Big Game at Sea 



under. A second later and I had it under view 

 myself, and a more astonishing object had never pre- 

 sented itself to me. The sail was still visible, and I 

 thought I could make out the mast; but as for the 

 hull, there was none, nothing but a ripple appearing 

 where the sail apparently joined the surface. 



" On it came, however, rapidly increasing its speed, 

 until finally, when within one hundred yards of the 

 quarter, its true nature was appreciated. It was a 

 fish, one of those monsters of the deep rarely seen a 

 gigantic swordfish over twenty feet in length, with a 

 dorsal fin rising five or eight feet from the back, pre- 

 senting the appearance of a leg-of-mutton sail, colored 

 brilliantly and flashing and scintillating in the sun- 

 light ; a truly magnificent spectacle as it moved along. 

 It was the sail-fish of the Indian Ocean, famed as 

 being the king of the swordfishes and for its huge, 

 sail-like dorsal ; and, as I found later, considered by 

 the natives as of a spiritual nature, or rather as having 

 the faculty of changing itself into a boat under full 

 sail. Its presence was looked upon as a bad omen or 

 indicative of a coming storm; but, as it happened in 

 this case, it came after the storm, so may be said to 

 have brought us good luck, or at least fair weather. 



" The sail-fish, or Histiophorus, as it is known 

 to science, is found in the Indian Ocean, and compe- 

 tent authorities state that it has been known to attain 

 a length of at least thirty feet, and being armed with 

 a sword of great strength and size, it is no mean 



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