Trailing the Sea-Bat 



fish. Yes, sah, he jes pick up de anchor an 1 tote 

 it off." 



Each boy had some particular story to relate as to 

 the dangerous character of the fish and its gigantic 

 size and strength, intended to convince the listener 

 that its capture was impossible. I found that some 

 of these stories were true. A sea-bat had towed a 

 schooner up the channel, and while several attempts 

 had been made to take one of these fish, it had never 

 been accomplished in this locality. When I asked for 

 a volunteer, after announcing my intention of trying 

 this sport, the men were strangely silent. There was 

 a superstition among them that the fish had some 

 demoniac power ; that it could seize a man in its clasp- 

 ers and hold him beneath its cloak-like body and 

 smother him. I finally secured the services of Chief 

 and Paublo, and by daylight the following morning 

 we were on the water, the men pulling across the 

 channel to the long lagoon which formed the break- 

 water of the group to the east. 



My boat was a light cedar yawl, built in Boston, 

 thoroughly seaworthy and prepared for the rough 

 weather that is often experienced among the keys, by 

 having under her forward and side decks rows of 

 air-tight cans, which more than once had proved to 

 be of good service. 



For weapons of offense I had the grains of the 

 reef with which I had often taken large fishes. This 

 harpoon consisted of a two-pronged spear attached 



5 



