Big Game at Sea 



turtles lying in water but six or eight feet deep 

 a striking contrast to the white sandy floor of the 

 lagoon. Often John would scull the boat within 

 six feet of them before they awoke. It was this cir- 

 cumstance which led me into deep waters. I believed 

 that if the dinghy could be brought within fifteen 

 feet of a sleeping turtle I could slip overboard, and 

 by diving, swim up behind, grasp the victim and wear 

 it out in the shallow lagoon. 



"How long kin you stay under watah, sah? I 

 reckon it all depends on that," said Long John, and 

 he reckoned further that if I could stay there twenty 

 minutes it might be done. Bob Rand, another indis- 

 putable authority, reckoned that a big loggerhead 

 would reach around and bite off my arm, and regaled 

 me with the exciting incident of a battle royal which 

 he had witnessed between a shark and a turtle, in 

 which the latter was the conqueror. Contrary to 

 their expectations, all this only increased my desire 

 to make an attempt, and, finally, the two fishermen 

 agreed to aid me in what might be considered a train- 

 ing for the event. In a word, we were first to go 

 on what, on the reef, was termed a turtle turn. The 

 game was to be turned, then placed in a " crawl " 

 where I could, as Bob expressed it, " get my hand in " 

 for the attempt on the open reef and sea. 



All this was alluring, and the first moonlight night 

 found us crossing the channel between Garden Key 

 and Loggerhead, the twelve-oared barge propelled 



38 



