THE SWORDFISH FISHERY. , 821 
6. THE PERILS AND THE ROMANCE OF SWORDFISHING. 
The pursuit of the swordfish i is much more exciting than ordinary fishing, for it resembles the 
hunting of large animals upon the land, and partakes more of the nature of the chase. There is 
no slow and careful baiting and patient waiting, and no disappointment caused by the accidental 
capture of worthless “bait-stealers.” The game is seen and followed, and outwitted by wary 
tactics, and killed by strength of arm and skill. The swordfish is a powerful antagonist some- 
times, and sends his pursuers’ vessel into harbor leaking, and almost sinking, from injuries which 
he has inflicted. I have known a vessel to be struck by wounded swordfish as many as twenty 
times in one season. There is even the spice of personal danger to give savor to the chase 
for the men are occasionally injured by the infuriated fish. One of Captain Ashby’s crew was 
severely wounded by a swordfish, which thrust his beak through the oak floor of a boat on which 
he was standing and penetrated about two inches in his naked heel. The strange fascination 
draws men to this pursuit when they have once learned its charm. An old swordfisherman, who 
had followed the pursuit for twenty years, told me that when he was on the cruising ground he 
fished all night in his dreams, and that many a time he has bruised his hands and rubbed the skin 
off his knuckles by striking them against the ceiling of his bunk when he raised his arms to thrust 
the harpoon into visionary monster swordfishes. 
7. LANDSMEN’S DESCRIPTIONS OF SWORDFISHING. 
Mr. OC. F. Holder, of New York, published in Forest and Stream February 17, 1876, the fol- 
lowing description of a trip after swordfish in Block Island Sound: 
“ Lying all night in the harbor of Wood’s Holl, we had ample time to prepare for sport, and 
at three o’clock in the morning our little sloop was swinging around, and, gathering herself 
together, headed for Gay Head. The vessel was a common sloop of about 60 tons, its only pecul- 
iarity being a stanchion with a curved top, to hold the harpooner, rigged on the extreme end of 
the bowsprit. At9o’clock we were out of sight of the Vineyard. The wind settling, I was informed 
that I could go aloft and look out for the game. We were slowly moving along, and I was 
scanning the horizon for miles around, when the man at the bow uttered a sound, which was a 
sort of a cross between a cluck and a groan, which I saw meant ‘port,’ and that something had 
been sighted. The sloop fell lazily away, and I then saw two dark forms with their razor-like fins 
out of the water slowly moving along ahead of us. The captain signaled at once for me to come 
down, and as I reached the deck the work commenced. The man waited until we were almost 
upon them, and as one of them turned, as if in idle curiosity, to see what the great shadow meant, 
he hurled a harpoon, and the next moment the huge fish sprang from the water and with a furious 
twist tried to shake out the iron. So great was the effort that it fell on its side with a crash, and 
for a moment was still, but it was only for a second. The line jumped into activity and rushed 
out so you could not follow it, now swaying to and fro, and making the water fly like rain. About 
50 feet of line had gone out, when six of us managed to get a fair hold on the line. He would 
undoubtedly have dragged us all overboard if the rope had not been sure and fast. His struggles 
were kept up for about fifteen minutes, after which he perceptibly weakened, and the long rushes 
to the right and left grew feebler and feebler, until we ventured to haul in. At last we had the 
brute alongside. A rope was rigged from the peak and fastened around the long sword, and the 
monster was rolled on board the sloop. We measured our prize, which was 9 feet 6 inches long. 
“We cruised about all day in the vicinity, and succeeded in capturing three more, varying in 
SEO V-—21 Gi 
