NONSUCH 



The most successful method of individual collect- 

 ing on Almost Island is with a fish pole and a dyna- 

 mite cap at the end. " Fisherman's luck " is a 

 truism where traps, nets and angling are concerned, 

 but this underwater shooting which I have invented 

 elevates the collecting of fish into the realm of true 

 sport. 



On one of my last descents I located two schools 

 of young fish. I had a hand net, but I might as well 

 have tried to capture a pheasant on the wing with 

 a butterfly net. The net swung so slowly through 

 this dense medium that the youngsters did not even 

 hurry, they simply slipped to one side into safety. 



I ascended swiftly, asked for the dynamite cap, 

 and descended. Sand once more underfoot I saw 

 the fish pole standing upright beside me. With my 

 net in my belt, the pole in my right hand, the in- 

 sulated electric wire in the other, I was ready for 

 action. I drifted slowly toward the smaller school 

 of iridescent fish, stretched out my pole into their 

 midst as far as I could, turned my head and pulled 

 thrice on a small rubber cable. Instantly my ears 

 were deafened and my body and limbs tingled as 

 from a wholesale electric shock. I invariably felt of 

 the edges of the glass after an explosion to see if all 

 was right. Formerly I used to rest the apparatus 

 on a bit of projecting reef and placing some bait 

 near the cap, fire it from a distance. Now I do not 

 mind holding the end of the five-foot pole, but as 

 yet I have not been able to summon sufficient cour- 

 age to face the explosion. 



42 



