THE SAVAGE WORLD 
83 
ashore, and it was not until two hundred human hands pulled on the rope that 
it could be landed. While in the water its lashings were awe-inspiring, and 
even when upon the dry land it held the whole crowd at bay until a: crafty Span¬ 
iard, mounting its back, cut 
through the joint of the tail 
with the same effect as 
though one broke the neck 
of a human being. It was 
found to weigh 12,500 
pounds (if Captain Single- 
ton is to be believed), to 
be twenty-two feet long, and 
eight feet in width. Its saw, 
or sword, was at least five 
or six feet in length, and 
but for the fact that its 
entanglement in the net had 
thrown the animal upon its 
back, and prevented its use 
of this weapon, instead of 
having been captured, it 
would have proved to be the 
captor. A friend of the au¬ 
thor was but a few years 
ago the hero in an exciting adventure with a saw-fish in Floridian waters. 
Together with a daughter (a mere child), he was fishing for sea bass, when, 
immediately after get¬ 
ting a bite, he found 
his line playing out 
with the most unexam¬ 
pled velocity. He con¬ 
tinued making a d d i - 
tions to its length un¬ 
til, after the fish had 
taken nearly four hun¬ 
dred feet of line, it sud¬ 
denly slackened the ten¬ 
sion, turned, and began 
swimming toward the 
boat, the gentleman 
meantime hauling in 
the slack and wonder¬ 
ing what new creature 
had eaten the lunch 
provided for the sea 
bass. When within six 
or eight feet, the crea¬ 
ture pushed its saw above the surface, and continued to strike it from side to 
side until it reached the row-boat and staved in the stern. Standing toward 
