72 Big Game Fishes 
the boatman says, with a “list,” that its big, 
black, hypnotic eye may follow each move of the 
flier. The latter has soared nearly two hundred 
yards and begins to flag; its tail drops lower and 
lower, then touches the water to beat it furiously, 
at which there comes a rush of waters as the 
tuna attempts to seize its game. But the flying- 
fish in these few seconds of impact has stored a 
fresh supply of force, or inertia, and now soars 
away in a slightly different direction, a foot above 
the surface, the tuna still beneath it, uncertain 
whether to leap or to wait until the weary victim 
shall drop into its maw. It is here that we are 
treated to the lofty leaps of the tuna. If the 
latter is swimming deep in the chase, it occasion- 
ally dashes upward after the soaring fish, often 
missing it and rising ten or more feet into the 
air —a magnificent spectacle. Attaining its limit 
it turns gracefully and drops headlong into the 
sea. I have seen such a fish strike the flying- 
fish and send it whirling upward like a pinwheel. 
Again the tuna will seize its prey in mid-air, as 
will a man-of-war bird. 
While we have been digressing on came the 
flying-fish, crossing our bait by a lucky chance, 
or by the strategy of the boatman. We could 
