The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1881-10-28

and when we got over it the fellow in the
bow let drive and caught it right in the
tail, and off he went, the rope whistling
over the side and the boys a dancin'
around like mad to keep out of it. We
generally make the line fast to a barrel
and toss it over and let the fish tire him
self out but this didn't suit, so they
made il fast to the painter of the dory
and launched her, and tumbled in just
as the slack came taut. The dory jump
ed ahead and down they went in heap,
and one of them tumbled clean over
board We picked him up and filed
away after the boat. First they tried to
haul the fish in, but this started him in
another direction, and the rope got foul
with the rowlocks and over she went.
They all piled to the wind ard and man
aged to keep her up, though she half
| filled. He towed them for about two
miles before he let up at all, and then
they commenced to take it, and such
hauling and getting hauled you never
saw One minute they would make ten
or twelve feet on him, aud the next he
would make rush, tearing everything
and dragging the dory into the water, 81
that one had to bail ont all the time
Before we got up to them | saw n coat
waving, collar down--a signal of dis
tress-and, as they had worked to wind
ard, we sent the dingy after them, and
soon had them in tow They had all the
fishing they wanted and were glaC
enough to give it up. Their hands were
all cut up with the rope, and they were
wet through. One said the rope go,
wound round his leg and nearly broke
it, and altogether they had enough t(
last them over night. 1t was a big fel
low, though, and weighed four hundred
pounds"
'Don't they grow larger than that?'
"Bless you, yes,' continued the skip
per, who was evidently on favorit,
topic. 81 crossed the Bay of Benga
once, and one evening, it was a dea(
calm, mind you, we saw some kind of ;
craft tearing down on us about the siz
of ships cutter with a leg o muttol
sail rugged fore and aft 1t came with
terrible rush, the sail waving to an,
fro, colored blue like, and in minut,
had shot by astern, and we saw it was
swordfsh near thirty feet long if h
had ever struck us, goodbye. The.
call them sailor fish there, and the toI
fin is about fifteen or sixteen feet high
when they are on the surface it stand
out of water just like a sail, and tn
sword when cut off would be abou
hirtcen feet long and good lift for
man. The fin is colored beautiful blue
and as they come rushing along, the sal
whistlng in the wind, with wave o
foam ahead, tell you it's pretty sight
| afterward saw boat smashed by one
The natives along the coast tackle them
and have big log fastened to the rope
and then they toss the log over, and ge
out of the way as fast as they can; an
when the fish is all played out they to,
him in. The one | saw had about hr
boats around him. AS soon as it wa
! struck it made rush and went clea
through one, and cut at the pieces righ
and left The men managed to ge
away and so did the fish. | saw tn
boat on the beach afterward, and som
of the places had been cut through a
slick as if it had been done with
knife"
"Do they catch fish in that way
, "Yes; | have often seen n swordfis
!, , rush into a school of menhaden. The
swing the sword right and left, up an
down, darting where the fish are tn
:, thickest, and you can actually folio
4 them by the trail of blood and halvt
of fishes When they have kille
'. enough they sink, and pick up the piec,
y as they sink. They're great jumper
= I've seen one spring clear ten feet into Il
all, land thrash around as if crazy, dart G
y on the surface and turn over, all on a
u u count of a little parasite that bores in
u the skin and drives them almost Graz
u In the South seas the people use the b
e rs swords, fixing some kind of hand
-, - on them, and in some of the larger on'
y where the sword is of great length, tn
~ are welded by both hands, and fol-
Is terrible weapons in the hands of a lar
~ ~ man, who could bring down two or TIN
~ persons at blow.
ss 'Sawfish and swordfsh never seem
y get along together" continued the SIX
~ per. II was coming out of Chesapea
~ bay once, drifting along about five mi
Is TO the south'ard of Cape Charles, it
ing dead calm, when all at once
u saw a great splashing around about ii
ty yards astern, ! went aloft and saw
g a sawfish and swordhsh fighting |
~ mad. The sawfish's best chance was
-. keep in close quarters, and the way
vi pounded that swordfish was a caut
~ The saw would swing so fast you could
,'s see it, and then the fish would back
as if he was trying to tear the other. ]
au sword6sh hacked away at the same til
he but the skin of the other was too thi
sa a and so they had it, now out of water
'Ae now in, for about ten minutes, All ha
us were watching in the rigging, but al
!" once the swordfsh made off, leaving
iSo' other lashing away as if blind with ra
,ne 1t wasn't second hardly before a
'u' fin was seen ten feet off, and like S
.ho the swordfsh had struck the other
ha. iammed his sword clean through l
pu' They both rose in the air with the shC
ny and then the struggle commenced as
Inu The swOrdfsh was fast and couldn't
,,ey out, and the other was half dead,so n
h1s here we took hand, lowered boat
~ harpooned them both, rugged ia
nA and got them aboard. The sword
-, broken the backbone of the other
niP and it was so wedged in that they w
'nu m both have been gobbled up by the
'n ''he shark that came along"
'no Here some one hailed the skipper,
d the information that the tide was on
90, So' ebb, and we parted company.
i"r, York Sun.
it, "Who grasps much holds little"
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