The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-12-28
THE MAINE STATE PRESS.
ATTACKED BY DOG FISH.
A TriIIing story Of the Bay Of Fundy.
[Cnicago Tines

| owner of the shad-boat, who went for fish
A word of explanation here. The shad-
fishing of the Bay of Fundy is carried on foI
the most part by drifting" The boats en-
ployed are roomy, heavy, singls-masted craft,
with ''euddy," or forward cabin, in which
two men may sleep with comfort. These
crafts, when loaded, draw several feet of
water and are hard to float off when they
chance to run aground. They carry deep
keel and are stanch sea- bOats-as all boats
need to be that navigate the rude waters of
Fundy.
When we had gained few cable lengths
from shore the breeze freshened slightly. 1t
was mere zephyr, but it drove the boat too
fast for us to pay out the net. We furled the
sail and thrust the boat along slowly with
our heavy sweeps, while Chris paid out the
net over the stern.
These Fundy boats sometimes stay out
several tides. making haul with each tide,
BUTT was our intention merely to drift out
with this ebb and return by the next flood.
1t was slow work for a while. We ate,
told stories, Speculated as to how many fish
Were entangling themselves in our meshes,
and at about O'Clock appealed to Chris to
haul In.
The tremendous Fundy tide had drfted us
In i've hours over twenty miles, We decided
to run the boat into the mouth of a small
river on our right to take good swim before
we started on the return trip. The plan was
accepted by Chris, and we set ourselves to
haul in the net.
In the centre of the boat stood two huge
tubs, into which we threw the silvery shad
as we took them from the meshes. When
we found stray skate, sauid, or sculpin we
returned 1t to its native element; but small
salmon we welcomed as a special prize, and
laid it away in wrapping of sail-cloth
The catch proved to be rather light one.
though Chris aYerred it was as good as any
he had made that year.
why, what has become of the shad ?"
asked the rector. 1t seems to me that in
former years one could sometimes fill these
tubs in single trip"
AYE. aye" growled Chris, that's true
enough sir! But the fshin' ant now what
It used to be-, and it's all along o. them
blamed dog fish,
What do the dog-fish have 10 do with it ?"
l asked
do with it?" answered Chris. "Why,
they eat 'em. They eat everything they kin
clap Their eye onto. They're thicker'n bees
IL these here waters the last year or two
back"
They are kind Of small shark. be.
liaVn2 p, mt in tho rector a n tana nf i'aaHirr,
Wen, | reckon as how they be. An
heern tell of. because they kinder hunt in
packs like, an nOthin' ant n goin' to escape
them once they gil onto it. I've caught 'em
nigh onto five foot long, but mostly they run
from three to four foot. They're spry, tell
you, an with mouth onto them like fox
trap. They re the worst varmin that swims,
an good fer nothin' but to make lie out OF
ther livers."
"Pve seen them called the hounds Of the
sea, said b. Are they bold enough to
attack man?"
They'd attack an elephant if they could
get him in the water An they'd eat him,
too" said Chris.
II hope they won't put in an appearance
while we're taking our SWIM" remarked
the rector. 81 don't think we had better
swim far ont"
By this time we were near the mouth of
the stream, a broad, shallow estuary 800 or
400 yards wide. In the middle was gravelly
sh0al which was barely uncovered at low
water, and was then marked by a line of sea-
weed and small stones. We bore up the
northern charmed and saw that the shores
were stony and likely to afford us a firm
landing, but the channel was unfamiliar to
Chris, and suddenly, with a soft thud, we
found ourselves aground in mud bank, 100
yards from shore. The tide had vet few
inches to fall, and we knew that we were
fast for an hour or so.
When we got ourselves out of our clothes
the surface of the shoal in mid-channel was
bare. 1t was about fifty yards from the boat
and we decided to swim over to 1t and look
for anemones and star-fsh B., whn was
an Indifferent swimmer, took all oar along
with him to rest on ii he should get tired
We laughed at him for the precautioD, as the
distance was SO short, but he retorted
IF any Of these sea dogs should turn up
you'll find that said oar will come in pretty
handy"
The water was Of a delicious temperature
and we swan, hoated and basked in a leis-
WhAn xsrtl hpA m ho a
tide was about to turn. The FuDdy tides
may be said to have practically no slack;
they have to travel so fast and so far that
they waste no time in idleness. We hailed
Chris, whom we had left in the boat and told
him the tide had turned.
Chris rose from his lounging attitude in
the stern and took look at the water. The
next moment he was on his feet yelling: "All
aboard! All aboard! Here's the dog fish
a-c0min'!"
rector stopped us. "Back!" be commanded
They're upon us already and our only
chance is here in the shoal water till Chris
can get the boat over to us"
Even as he spoke we noted some small
black inns cutting the water between The
boat and our shOal. We turned back with
alacrity.
The first thing Chsis did was to empty both
barrels Of my fowling-piece among the adj
vancing fins. At once great turmoil en-
sued, caused by the struggles of two or three
wounded dOg-fsh. The next moment their
struggles were brought TO an end. Their
companions tore them to pieces in a twink
ling.
The rector shouted to Chris to throw US
the boat-hook. 1t was long throw, but
Chris's snews rose to the emergency and the
boat hook landed nearly at our feet. The
boat-hook was followed by broken gaff
which struck the sand at the other side of the
shoal
Meanwhile between US and the boat the
water had become alive with dOg-fiSh. Our
sEOal sloped SO abruptly that already they
could swim up to within two or three feet of
US. We knew that the tide would soon bring
them upon us and we turned cold as we
thought what our fate would be unless Chris
could reach us in time. Then the battle
began.
b - and | with our awkward weapons
managed to stun a couple of our assailants.
The rector's bOat-h0Ok did more deadly exc
cutiod; it tore the throat out of the first fish
it struck. AT once the pack scented their
comrades blood, darted on the wounded fish,
devoured it, and crowded after us for more.
Our blows with the oar and gait served
temporarily to disable our assailants, bat
not cash their tough skin. But the moment
blood was started on one Of our enemies his
comrades finished the work for us. Almost
every stroke Of the boat-hOol took a fish,
which straightway become food for its fell
lows. The most could do with my gaff was
TO tap a uOB-Hsn on tne neau Wnen i could
and stun him for awhile.
During these exciting minutes the tide was
rising with terrible speed. The water that
now come washing over our toes was lather
of foam and blood, through which sharp,
dark fins and long keen bodies darted aud
crowded and snapped.
Suddenly one fish, fiercer than the rest,
made dart at B s lrg, and its sharp
snuut just grazed the skin, causing him to
yell with horror. We tried to get our feet
out of the water by standing on the highest
stones we could find. Our arms were weary
from welding the oar and the gaff, but the
rector's boat-hook kept up its deadly lunges,
Chris had been firing among our assail
ants; he behed our strait, threw down the
gun, and strained furiously on mis- one oar
iu the endeavGr to shove of the boat. She
would not bulge.
"Boys, brace up! brace up" cried the
rector. She'll float iii another minute or
two. Wecan give these chaos all they want "
AS he spoke his bOat-hOok ripped another fish
open. He had caught the knack Of 81 nsinp