FLORIDA AND THE WEST INDIES 129 



Had the monster under our keel but guessed its 

 strength, not for ten seconds could I have kept it 

 on so short a rein, much less brought it closer to the 

 surface. But, true to its nature, it preferred its 

 bondage, and at last there was evidence of its tiring. 

 There was even more evidence of my own exhaus- 

 tion, and I tell Underbill that the end must come, 

 whatever it is, before I loose hold of the rod. He 

 therefore reluctantly gets out the oars and pulls 

 slowly for the beach. That is to say, he puts all 

 his weight (which is not much) into the job, but the 

 boat, which ordinarily would fly through the water, 

 makes about a yard a minute. It is like towing a 

 yacht with the dinghy. We are passing near the 

 flotilla, and I sing out to an American in the nearest 

 boat to bring along his " gun," since there can be no 

 gaffing such monster until it has a pound or so of lead 

 in its skull. When we are still within twenty or 

 thirty yards of the shore, I get the shark alongside, 

 almost at the surface, and, as its length tallies 

 exactly with that of the boat, we know that it must 

 measure just 14 ft. In depth it appears to measure, 

 so far as we can see, quite 6 ft., which means an 

 immense displacement. Judging therefore by a far 

 smaller example of the same species, known there- 

 abouts as Leopard Shark, and not unlike a brindled 

 porbeagle, which was got to the beach last week 

 by the doctor on a yacht, and which scaled just over 

 300 Ibs., Underbill puts this one at nearer 1200 Ibs. 

 than 1000 Ibs. In comes the line, an inch or two 

 at a time, everything strained by the great weight 

 of the fish to the verge of breaking. As, in no 

 more than a couple of fathoms of water, it finally 

 comes to the surface on one side of my boat, the 



