Forest and Stream 
53 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy, 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1912. 
VOL. LXXVIIL—No. 10. 
127 Franklin St., New York. 
In the Pulpit 
T wo years ago, happening ' to lie over in 
Gloucester Harbor, and having heard from 
the skipper in hours of calm some excit¬ 
ing tales of his experience as a swordfisherman, 
vve ordered an iron stand or pulpit of the true 
Gloucester pattern and fitted it on the end of 
our bowsprit. At the same time we added to 
our stores the rest of the gear necessary for this 
sport, and, as I paid the bill, I said to the skip¬ 
per that the fun of getting one fish would easily 
balance the outlay. For that summer, however, 
the pulpit represented aspiration 
rather than accomplishment. The 
week that we set apart for fishing 
happened to fall in a stretch of 
easterly weather, and I found 
myself thereafter slightly em¬ 
barrassed in replying to ques¬ 
tions about the number of fish 
we had taken. Last summer, I 
am happy to say, wiped out the 
disgrace, and two good swords, 
with appropriate inscriptions “in 
letters all of gold,” now hang on 
the wall of my dining room, 
where it is hoped that they may 
catch the eye of the discerning 
guest and lead by easy stages to 
a call for the story of the capture. 
Of the natural history of the 
swordfish I know little, and I 
fancy that not much is known, 
even to scientific men, of its 
spawning grounds or habits. It 
seems to be a deep-water fish 
which visits the North Atlantic 
coast in search of food, appear¬ 
ing first in June off the south 
shore of Block Island. At the same time or soon 
after, large schools are found on the Georges 
Banks, and it is there that most of the fishing for 
market is done. Later in the summer scattered 
fish are taken north of Cape Cod as far up as 
Halifax. In general, they do not come into 
shallow water, and the best fishing is outside the 
thirty-fathom line, though I have heard of the 
capture of one swordfish in a Nova Scotia 
harbor, where it was found entangled in the 
eelgrass and was ignominiously dragged ashore 
tail foremost. 
Apparently the fish that come to our coast are 
all adults, for a fish under seventy pounds is 
rare. A retired sea captain of sober aspect did 
indeed once relate to me an interesting and cir¬ 
cumstantial account of his catching a twenty- 
pounder on a hook off Montauk Point, when he 
By E. P. MORRIS 
was fishing over the side of his vessel for butter- 
fish. This story, I am pained to say, has not 
been kindly received by my nearest and dearest, 
and their skepticism is so extreme that I have 
been unable to convince them that the retired 
seaman himself was an objective reality. But 
I here reaffirm in point that there was a cap’n, 
nor does the tale appear to me incredible. I 
will own that I wish it hung by something 
stronger than than a butterfish line. 
In moderate weather and especially on warm 
ONE OF THE TROPHIES. 
and sunny days the swordfish sw'ms lazily about, 
as sharks do, just below the surface. The large 
backfin and sometimes the tailfin show above the 
water and can be seen from a considerable dis¬ 
tance, a quarter of a mile or more. But it needs 
an experienced eye for this and an experienced 
judgment to distinguish the longer curved fin of 
the swordfish from the triangular fin of the 
shark. A fisherman must occasionally follow a 
fin some distance before he is able to decide 
which kind of fish is under it. Even a gull 
sitting on the water may deceive an untrained 
eye and the proper nautical jibe for this mistake 
is to say, “Your fish has got wings.” 
The swordfish is taken by a method something • 
like harpooning. The spear is a pole twelve feet 
long with a shaft of half inch round iron pro¬ 
jecting about two feet. To the end of the shaft 
a small bronze “dart” is fitted, but loosely, so 
that when it is driven in and the shaft is with¬ 
drawn, the dart is left in the flesh. By an in¬ 
genious arrangement of the barbs and by the 
attachment of the line to the middle of the dart, 
the strain of the line draws the dart crosswise 
in the flesh, so that it holds against any ordi¬ 
nary pull. The line is of six-thread manila, a 
hundred fathoms long, with a small keg at one 
end for a buoy. 
The striker stands in the pulpit outside the 
jibstay and spears the fish with¬ 
out letting go of the pole. If 
everything goes well, the vessel 
is so handled as to bring him 
directly over the fish, and he 
merely strikes straight down, aimr 
ing at a point close to the fin and 
far enough to one side to avoid 
striking upon the backbone. If 
the fish happens to turn quickly 
or the vessel is not well handled, 
the stroke may be quite difficult, 
and at the best some accuracy of 
hand and eye is required to make 
a good striker. As the line is 
run up the pole from the dart 
and looped under a leather strip, 
one must use a certain degree of 
care not to be entangled in it, 
when the fish starts off on his 
first rush. Success depends chief¬ 
ly upon the lookout. He must 
not only have a keen eye and 
great patience, but must also be 
able to take charge of the vessel 
and bring it up to the fish. He 
will try to get to windward so 
that he may alter his course in either direction 
without tacking, and if the fish is swimming 
across the course of the vessel, an accurate judg¬ 
ment is necessary to give the striker a fair chance. 
It may seem strange that a fish swimming near 
the surface should not be frightened by the 
close approach of a vessel. But the swordfish 
is so large and swift and powerful that it can 
have few enemies to dread; its habits, like those 
of the shark, are predatory. At any rate, the 
only caution given to a striker is that he should 
avoid quick motions when the fish is near, and 
should be especially careful not to let the end 
of the pole or the bight of the line touch the 
surface of the water. Noise appears to have 
no effect upon the fish, and the lookout may 
shout his orders to the steersman in his loudest 
voice. And of course it sometimes happens that 
