod and reel in Southern California water are both leapers. Tetrap- turus fall back clumsily from a leap of three feet, which I have observed, but Xiphias, which has been played by anglers here, makes a graceful leap, one having been seen to go into the air four or five feet several times, and up to date none of this species has been landed; their extraordinary fins enable them to break the delicate line of 21-thread, which is used. 173 CHAPTER XI FISHING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RODS are not put away during the winter in Southern California, for there are the white- te fish, the sheepshead and the rock bass always to be had along shore ; but as spring comes on there is greater activity, and the best fishing, the real sport, is in the spring and summer, where the Black Current that sweeps down the coast is tempered by the semi- tropic sun, and the shore is swarming with bait. The mainland Pacific Coast presents many anoma- lies. Harbors, coves and bays it has only to a lim- ted extent, the coast between San Francisco and San Diego being, in the Eastern sense, with one exception, without protected bays for the fishermen. The wind blows freshly every day, and the sea rolls in eternally upon long sandy beaches, broken here and there by rocky headlands. To fish with a small boat rigged with a chair, and the conveniences one finds on the St. Lawrence, is almost impossible. The profes- sional fisherman goes offshore in his heavy sailboat from one mile to three, and trolls for barracuda or yellowtail, or sets trawl-lines along the rocky points. 174 Mr. Holder Fishing for Sheepshead. Santa Catalina Islands. Fishing in Southern California In Southern California the water in the morning is often smooth, but in the afternoon the wind rises and the sea comes in. To enable fishermen to reach the fishing and retain their equipoise, many towns and resorts, as Santa Monica, Long Beach, Redondo, Ocean Park, Terminal and Coronado, have built long and expensive piers, which are well patronized by anglers, who fish with long bamboo poles, stout enough to lift a heavy fish, and handlines, and catch surf fish, mackerel, and other small fishes. At Re- dondo, because of the setting in of a deep channel, yellowtail and sea bass are caught from the high pier, and occasionally a black sea bass. At Coro- nado the fishing at the pier is for yellow-fin, surf fish and small shore fishes. To obtain larger game the angler goes offshore from one to three miles with the professional fishermen, or to the entrance of the fine bay. This wharf-fishing is eminently satisfactory to the angler whose piscatorial fancy is whetted by small fry, yellow-fin and surf fish, which can be lifted in by the pole; but California has a series of large game fishes which afford all the sport of the salmon, the muskellunge, the bluefish and the tarpon ; and to take them in a sportsmanlike manner, with the lightest lines and rods, requires smooth water and small boats, and to find these one must go to the Southern Californian islands, where the equipment and environ- ment are perfect. These islands, beginning north of 175 Big Game at Sea Santa Barbara, are San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, San Nicolas, Santa Catalina and San Clemente. All lie parallel to the coast, forming a lee to the north and east, where the angler finds almost perfect conditions. San Miguel, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa are reached from Santa Barbara; all are private property, and permission must be ob- tained to camp. This and the fact that bait is uncer- tain, there being no professional fishermen resident upon the islands, and no regular boat, has tended to discourage anglers. One hundred miles to the south, off Los Angeles County, lie two large islands — San Clemente and Santa Catalina — about which nature has done her best for the angler. The location seems to be a favored one, a common ground for all fishes. The islands are about twenty miles in length, Santa Catalina being about seventeen miles from the main- land, and San Clemente, a Government reservation, about forty. The former has fifteen miles of good lee, affording water as smooth as a lake, in a number of bays and coves formed by the canons. The water is deep along shore, intensely blue, and the fishing on the line of fringing kelp. Santa Catalina is the only island having a town and regular daily communication with the main- land, Avalon, being well equipped with hotels and cottages — a unique spot, possessing everything re- quired by the angler. The bay is filled with boats and small launches equipped and furnished with every 176 Fishing in Southern California appliance for the capture of the great game fishes of the region. The peculiarity of this Californian angling is the large size of the fish, their great numbers, the remark- able equipment for the accommodation of anglers — the boatmen being provided with the best rods, lines and reels — and finally the climatic conditions, which afford the angler