52 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



fishes and hard fighters, except the rohu and mahseer 

 that Mr. Thomas describes in India, and it fell to my 

 luck — that ephemeral, evanescent something which 

 Dr. Van Dyke apostrophizes — to kill, under condi- 

 tions favorable to the game, the first very large leaping 

 tuna taken with rod and reel. I had dreamed dreams 

 about this possibility; had seen preposterous and wild- 

 eyed tunas rushing through the hazy stuff that dreams 

 are made of, years before; had seen other anglers, who 

 had not tried so hard nor so long, take the first fish; 

 had hooked them dozens of times; had known strong 

 men to be laid low; had had my six hundred feet of 

 line jerked from the reel with a buzz and a cry that 

 sent the blood to the danger point; and at last I sat, 

 breathless and nearly exhausted, and gazed at the 

 six feet of blue and silver, a type of all that is vigorous 

 and game among fishes; sat and watched the strange 

 far-reaching quiver of the dying gladiator of the tribe 

 that was imparted to boat and men. Four hours 

 before the strike had come; and, as the boatman said, 

 it was one round of four hours, with no "time"; four 

 hours of rushing, pulling, sounding, excitement, and 

 strenuous endeavor. Big tunas had doubtless been 

 caught before; they had been harpooned, caught with 

 ropes, shot, perhaps with bombs, or trapped in nets 

 of rope, but this splendid fish had been tricked and 

 played to a finish, with a line so light that a jerk would 

 have broken it. Technically, in the language of the 

 angler, the line was a number twenty-one. So there 

 were no regrets; the game had been fairly killed, and 

 more than once had had me on what is called the 

 ''run." 

 I believe this fish, which was six feet four inches in 



