The Colfax chronicle., 1890-05-17

breath Of air stirring, - I was leaning
against the rail amidships, idly watch
ine the gsmbols Of school of porpoises
near NJ, Tom slipped up alongside OF me
and said:
''wouldn't you like to catch one OF
those porpoises, sir?"
THAT / would, Tom, but how are we
going to do it?r
81 think we can contrive to stesi up
near enough in the dingey to put the
harpoon into one" he replied.
Every well, well try it," said l; and
obtaining the requisite permission, we
lowered the dingey, our smallest boat
and of we started with twome pulling,
myself in the stern steering, and Tom
in the bow with the harpoon, to which
one end Of long line was fastened,
while the other end was secured to the
forward thwart
Rowing cautiously and making IS lit
tie noise as possible, We soon found our
selves in the midst Of the porpoises,
which could be seen in all directions,
some rising to the surface to breathe,
while others, leaping out at full length.
fell sideways upon thewater with loud
splash, or with graceful curves Of their
long, 1.-the bodies, plunged back into
their native element, leaving scarce ,
ripple 70 mark the place Of their disap-
pearance.
Tom now stood up in the bow poising
| the harvoon 1T arms length, above his
head, in his right hand, while using his
left to signify to me the direction in
which to steer. Suddenly large por-
poise broke the water about fifteen feet
ahead Of US, to blow. Tom instantly darted
the hsrpo>,n at it, but instead Of driving
the iron through the body in vital spot,
Is confidently expected he would do.
Is struck the porpoise ON one side, about
1.-TWO feet from the tail. The surprised
and frightened fish instantly darted of
in the direction of the vessel, running
out the full length of the line, and as 1t
brought up with jerk, started the boat
ahead. towing us along after it at quite
. fair rate Of speed. In Its frantic
efforts to escape, the porpoise leaped
out of the water at full length several
times. but finally settled down to a
steady pull Just under the surface of the
water. We were enjoying the sensation
of being pulled along in this novel man
ner, and speculating as to the length Of
time it would take to tire the porpoise
out, when suddenly Tom exclaimed in
an excited manner:
sQuick, pass me the hatchet!"
l t. ~.~c 1,xs,, - <1,o coo voor ma and
picking it up, 1 passed it along to Tom
who, hurriedly grasping it, severed the
line where it crossed over the bow O
the boat, at single stroke. At thu
same moment up rose the ''Old Com
modore" nearly half his length out o
the water. with his jaws closed upoI
the middle Of the porpoise's body, hold
ing it aloft crosswise, and shaking i
as a bull dog might shake . rabbit o
other small animal. Then falling bacl
with a heavy plash they both disap
peared from view under the water.
was fearful sight and cold shudde
ran over me as l realized the helpless
situation Of man struggling in tn
water, exposed to the voracity of such
monster.
We saw no more of the 'Old Com
modore" that day, but the next morning
he could be discerned swimming aroun,
the vessel as usual, but beyond the reacl
of harm. This occurrence effectuall,
cured us of all desire for harpooning
porpoise, and we never repeated the al
tempt while remaining on that station
; As Tom expressed it:
"we ought to have known better tha
to bleed porpoise in the water with 9
many sharks round. Just hang . dea
porpoise or turtle up 90 that the bloc
will slowly drip into the water, and i
twenty-four hours you will see ever
shark within hundred miles crowdin
around the vessel, and fall crazy fo
something to eat"
/ A statement slightly exaggerated
J but true in the main, as the writer ha
} several times verified by actual obser,
alton. 1
. 1t was noticeable ever afterwards ths
, when boat left the vessel, no matte
for what purpose. or how long absen
the s'Old Commodore" would disappes
from sight until the boat returned. On
calm morning, rs he was lying motion
less on top of the water about fift
: yards distant from the vessel, apparentl
: summing himself, / seized . rife, an
aiming carefully, fred at his huge do
sal I'm, one side Of which was exposed
} view at full length above the surfac
The ball struck the I'm near the bas
, and glanced along the side, plowinR
large whito streak in it. He san
quietly down under water without q
) parent alarm, and shortly afterward wa
. observed swimming lazily about, I
. though nothing unusual had occurred.
you've left your mark on him, an
t way, even II you can't catch him, an
: there's some satisfaction In that" sa.
( Tom, who had Witnessed the shooting
Q A few days afterward was detaift
/ to 90 inside the inlet with the cutie
I our largest boat, for fresh water. tt
1 crew consisted of eight men, includir
} Tom-five rowing, one in the bow for