ent
we would have lost the sailfish. The boatman brought my rifle and a shot
scared the shark away. Then we got the sailfish into the boat. He was a
beautiful specimen for mounting, weighing forty-five pounds, the first
my brother had taken.

After that we had several strikes, but not one of them was what I could
call a hungry, smashing strike. These sailfish are finicky biters. I had
one rap at my bait with his bill until he knocked the bait off.

I think the feature of the day was the sight of two flying-fish that
just missed boarding the boat. They came out to the left of us and
sailed ahead together. Then they must have been turned by the wind, for
they made a beautiful, graceful curve until they came around so that I
was sure they would fly into the boat. Their motion was indescribably
airy and feathery, buoyant and swift, with not the slightest quiver of
fins or wings as they passed within five feet of me. I could see through
the crystal wings. Their bodies were white and silvery, and they had
staring black eyes. They were not so large as the California
flying-fish, nor did they have any blue color. They resembled the
California species, however, in that same strange, hunted look which
always struck me. To see these flying-fish this way was provocative of
thought. They had been pursued by some hungry devil of a fish, and with
a birdlike swiftness with which nature had marvelously endowed them they
had escaped the enemy. Here I had at once the wonder and beauty and
terror of the sea. These fish were not leaping with joy. I have not
often seen fish in the salt water perform antics for anything except
flight or pursuit. Sometimes kingfish appear to be playing when they
leap so wonderfully at sunset hour, but as a rule salt-water fish do not
seem to be playful.

* * * * *

At Long Key the Gulf Stream is offshore five miles. The water shoals
gradually anywhere from two feet near the beach to twenty feet five
miles out on the reef. When there has been no wind for several days,
which is a rare thing for Long Key, the water becomes crystal clear and
the fish and marine creatures are an endless source of interest to the
fisherman. Of course a large boat, in going out on the reef, must use
the channel between the keys, but a small boat or canoe can go anywhere.
It is remarkable how the great game fish come in from the Stream across
the reef into shoal water. Barracuda come right up to the