TARN. 45 TARPON FISHING. TARN, fiirn. A southern (lop.irtment of Franco, in Languedoc, bounded on the north by the departments of Aveyron and Tarn-etGaronne (Map: France, J 8). Area, 2217 square miles; population, in 1891^ 346,739; in 1901, 332,093. The surface is in general elevated and well wooded, and is watered by the river Tarn. In the south and southeast are oii'shoots of the Cevennes. Coal, iron, copper, and lead are mined and there are lucrative deposits of gj'psuni and porcelain clay. The vine is extensively culti- vated, and there are manufactures of spirituous liquors, woolens, cottons and silks, iron, leather, and paper. Albi is the capital. TARN-ET-GARONNE, a ga'ron'. A south- ern department of Franco, formed mainly out of the old Province of Guienne (Map: France, H 7). Area. 1436 square miles; population, in 1891, 206,596: in 1901. 195.669. The surface is marked by plateaus with an average altitude of 1000 feet, the highest hills not rising above 1600 feet. The principal rivers are the Garonne and its affluents, the Tarn and Aveyron. Cereals are raised in great quantities, and the grapevine and mulberry are extensively cultivated. Mules and poultry are raised : coal and iron are mined ; marble is quarried, and there are manufactures of woolens, linens, silk, iron, cutlery, and beet sugar. Capital, Montauban. TARNOPOL, tiir'nd-pol. A town of Oalicia, Austria, 76 miles east of Lemberg. on the Sereth (Map: Austria, J 2). Among the industrial establishments are refineries for spirits, brew- eries, and steam mills. The population of the commune in 1900 was 32,082, about half Poles and half Jews. TARNOVSKI, tarnov'skl, Stanislw, Count (1837 — ). A Polish historian of literature, born at Dzikov, Galicia. He studied in Cracow and Vienna, spent nearly two years in confinement, implicated in the revolt of 1863, was elected to the Galician Diet and the Austrian Reichsrat in 1867, then devoted himself entirely to literary studies, and in 1871 was appointed professor of Polish literature at the University of Cracow. In 1885 he became a member of the Austrian House of Lords, and in 1890 president of the Cracow Academy of Sciences. With Szujski he established the conservative Przeglad Polski. in which he published many of his literary mono- graphs, distinguished by thoroughness, keen judgment and elegance of style. His writings include a Histori/ of the Pre-Christian Era, es- says On the Polish 'Novel in the 19th Century and On the Decadence of Polish Literature in the ISth Century, On the Comedies of Fredro, Schiller's Dramas, Shakespeare in Poland, but above all his valuable principal work. Studya do hisioryi literatury polslciej (Studies in the His- tory of Polish Literature, 1886-92). TARNOW, tiir'nov. A town df Galicia, Aus- tria, 137 miles west of Lemberg, on the Dunajec, near its confluence with the Biala (Map: Aus- tria, G 1 ) . The chief manufactures are of agri- cultural implements; there are steaTii. flour, and saw mills. The population of the commune, in 1900. was 33.974, .of whom nearly two-thirds were Poles and the remainder Jews. TARO. A popular name for Colocasia anti- quorum, and especially for its variety esculen- tinn, a native plant of India which is cultivated in warm climates, especially in the islands of the Pacilic, where it forms a principal food. Its starchy, stem-like tuberous root is boiled or baked, made into bread or into poi, a fermented product. The young leaves and tender leaf- stalks are used respectively like spinach and asparagus. TARPAN. The Mongolian name for the wild ass, kiang, or dziggetai, of the high plateaus of Central Asia. See Ass. TARPEIAN (tiir-pe'yan) ROCK (Lat. Rupes Tarpeia ) . The name applied to a portion of the southern part of the Capitoline Hill in Rome. According to tradition, in the time of Romulus, Tarpeia (a vestal virgin), the daughter of Tarpeius', governor of the Roman citadel on the Capitoline. covetous of the golden ornaments of the Sabine soldiery, and tempted by their con- sent to give her what they wore on their left arms, opened a gate of the fortress to the Sabine King, Titus Tatius, who had come to revenge the rape of the Sabine women. The Sabines crushed Tarpeia to death beneath their shields, and she was buried in the part of the hill which bears her name. From early times criminals were fre- quently put to death by being hurled from the Tarpeian rock. The whole southern end of the Capitoline is marked by scarped clifls, the height of which has doubtless been much diminished by the accumulation of debris at the foot. It is impossible to determine precisely what portion of these cliflfs is the true Tarpeian Rock. TARPON (from the North American Indian name), or Tarpum. A great herring-like fish [Tarpon Atlanticus or Megalops thrissoides) of the West Indies and neighboring waters, which, with a few other species scattered about the tropical world, represents the isospondylous fam- ily Elopidse. This fish is regarded by many ang- lers as affording sport with a rod and line su- perior to that given by any other fish. The tar- pon (see Colored Plate of American Game Fishes, accompanying article Trout) has some- thing the shape of a salmon, and great power in swimming and leaping. It is often six feet in length and may weigh 100 pounds. It preys upon other fishes and small fry. The flesh is poor and not much valued as food, but the great silvery cycloid scales are much used in orna- mental work. Another species of the family, the 'ten-pounder' (FAops sanrns) , is about half as large ; it is abundant about all tropical coasts, and is known under a great variety of names. TARPON FISHING. The sport of angling for tarpon (q.v. ) with rod and line is the most skillful and exciting which America affords. The angler goes in a small boat some distance from shore, with an experienced man to row it, and uses a heavy rod, 7V2 to 8 feet long, with a multiplying reel, 200-2.50 yards of linen line, and a spoon-bait. When a fish weighing per- haps 100 pounds seizes this, and begins those rushes and mighty leaps which have given the 'silver king' the just title of 'greatest of game fishes,' the power and science of the angler arc both tested in the highest degree. Excelhnt tarpon-fishing may usually he obtained all around the southern coast of Florida and its reefs ; and also along the coast of Texas. Con-
