364 Big Game Fishes 
The boatman deliberately knocked the ashes 
out of his pipe, rolled up his sleeves, looked 
around the points of the compass, and then taking 
his place by my side picked up the line, while I 
went forward, took the oars, and prepared to enjoy 
his agony. At that precise moment the boatman 
attempted to haul vigorously and broke the line. 
It was cowardly, but I could not resist remarking, 
“You don’t seem to understand these big fish,” 
to which there was no answer. The fisherman 
couldn’t do it justice and stood silent, merely 
looking at me. 
This being a sockdolliger, it is an easy matter 
to estimate its weight, which was between five 
and six hundred pounds; at least the great hali- 
but of these waters (Hzppoglossus hippoglossus, 
Linn.) is known to attain this weight, and so far 
as mere size and strength are concerned, ranks 
with the tarpon, tuna, the great South American 
arapaima, and other huge fishes. It was very 
evident that could a medium-sized fish be found 
and hooked in shallow water, it would afford no 
little sport. As to the actual maximum size of 
this fish, Nilsson reports one from the Swedish 
coast which weighed seven hundred and twenty 
pounds; and Gloucester fishermen have a record 
