150 FISHING GOSSIP. 



thing contained in the net, this individual exclaimed 

 that if the devil were there he would fetch him out, 

 and then, turning upward his shirt-sleeves, he pro- 

 ceeded to grasp in good earnest the fish that were in 

 the purse. But this formidable ray was a match for 

 all this bluster, and presently this man uttered a yell 

 to the full as loud as the scream of his comrade, on 

 hearing which all was consternation on board the 

 boat. The cause evidently was a fish, but of what 

 sort no one seemed to imagine. It was clear that 

 something must be done, and by some means yet 

 untried ; and after some consideration, one of the 

 company procured a pole, and with it he made a 

 thrust at the fish, in the supposition that at a safe 

 distance he might do so with impunity. In this, 

 however, he found himself mistaken ; and, as in the 

 instance of the case mentioned by the Greek poet 

 Oppian, where the shock passed through the line, a 

 shock was sent through his limbs, and, like his com- 

 rades, he fell down to the bottom of the boat. For- 

 tunately it happened that among these fishermen 

 there was one who possessed some knowledge of the 

 nature of a fish able to exert powers which might 

 produce the effects witnessed, and all the crew were 

 resolute in their determination not to be overcome. 

 Various then were the contrivances they were prepared 

 to adopt to get their formidable assailant on board ; 

 and yet it so happened that, before they succeeded, 



