A Sportsman 327 



It has been very interesting for me to hear the 

 yarns from some of the old whalers and sailors, too 

 numerous to recite, and in some instances perhaps 

 beyond reasonable belief. A recitation of their yarns 

 would fill a tolerably good-sized book. It was a 

 favorite frequenting place of mine at the pier dur- 

 ing the several months I was a resident of Monterey, 

 early in the afternoon, to see the catches of fish which 

 came in by the returning fishermen, for the varieties 

 of fishes were numerous, with an occasional show- 

 ing of something remarkable, out of the regular 

 line. 



One of their accounts relating to the "killers," which 

 I have referred to, interested me very much, of which 

 I have remembrance of seeing some account in some 

 newspaper, and, although of extravagant quality, 

 I will put it together as best I can ; for the account, 

 seemingly so improbable as it would appear to many, 

 does not seem so to me, and if the incidents relating 

 to the aid given to the whalers by the killers did not 

 take place, I believe that they could be made to occur. 



The scene of action was at Twofold Bay, a deep- 

 water harbor off the southern coast of New South 

 Wales, one noted for its varieties of fishes, as Monterey 

 Bay is on the California Coast. 



The killers, though not numerous there, frequented 

 the bay to some extent, and my informant had 

 witnessed their actions in different waters and when 

 in combat with whales, and in one instance when 

 they were accompanied by a thresher shark of enor- 

 mous proportions acting in union, which dealt fear- 

 ful blows upon a whale attacked, with its striking 

 tail, its adaptation in that respect being remarkable, 



