DEVIL-FISHING IN THE GULF STREAM 
191 
dusky-hued merchants, each tradesman 
clad, on an average, in one and a half 
garments, who, with a happy grin and a 
hungry look, offered for sale varieties of 
sponges, brilliantly colored conch shells, 
sea-beans, and tortoise shell, the last- 
named article being obtained from the 
Hawksbill Turtle, which is quite plentiful 
in these waters. 
THE LURE OF THE TROPICAL NIGHT 
It was like pulling teeth to go below 
and leave the wondrous beauty of the 
tropical night, with the soft, cool touch 
of the ever-blowing trade wind, the 
shadowy grace of the giant coconut palms 
swaying and whispering on the near-by 
beach in the moonlight, while the surf, 
grounding upon the coral strand on the 
outer side of the isle, lulled us with its 
crooning obligato. 
But the wiser heads spoke of the need 
of a good night’s rest to prepare for the 
battle royal which we hoped was in the 
offing, and so we regretfully went below 
and to dreamland instead of having a try 
at the Tarpon which we could hear jump¬ 
ing and rolling on the surface, like playful 
puppies, only a few hundred yards astern. 
At sunrise the next morning all hands 
were up and ready for the fray. The 
chef soon had a hot breakfast served, 
after which we piled aboard our motor- 
driven fishing boat, upon which our rods, 
lines, and harpoons had been made ready 
the night before. 
Making a course out through the 
island channel to sea, all excepting 
the steersman hung over the side to 
enjoy the amazing sights below in the 
deep ocean pools. One of us would ex¬ 
citedly point to a squad of six or eight 
big Tarpon lazily wallowing about far be¬ 
low—lords of their element, unafraid; 
therefore ready to give battle to anything 
except, perhaps, a Tiger Shark. 
Another startled angler would call from 
the other side that a lo-foot Hammer¬ 
head or a Nurse Shark was rolling an eye 
at him from the ocean floor, while still 
another inland fisherman wanted to jump 
down among a school, numbering pos¬ 
sibly ten thousand large and small Man¬ 
grove Snappers, busily parading up and 
down a long stretch of coral shelf on the 
bottom, which afforded them instant hid¬ 
ing places in case of the sudden appear¬ 
ance of hungry enemies. 
Passing out over the entrance bar, we 
set a course for the open sea, and soon all 
hands were scanning the pulsing bosom 
of the Gulf Stream for big game, like the 
crew of a submarine destroyer peeling 
their eyes for a periscope in the danger 
zone. 
Strange as it may seem, the noise of a 
motor boat does not appear to make the 
fish of the warm seas apprehend danger. I f 
they are attracted by the bait or are not 
disturbed by the approach of a natural 
enemy below water, one can not only 
get very close to them, but has little 
difficulty in keeping the big fish in sight, 
once they are located and something of 
their habits known. 
After a while Captain Thompson called 
our attention in his quiet way to a long, 
dark shadow not far below the surface 
a couple of boat-lengths away, and the 
boat was turned toward the first sign of 
our quarry, which he said was a “Herring- 
Hog,” a species of porpoise. It proved to 
be an adult about eight feet long, weigh¬ 
ing around four hundred pounds, and as 
this species destroys great quantities of 
foodfish, we went for it. 
Reaching the proper position to strike,* 
a hand harpoon was thrown, found its 
mark, and away the Herring-Hog went at 
a fast clip, the line fairly smoking from 
the barrel. And soon we were being 
towed along—a strange sensation to the 
novice. One of the less experienced fisher¬ 
men of the party was given the harpoon 
line with instructions to bring the big 
fellow alongside forthwith, and further 
ordered above all to “keep his head up,” 
the rest of us sitting back to enjoy his 
attempts to obey. 
THE REAL BUSINESS OF THE DAY 
About twenty minutes after the strike 
and while yet the Herring-Hog was demon¬ 
strating no signs of tiring, although this 
could not be said of the perspiring fisher¬ 
man into whose care he had been given, 
a considerable disturbance was observed 
on the surface of the water about a quar¬ 
ter of a mile away, and it was judged to 
be either a leopard shark at kill or a battle 
royal between two big denizens of the 
deep. Anything can be expected in these 
waters! 
It was our business, however, to have 
ring-side seats at this battle, whatever it 
was. So all hands took hold of the Her 
