Big Game at Sea 



having hauled us in all perhaps five miles, including 

 circles and rushes, it gave signs of weakness ; its strug- 

 gles almost ceased except for an occasional lunge, and 

 from here it was towed in; yet this occupied nearly 

 two hours, owing to its repeated lapses from the 

 quiescent state. 



Reaching the beach, the line was tossed ashore, 

 and two score men pulled the shark up on the sands, 

 where it was found to measure between thirteen and 

 fourteen feet in length; but it was the girth of the 

 monster which made the greatest impression upon the 

 average observer. It was impossible to weigh the 

 huge creature, but few of those who saw it placed 

 the weight at less than fifteen hundred pounds, and 

 every ounce of it was game. 



On the Californian coast the Bonita shark abounds, 

 and in the neighborhood of Santa Catalina they 

 afford great sport. 



Recently several large Basking sharks have been 

 taken on the Californian coast; one observed by me 

 measured nearly thirty-five feet in length, small com- 

 pared to some which reach fifty or more feet in length 

 on the Atlantic coast, where there was a large and 

 important fishery a century ago. 



The progressive Japanese established a shark 

 fishery at Monterey some years ago to catch the 

 members of a large school which lay off that 

 part in summer; but the first shark they caught 

 came suddenly to life and killed several men, and 



