The machinery of the _Miosen_ was patched up by the 5th April, and on the following morning the crew had hoisted her solitary sail and departed from Key West. All along south of the Florida reef they had constant glimpses of tarpon, devil-fish, and barracuda, the mightiest fish in the Gulf Stream. For it must be understood that whales and sharks avoid the greatest river in the world. We will explain why later. During the next few days they frequently saw tarpon (_Megalops Atlanticus_) six feet long, reminding one of gigantic herring. Some of them must have weighed one hundred and fifty pounds; and the one which nearly boarded the steamer, leaping into the air a foot from the bows of the _Miosen_, was fully this weight. [Illustration: KEY WEST. _From a Photo. by the Photochrom Co._] "I had heard stories at Key West about the barracuda, which is harpooned very much in the way whales are, although it is a somewhat smaller fish than the tarpon. My friend Captain Altsen told me he had once gone out in a small dinghy off the Keys with a Seminole Indian who was an adept at spearing barracuda. Armed with a long, slender pole tipped with a barb, to which a long rope was fastened, the native had speared the fish, which darted away like 'greased lightning,' actually towing the boat a full mile before he was hauled aboard exhausted. He said it was pretty exciting sport, and jokingly suggested my engaging a school of barracuda to tow the _Miosen_ to Stockholm. He observed, however, that they would probably leave the ship at Tindhölm, as they only frequent the Gulf Stream. [Illustration: "THE FISH DARTED AWAY LIKE 'GREASED LIGHTNING.'"] [Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN BY THE MATE OF THE "MIOSEN" IN LATITUDE 30, LONGITUDE 82, SHOWING THE DIFFERENT ASPECT OF THE GREAT RIVER AND THE OCEAN.]