218 Big Game Fishes 
that I lifted the fish to within twenty feet of the 
surface; then it turned and towed us directly in 
toward the reef, where a high sea was breaking. 
Chief now took the oars and pulled against the 
fish, while I labored strenuously, gaining a foot 
or two, then lying back and holding hard, while 
the fish made desperate rushes, displaying an 
indomitable spirit, making me suspicious that I 
had caught a tartar. From early youth having 
had a penchant for taking impossible fishes in 
various ways, it had often occurred to me that 
anglers were strange creatures, undergoing great 
fatigue, working, straining, being jerked this way 
and that, to conquer a big fish. Under the ban- 
ner of sport, this was pleasure; but if one was 
rewarded like the ordinary daily fisherman, how 
prosaic, how monotonous, how hard the labor 
would be. It all depends upon the point of 
view, and as I controlled my fish after a particu- 
larly heavy rush, Chief stopped rowing, and gaz- 
ing at my face, contorted with emotion, remarked, 
“Ef yo’ had to do it, sa’, it would be mighty 
hard work!” Chief could never understand 
why I insisted upon doing all the hauling while 
he was paid to do it. Chief was plainly not a 
sportsman; he had never experienced the thrill 
