SAILFISH 



hoped he would jump right into that boat. After- 

 ward these anglers told me they expected him to 

 do just that and were scared to death. Also they 

 said a close sight of him leaping was beautiful and 

 thrilling in the extreme. 



I did not keep track of all this sailfish's leaps, but 

 Sam recorded twenty-three, and that is enough for 

 any fisherman. I venture to state that it will not 

 be beaten very soon. When he stopped leaping we 

 drew him away from the other boat, and settled 

 down to a hard fight with a heavy, stubborn, game 

 fish. In perhaps half an hour I had him twenty 

 yards away, and there he stayed while I stood up 

 on the stern to watch him and keep clear of the pro- 

 peller. He weaved from side to side, exactly like 

 a tired swordfish, and every now and then he would 

 stick out his bill and swish! he would cut at the 

 leader. This fish was not only much larger than 

 any I had seen, but also more l^rilliantly colored. 

 There were suggestions of purple that reminded me 

 of the swordfish^ — that royal purple game of the 

 Pacific. Another striking feature was that in cer- 

 tain lights he was a vivid green, and again, when 

 deeper, he assumed a strange, triangular shape, much 

 like that of a kite. That, of course, was. when he 

 extended the wide, waving sail. I was not able to 

 see that this sail afforded him any particular aid. 

 It took me an hour to tire out this sailfish, and when 

 we got him in the boat he measured seven feet and 

 six inches, which was four inches longer than any 

 record I could find then. 



At eleven o'clock I had another in the boat, mak- 

 ing four sailfish in all. We got fourteen jumps out 



83 



