L iicicrside of the big devilfish, which measured eighteen feet from tip to lip of the large tins. The l:iil ol :i 

 devilfish is normally about as long as the extreme width of the animal 



feet as in the lances used on whales. 

 The l)ig' drogue kept the fish always near, 

 and for twenty-two minutes we had possi- 

 bly the most dangerous hght ever fought 

 out successfully on the water with any 

 living creature. The wounded de\ilfish 

 kept plunging l^elow, then throwing 

 herself half out of the water, and as she 

 followed these maneuvers hy short rushes 

 on the surface, accompanied l)y violent 

 blows, I quickly realized that the safest 

 place for the l)oat was on the fish's back, 

 and I directed accordingly. 



The water was so thick that the Mania 

 could not be seen until very near the 

 surface, but Charlie kept the slack of 

 his iiarpoon hauled in and the line showed 

 the direction in which the fish was 

 traveling under water. Captain Jack 

 steered the l)oat, which was kept run- 

 ing, and that it was well handled is 

 shown l)y the fact that not once in more 

 than a dozen rushes did the de\ilfish 

 reach the surface without finding our 

 boat on her back. Each time I drove 

 the lance through her heart or brain 

 one or more times, and after the fight 

 she showed twenty-three such wounds. 



224 



The four-hundred-and-five-calibre Win- 

 chester rifle and the big whale gun were 

 in their racks under the cap of the boat, 

 but I did not attempt to use them; a 

 sensation hard to describe, which must be 

 the blood lust of primitive man, makes 

 the hand lance the one weapon of all 

 others that yields the most satisfaction. 

 No matter how frightened or excited a 

 man may be, just let him put every 

 ounce of his brute strength behind the 

 thrust of a hand lance, and all sense of 

 fear leaves him; as he again and again 

 drives home and reco\'ers the lance, every 

 sensation l)ut simple blood lust appears 

 to l)e dead and he would not trade the 

 lance for any other weapon. 



Through all this fight there was one 

 uncertain and disturbing factor that we 

 were not in a position to guard against — 

 namely, that the great male mate of 

 the wounded Mania kept near us un- 

 til the fight was over and three times 

 nearly capsized us by pushing the boat 

 from the l)ack of the female. Once, just 

 after we had been nearly capsized by a 

 heavy blow from the head of the male, 

 and when the female was fighting most 



