Big Game at Sea 



fairly exposed its broad back, not ten feet away; and 

 as it glistened in the sun I hurled the grains into it 

 with all my strength. The pine handle seemed to 

 shoot into the air as it rebounded, then we became wit- 

 nesses to the extraordinary agility of this monster 

 ray. It appeared to fly into the air, rising, an appal- 

 ing mass of flesh, out of the seething waters, its side 

 wings beating the heated air as it rose, then falling 

 with a crash and the reverberating sound we had 

 listened to the night before ; fell as a square twelve by 

 ten feet and weighing a possible ton might fall. 



As the heavy waves from the impact struck the 

 boat, I stumbled into the bottom, rolling out of the 

 way of the jumping line that was now hissing from 

 the coil. The fish, after its first leap, had headed 

 directly to the south, or out to sea, and the line was 

 rising upward in coils. The Indian oarsmen rowed 

 the boat ahead to lessen the strain when it should 

 come, but so furious was the rush that I decided to 

 check the fish before the rope was exhausted, and tak- 

 ing a piece of sail-cloth as a glove I grasped a coil 

 and held on. 



The boat was well under way, but the shock was 

 terrific. Arms and muscles snapped, and for a mo- 

 ment the rope smoked through the cloth; then Chief 

 dropped his oars and took it, and we were under way 

 driving the fish by a single rein. I had used the boat 

 to capture man-eater sharks, and as a precautionary 

 measure to prevent the line from getting over the 



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