150 FISHING GOSSIP. 
thing contained in the net, this individual exclaimed. 
that if the devil were there he would fetch him out, 
and then, turning upward his shirt-sleeves, he pro- 
ceeded to grasp in good earnest the fish that were in 
the purse. But this formidable ray was a match for 
all this bluster, and presently this man uttered a yell 
to the full as loud as the scream of his comrade, on 
hearing which all was consternation on board the 
boat. The cause evidently was a fish, but of what 
sort no one seemed to imagine. It was clear that 
something must be done, and by some means yet 
untried ; and after some consideration, one of the 
company procured a pole, and with it he made a 
thrust at the fish, in the supposition that at a safe 
distance he might do so with impunity. In this, 
however, he found himself mistaken ; and, as in the 
instance of the case mentioned by the Greek poet 
Oppian, where the shock passed through the line, a 
shock was sent through his limbs, and, like his com- 
rades, he fell down to the bottom of the boat. For- 
tunately it happened that among these fishermen 
there was one who possessed some knowledge of the 
nature of a fish able to exert powers which might 
produce the effects witnessed, and all the crew were 
resolute in their determination not to be overcome. 
Various then were the contrivances they were prepared 
to adopt to get their formidable assailant on board ; 
and yet it so happened that before they succeeded, 