pleasant weather, without storms, from May to November. The tuna is the tarpon of the Pacific Coast, and is caught only at this island, between Avalon Bay and Long Point, a distance of about five miles. It is an oceanic fish, which explains its absence from the mainland shores. The season is from June to August. Tuna rods are not less than six feet nine inches, and often seven or eight feet in length; the line not over 24-thread; the tip of the rod, or that portion from reel seat to tip does not weigh more than six- teen ounces. The fishes are divided into classes. The black sea bass, swordfish, and leaping tuna are taken on heavy tackle, but for all others anglers fish with a rod, the tip of which weighs but six ounces, and a line so slight that it would not stand a dead weight of over eighteen pounds, being what is termed a nine- thread line. The reels are strong and good ; in point of fact, cheap tackle is the most expensive here. The boat is a large, wide-beamed yawl, with a diminutive three or four horse-power engine, and there are num- bers of small launches of similar fittings in the bay. 177 Big Game at Sea The boatman and gaffer sits amidships. Another seat extends from rail to rail, with two comfortable chairs facing astern for yourself and companion. Thus equipped, rods in hand, the boat is shoved off and cuts the smooth waters of the bay. It is to be yellow- tail, and the lines are run out sixty feet, the engine slows down to about the rate of slow rowing, the course set along the kelp-lined shore, about which the rocks rise in picturesque bluffs and cliffs, reaching back to melt into the mountains of the interior. It is July or August, but the air is cool, and as far as the eye can reach the sea is like glass. The anglers are lost in the beauty of the surround- ings when z-e-e, z-e-e! goes the reel, its high staccato notes rising so loudly that an angler in a boat near by shouts his congratulations. The fish are plungers. Down into the deep blue they go; z-e-e-e, z~e-e-e-e! rising on the soft tremulous air, the line humming its peculiar music. Now, started by the big multiplier, the fish comes up, breaking away with feet and inches to again plunge, circling the boat with savage onward rushes. Lines cross, but rods are passed over and under. Ten, twenty minutes have passed away, and as fast as the fish comes in, it breaks away again to the melody of the singing reel. Finally, deep in the blue water a dazzling spot appears; then another, and up they come, by a marvel not fouling. Now one cir- cles the boat ; away it goes at sight of the gaff, z-e-e-e! to come in again. Five times it circles the boat, dis- i 7 8 Fishing in Southern California playing its beauties to the anglers; a blaze of glory, canted upward, its silvery belly gleaming in the morn- ing sun, its back an iridescent green, the fins, median line and tail yellow. The boatman is fingering his gaff. " Now, then ! " whispers the angler. The tip of the rod goes forward, a quick movement, a blind- ing splash of water with the last compliments of the yellowtail, and the gaffer straightens up with the fish of fishes quivering, trembling, still fighting, to receive its quietus. " Thirty-two and a half pounds, sir," and glancing at his watch, " in twenty-two minutes." The common fish is the yellowtail (Seriola dorsa- lis), a sociable fellow, coming within ten feet of the boat to take the bait, playing about in full view, its golden tints flashing with gleams of green and blue. It is usually caught trolling slowly; but from the wharf or from a boat it is often taken by allowing the bait to lie on the bottom. The cleverness and dis- crimination of the yellowtail are unequaled. Toss over a handful of sardines, and the big fish will dash at them, picking up every one except that containing the hook. In many years' fishing at this island, I have never seen a yellowtail under seven pounds, the largest weighing sixty-three ; but a specimen has been taken which, headless and cleaned, weighed eighty pounds. The yellowtails arrive in March and April, and in midsummer are at the islands in countless numbers. In August last, four rods took sixty of these fish, 179 Big Game at Sea thousand tints and scintillations seem to flash and play upon it. The belly is white, grading into gray; the upper portion, old gold with iridescent hues ; the head a blaze of peacock blue in iridescent flashes to pink and indescribable tints ever changing in the sun. Nearly five feet in length, and tipping the scales at fifty pounds, on a nine-ounce rod, No. 9 line, are incidents in the verdict. The bass (Cynoscion nobilis) is a cousin of the weakfish, and in these waters averages fifty pounds. Four I caught in one morning were all of this weight, or over. Like the yellowtail, the white sea bass is a very sociable fish, some of the best catches having been made twenty feet from shore. But the season is short and uncertain, from May until July. These fishes attain a weight of one hundred pounds. The record rod catch of the Tuna Club in Avalon bay is fifty-eight pounds. The tuna is game for the veteran, but the inex- perienced angler may work up to it by practicing on albacore, a game long-finned oceanic fish found at the Californian islands the year around. A sixty-three- pound fish towed an angler three miles before it could be brought to gaff. If larger game is desired with- out the extreme excitement of the tuna, the black sea bass affords it. This is the giant of the bass tribe, ranging here up to four hundred pounds. The record rod catch with nine-thread line is a two hundred and thirty-four-pound fish, caught by George Farnswprth. 