The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-03-15

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 as 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 tho surface to breathe,
while others, leaping out at full length,
fell sideways upon the water with a loud
splash, or with graceful curves of their
long, 1.-the bodies, plunged back into
their native element, leaving scarce 0
ripple to mark the place Of their disap
pearance.
Tom now stood up in the bow poising
the harpoon at 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 harpoon at it, but instead of driving
the iron through the body in vital spot,
as confidently expected he would do,
it struck the porpoise on one side, about
| two feet from the tail. The surprised
and frightened fish instantly darted off
in the direction of the vessel, running
out the full length of the line, and as it
brought up with jerk, started the boat
ahead, towing us along after it at quite
fair rate of speed. In it's 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 specializing as to the length Of
time it would take to tire the porpoise
out, when suddenly Tom exclaimed in
an excited manner:
Quick, pass me the hatchet"
1t was lying on tho seat near me, and
picking it up, passed it along to Tom,
who, hurriedly grasping it, severed the
line where it crossed over the bow of
the boat, at single stroke. At the
same moment up rose the "Old Com
modore" nearly half his length out of
the water, with his jaws closed upon
the middle of the porpoise's body, hold
ing it aloft crosswise, and shaking it
as bull dog might shake a rabbit or
other small animal Then falling back
with a heavy plash they both disap-
peared from view under the water. 1t
was fearful sight and a cold shudder
ran over me as | realized the helpless
situation of a man struggling in the
water, exposed to the voracity of such
monster.
We saw no more of the "Old Com
L., l,,4 H.,
he could be discerned swimming around
the vessel as usual but beyond the reach
of harm. This occurrence effectually
cured us of all desire for harpooning a
porpoise, and we never repeated the at
tempt while remaining on that station.
AS Tom expressed it:
1--WE ought to have known better than
to bleed porpoise in the water with so
many sharks round. just hang a dead
will slowly drip into the water, and in
twenty-four hours you will see every
shark within hundred miles crowding
around the vessel and iall crazy for
something to cat"
A statement slightly exaggerated,
but true in the main, as the writer has
several times verified by actual observ-
alton.
1t was noticeable ever afterwards that
when boat left the vessel, no matter
for what purpose, or how long absent,
the ''Old Commodore" would disappear
from sight until the boat returned. One
calm morning. as he was lying motion
less on top of the water about fifty
a,.Ic Il -, NJ hn1 1rncca1 1v
summing himself, / seized rifle, and
aiming carefully, fired at his huge dor
sal fin, one side of which was exposed to
view at'full length above the surface.
The ball struck the fin near the base,
and glanced along the side, piow!nc
large white streak in it. lie sank
quietly down under water without APP
parent alarm. and shortly afterward was
observed swimming lazily about, as
though nothing unusual had occurred.
you've left your mark on him, any
way, even if you can't catch him, and
there's some satisfaction in that" said
Tom, who had Witnessed the shooting.
A few days afterward ! was detailed
TO go inside the inlet with the cutter,
our largest beat for fresh water. The
crew consisted Cf eight men, including
Tom-five rowing, one in the bow for a
lookout, and the two others in the stern
sheets with me, all armed with short
carbines, revolvers and
cutlasses. We left the vessel about
dark; and as the sea was quite moderate,
crossed the bar safely, and steering
along between the lines of breakers on
the shoals on either side of the chan
mel, with fair tide, were soon inside.
1t was bright moonlight, and as it
would soon be high water, decided to
attempt to fill up at a spring about two
miles up the North Lagoon on the bank
of small creek, where we would have
a strip of hard sandy beach to land
upon.
Approaching the place with caution to
prevent surprise, we were fortunate in
finding no evidence Of the presence of
the enemy, and landing, soon filled the
casks we had brought along, and just as
the tide had commenced to ebb, started
on our return to the vessel.
Upon heading out the channel toward
the bar we found that quite rough
easterly swell had arisen during the