194 DAHLAK 



to the surface dragging it behind me with the line, thinking 

 that perhaps I had paralysed it. Suddenly, nine feet from the 

 surface, the mackerel shot up from below at a terrific speed 

 and charged me with its eyes shut. I just managed to protect 

 my face with my arms when it hit my head with its snout, 

 turned my mask over, twisted, and hit me on the hip with 

 the arrow sticking in it. *Now, Fm going to drown,' I told 

 myself. When I had succeeded in emptying the mask of 

 water (the glass was miraculously intact) I looked around 

 expecting a new attack — only my gun hanging from a spike 

 five yards below was to be seen. The mackerel had gone, 

 but the harpoon was in its proper place. One of the two 

 wings had been broken and the one remaining still held a 

 piece of flesh. 



Third episode. This happened in exactly the same spot as 

 episode number two and not more than half a minute later. 

 I just had time to stand on a coral pinnacle with my head 

 barely out of the water, and adjust my mask. I bent over 

 ready to dive in to retrieve my gun . . . and a shark, not a 

 black-fin but something fairly impressive, scraped past under 

 my stomach, sending me nearly spinning, snapped up one 

 of the little scombrid corpses and flew away as it came, like 

 lightning. I had not noticed that little scombrid lying a yard 

 from me. In any case there were dozens of others knocking 

 about. It just had to have that one. 



I got the gun and went back to the boat. 