182 U PP Fishing in Southern California The bass, like all of its kind, affects the rocks and the great beds of kelp which form halls and par- terres beneath the sea, in comparatively shallow water inshore. The boat is anchored in twenty-five or thirty feet of water, and arrangements made to cast off at short notice. The equipment is a single- tip rod, the line a thread of 9 or 21 strand, with long wire leader, and Van Vleck tarpon hook. The bait is four or five pounds of barracuda, or a live white fish. This is cast into the clear places in the kelp, or near it, or suspended three or four feet from the bottom, as the angler may choose; either way accomplishes the purpose and lures the big game. The strike of the tuna is a magnificent rush, some- times a leap upward, sometimes down; that of the yellowtail a single powerful plunge, a miniature light- ning stroke with electric effects; but the king of the bass is more deliberate, reminding one of the methods of the great Mexican barracuda. The line begins to move, to tremble and twitch. A few inches go over the rail, the reel sounds a note of alarm, then another, and the line runs slowly out. Five feet have gone when the angler gives the fish the butt, and the bass gives the retort courteous. I have seen a strong man jerked elbow deep — this on the handline; but with the reel, it means a long musical prelude in various keys, the bass tearing off the line by the fathom. The boatman casts off the anchor buoy, grasps his oars, and heading out to sea, surging through the water, 183 Big Game at Sea towing the boat, the big game is away, and the sport of kings is on. These fishes have resorts in deeper water from an eighth to a quarter of a mile offshore, and they invari- ably rush to the groves of deep-lying kelp into which they can dart, soon breaking the line. The oarsman rows against the fish, the angler endeavors to stop the rush by applying the leather brake, and finally a vibrant pumping motion is felt and the bass rises gradually, then comes in, to suddenly turn and break away. The contest may be anywhere from one hour to three ; the fish may tow the boat two or three miles offshore and bring it in again, or it may play within a few yards of where it was hooked. Finally the big multiplier wins and brings the fish to gaff ; and be the angler a novice, there comes to him out of the depths an amazing fish, a gigantic image of the black bass, fin for fin, mahogany tinted, with silvery belly and large eyes. As it feels the gaff its ponderous tail rises, and angler and gaffer are swept with a small tidal wave. It rises, plunges, tips the boat danger- ously, and must be killed before it is brought in, then almost filling the boat. Little wonder that those who fail to see such catches are affected with doubts, as the black sea bass is stupendous, and when hung up at the stand of the gaffer, with the thread-like line dangling from its mouth, and the split bamboo stand- ing against it, it seems incomprehensible that these trifles have killed so powerful, so gigantic a fish. 184 Fishing in Southern California These delightful waters abound in small fry that afford excellent sport. There is the sheepshead, ranging up to fifteen pounds, caught within one hun- dred feet of the rocks, on a twelve-ounce rod; the whitefish, calling to mind the weakfish of the East, a famous fighter, especially in a tide run when the bait can be cast down the tide. With them is the rock bass, almost identical in shape to the black bass, as gamy for a while, but without endurance. They attain a weight of ten or twelve pounds and afford fair sport. At San Nicolas Island the rock bass are very large and gamy, and there are several kinds. San Clemente is famous for its whitefish, yellowtail and sea bass. In these waters is found the barracuda, smaller than the Gulf of Mexico form, rarely exceed- ing twelve pounds. They are taken slowly trolling, and with an eight- or ten-ounce rod sometimes afford excellent fishing. The vicinity of Monterey is a famous locality for angling. The streams abound in trout and the bay in salmon from early spring until late in the fall. The latter fish appear in a series of runs, governed by the bait supply — sardines and anchovies. The tackle must, in the majority of cases, be a stiff rod, as a heavy sinker, weighing from a quarter to half a pound, is often used to take the bait down to the level of the