124 HARPOONING SWORD-FISH. 



Anon the crafty boatmen, closing round, 

 The trident hurl and deal the deadly wound. 

 The goaded fish, experience bought too late, 

 Escapes, but oft still battles hard with fate ; 

 Unvanquished, summons to his instant aid 

 The oft-tried prowess of his trusty blade ; 

 Selects some boat, and runs his puissant sword 

 Full many an inch within the fatal board. 

 Then held no more, the doughty weapon yields, 

 And crimsons with his blood the briny fields." 



Such is Oppian's story. All we can say is, that, if 

 true, the spadas were more foolish of old than they are 

 now-a-days ! 



In Sicily the sword-fish is caught with the harpoon 

 after a fashion thus described by Brydone : 



A look-out man, perched on the mast of a vessel, noti- 

 fies to his comrades the first glimpse he obtains of the 

 spada; the fishermen, who in Sicily, and indeed every- 

 where else, are much given to superstition, immediately 

 begin a measured chant, indispensable, in their opinion, 

 to success. As soon as the spada, enticed by the ditty, 

 like the dolphin by Arion's music, has come sufficiently 

 near the boat to be reached by a missile, the skilful har- 

 pooner flings his weapon, attached to a long coil of cord, 

 and seldom fails to strike and secure his victim, even 

 though at some distance. This siren song, the only tune 

 ever employed on these occasions, is so efficacious, say 

 the sailors, that the spada cannot retreat while it con- 

 tinues ; but should the enchanted " sea-monster," before 

 he is struck with the harpoon, hear a word of Italian, the 

 spell is instantly broken, the charm dissolved, and down 

 he plunges into the "vasty deep," whence no further 

 summons or incantations will again evoke him ! 



The weapon used by the harpooner is a spear made of 

 elm, a tough, tenacious wood, about thirteen feet in 



