The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-02-08
HOW TO SPEAR swoRnFIsH.

description OF a Days Outing Off
Block Island-Here's a Trip You May
Take Next Summer.
Amory Austin, in a recent lecture In
New London, before the Natural His
tory society, devoted large part of the
time to relation of days experience
on the swordfshing grounds off Block
Island, condensation of which fol-
lows:
Let us take an early breakfast, and
then walk down to the quaint old har-
hor Of New Shoreham, where steamer
Ocean View, under the command of
CaptainEdwin Dodge, Is waiting for us,
ready to start at o'clock. We embark,
ladies as we'll as men, for the trip
promises to be delightful one. and
there Is no danger, not even of seasick-
ness, as the vessel Is staunch and the
water smooth. We are not going to do
the fishing ourselves, but merely to
look on and see sight we've never
seen before. You would better take
your lunch with you, as we shall not
return till 8 o'clock In the afternoon.
Twenty or thirty passengers can be
comfortably accommodated, and the
vessel Is easily manned by crew of
-FOUR.
We steam out of the harhor and pro-
coed along the shore until we have
passed the South lighthouse, and then
take course due south and directly
out to sea. The water is like glass, Its
mirror-like surface without a ripple,
and the immense plain broken only by
gentle swell--a perfect day for
swordfishing.
OH, FOR A CAMERA!
This trip to the fishing ground offers
a succession of beautiful marine pic
turss, and should craft be wanting
there Is plenty else to see-large patch
es of gulf weed float here and there
(the Gulf stream is not far away, a
shoal of bonito breaks the surface, or
there are hocks of gulls resting upon
the water and rising at our approach,
while Mother Cary's Chickens" are
everywhere along our coarse-not even
the voyage to Liverpool presents so
much variety. Should there chance to
be. breeze now and then, the "Portu-
guese man O. war" may make his APP
pearance, sailing his purple fleet
against the wind. Sometimes turtles
are seen, and on one trip the lookout
shouted that "man-eater' was along
side. Looking down into the water
saw the wicked-looking head CT a
shark, which must have been some
fifteen or twenty feet long. swimming
parallel to us and not more that ten
feet away, hoping, very likely, that
might fall overheard! Another time
whale--a little one, only thirty feet
long, took us evidently for a relation,
and accompanied us for a mile or so,
showing his entire length out of water
and not more than one hundred yards
distant Oh, that had had my camera
that day!
Gradually the high southern bluffs of
the island, the only land in sight grow
smaller In the north, until they resem-
BILE a long square bank, and then a
blush cloud upon the horizon, and at
last disappear. We are out of sight of
land, and upon the high seas" with
nothing between us and the Bahamas
to the south, or Portugal to the east.
This is the fishing ground, where the
water is from fifteen to forty fathoms
(ninety to two hundred and forty feet)
deep, though depth is of little account,
as we shall find our "game" at the sur
face. Every one on board, ladies and
all, is closly scanning the water, for
fish can be easily be seen, and an ex-
pert can detect one, two or three miles
away in this smooth sea. Should a
passenger be the first to proclaim the
presence Of our quarry and "sight the
fish," he or she is rewarded by the pre-
sertation of the sword, should the fish
be caught. So keep a bright lookout,
for the sword will make a handsome
souvenir of your voyage, and the engi-
neer will polish 1T up for you.
THE HARPOON IN PLACE.
All is ready, for as we have been pur-
suing our way the harpoon has been
mounted and set In place. There is at
the end of the bowsprit an iron stanch-
ion, or pulpit" as it is called, about
the height Of a mans waist, intended
to support the harpooner and prevent
him from falling overheard, and some
times provided with a small boat for a
seat. Across this pulpit" the harpoon
rests, ready for instant use. 1t con-
sists of a wooden shaft some fifteen
feet long, to which an iron socket Is at
fixed, terminating in an iron rod of
about two feet in length. Upon the
end Of this rod the harpoon-head is set.
have one of these brass heads called
darts or llly-irons, which has two
barbs, one behind the other socket
for the iron rod, and an eye by which 1t
is attached TO one end OF three hundred
feet Of stout line, the other end Of this
line being made fast to an empty wa
ter-tight keg. Half way along the
wooden shaft Is a leather strap
through which blight of the line may
be tucked, to keep the harpoon-head In
place, and enough of the line Is Topped
to give the shaft free play and is Sc
cured to the rigging here and there by
weak cotton string, which will hold 1t
in place until the force of the f1sh's pull
breaks 1t. The rest Of the line Hes
coiled in tub at the side of the vessel,
in such way that 1t may run easily
out when the fish is struck. The end
of the shaft Is also secured to the "pul-
pitt by long line.
What is that queer thing floating up
on the water, quarter of mile
ahead? One would think it minia-
ture vessel, a toy schooner, such as
some little boy might have lost from
the shore. and which has floated thus
far to sea- But why are it's sails
black? Why, don't you hear the man
in the cross-trees singing out? That's
the swordf1sh that we have come after