salmon, which do not play on the surface like the yellowtail, but lurk beneath the big school of sar- dines. Fairly smooth water is found in Monterey i8 5 Big Game at Sea and Santa Cruz bays, and from four to fifteen salmon have been taken in a day by a single rod, the fish weighing from ten to forty pounds. If the fishes of Southern California disappoint the angler, it is because, possibly, of the tackle, as the average visiting angler fishes with a stiff rod. My own rods, which, of course, may not suit everyone, are the result of experience: for tuna a greenheart, or noibwood, single joint, weighing sixteen ounces, about seven feet in length including butt. This is much longer than the average, six feet nine inches being the requirement. This rod' is also for black sea bass; the line, a 21-Cuttyhunk. For yellowtail an eight-and-a-half-foot three-jointed rod is used, about nine ounces in weight, not too slender, but pliable, with a No. 9 line. For white sea bass (fifty pounds) a seven-foot four-inch rod, two joints, pliable and light, and the same line. This can be used for sheeps- head and barracuda ; but for whitefish and ten-pound rock bass an eight-and-a-half-foot light bass rod is used, reel seat above the hand. All these rods have cork or left-hand grips above the reel seat, and are of greenheart. In thus adapting the tackle to the fish, all its game qualities are put to the test, and the angler has the supreme satisfaction of knowing that he has accorded all the advantage to the dumb animal which is affording him so much sport. The salmon fisherman who has landed a fifty-pound fish may con- sider an eight-and-a-half-foot nine-ounce rod a cruel 186 Fishing in Southern California weapon for this fish, when salmon of equal size are taken with a very long rod, but it should be remem- bered that there is no comparison between the strength of a yellowtail or sea bass of fifty pounds and a salmon of equal weight. It would be a ques- tion of hours to take a large yellowtail fairly* with salmon tackle, for the water is deep, and the fish takes advantage of it, and plunges into its blue depths. The introduction by the United States Fish Com- mission of striped bass into the waters of San Fran- cisco Bay has added another fine game fish to those caught in California. The fish are remarkably good fighters, and are found in such numbers that a striped bass club has been formed. Occasionally the yellow- tail ventures into Monterey Bay, and the big sea bass is caught there as well as far down the coast. A new fishing ground has been found at or near Tiburon Island, in the Gulf of California, where sea bass of remarkable size are found and are caught in great numbers from the beach. At Ensenada there is excellent fishing with the rod, and doubtless when Lower California is developed, other fine fishing grounds will be found. When to these are added yellow-fin tuna, leaping swordfish and dolphin the real wonders of this fishing ground are realized. * By fairly, not using the rod as a line, is meant. 187 CHAPTER XII WING SHOTS AT SEA IT was rumored that a certain Venetian had cor- nered the flying-fish market. Matters were still further complicated by whispers of a trust, and that a privileged few were to combine and squeeze the wealthy anglers. That there was some truth in this became apparent when the flying-fishes, which up to this time had been a drug in the market — flying- fishes which insisted upon flying into boats over night and upon the beach during the daytime — became so scarce that they were quoted at a dollar apiece, while there was a well-credited report that a certain tuna expert and enthusiast had paid five dollars for a single fish. This corner, it was said, was conducted with skill and caused no little commotion in fishing circles, among the adventurous sportsmen who fol- lowed the tuna, and their men and gaffers. The leaping tunas were making the sea boil, and bait must be had; yet it increased in price until only the affluent or the very reckless could go out, or those who had the temerity to filch from others the much desired bait. 188 Wing Shots at Sea It was at this season that foraging and stealing became, in a sense, synonymous. An enthusiastic angler, when informed by his boatman that he had stolen the bait on a certain morning, replied sternly, u Foraged for it, you mean. If a man takes another's bait simply to improve on his own, that is stealing; but when the case is desperate, when you or I have no bait at all, when we must have it, why, the act of securing it becomes foraging." The corner on bait was fast reaching an acute stage when suddenly the market was broken by a boatman who remembered that on the previous season a tax- idermist preserved in formalin dozens of flying-fishes, intending to mount them at his leisure. The fishes had merely hardened, and like the mammoth in the Siberian tundras, buried for a million years, was the image of life. This bait, a year old, broke the market. It was sold at twenty-five cents a fish, and proved a fortunate discovery, as the fliers were so well preserved that they could be used over and over again. It was with such bait that I caught the first tuna of the season of 1899, carrying off the prizes, and my boatman others. But it is not of the tuna that I write, though the subject offers fresh and alluring material, but of the flying-fish as game. This suggestion may bring a smile to the face of the angler who is familiar with the beautiful species of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, which dart from wave to wave like bril- 189 Big Game at Sea liant insects, and are among the most attractive of the denizens of the sea. The Santa Catalina chan- nel is a highway for these winged fishes, which fun in large ill-defined schools, coming up from the south apparently in May, and in June and July forming an interesting feature of the region; springing from the sea with lightsome leap to soar over the glasslike surface in marvelous flight. In crossing the chan- nel in the daily steamer, after April, one sees the flying-fishes constantly flushed. They evidently be- lieve the vessel to be an enemy and dash away from the bow in every direction, affording the observer an excellent opportunity to study the question as to flight — or soaring — which bids fair never to be decided among laymen. The California flying-fish — Exoccetus californien- sis — is the largest of its kind. It is over a foot in length, and weighs three or four pounds; a sturdy, hard-headed fellow, as clumsy in the water as a gurnard, but capable of several rapid plunges or darts; then, as though fully appreciating its import- ance, it leaves the water and soars buoyantly away over the blue channel in the so-called flight, but no more a true flight than the leap of the flying squirrel from tree to tree. The tail of the flying-fish is the organ of propulsion. The lower lobe is much the longest, and by twisting this about with a screw- like motion, the fish is forced into the air when the huge wing-like pectorals and the ventrals are spread, 190 Wing Shots at Sea and the fish becomes a parachute, a living aeroplane, shooting along over the water a foot or more above it. In this way the fish is enabled to fly an eighth of a mile or more; then its tail drops, touches the water, and if the fish is still pursued, begins the screw- like action which imparts to the entire body a wrig- gling, tremulous motion which for an instant gives to the wings the appearance of flying, and again the fish is in the air. I have seen the fliers in this way move far out of the range of vision in one sustained rush. The flying-fish is the choicest food of the tuna, and the arrival of the fliers indicates the opening of the tuna season — generally from the twentieth of May to June first. At this time the coast of Santa Catalina island in the vicinity of Avalon is the scene of bril- liant charges of these active fishes and marvelous flights on the part of the flying-fishes. I have seen a school of tunas charge a school of flying-fishes, which dashed into the air like a flock of birds, the wind lifting them twenty feet upward, sending them careening away, glistening and scintillating like gigantic insects, to reach within a foot or two of the surface when they moved on, the tunas following beneath them, or swimming slightly on one side, with one eye cast up, never losing sight of the prey, and dashing at it as it touched the water. Some endeav- ored to secure them flying in the air, and I have seen a tuna come up from below like a living arrow, strike 191 Big Game at Sea a flying-fish in midair and toss it ten feet upward, where it whirled about like a pinwheel, falling dead upon the water, to be picked up by its relentless pur- suer. That the tunas sometimes take their prey liter- ally in the air there can be no doubt. The agility of the tuna and the flying-fish can hardly be credited. In the wild chase the flying-fish soars blindly on, the tuna a foot below, never losing sight of the game. On one occasion a flying-fish so pursued passed over my boat. I saw it coming fifty feet away, and moved my head so that I would not be struck, the fish passing within a foot of my face. As it passed I looked overboard and saw a tuna dart under the boat, and a short distance beyond it seized its prey. The flier has apparently little or no power to alter its course, or if so, to a very limited degree, as I have repeatedly known them to strike the boat or pass over it; and on one occasion a large individual struck me on the neck. On another occasion a flier passed over the upper deck of a launch so near my face that I could have touched it ; and again, one was caught or knocked into my boat and used as a bait for the vora- cious fish. At times the rushes of the tunas present an exhilarating spectacle; one, under certain condi- tions, calculated to demoralize the observer. On a calm day, when the sea was like a mirror, I noticed from a hilltop a mass of clearly defined foam three miles away. It apparently covered one hundred 192