replied. "But go to it.
This will never happen again."
In less than a minute I was fast to another, and Pete's yell assured m e he was, too.
Then things happened so quickly, and I was so confused with blood lust t o kill sharks, and the excitement of the sport, that for a space I coul d not tell what was going on. There was tremendous exertion and much hoars e shouting, and especially a terrific splashing maelstrom when both m y shark and the one Peter had hooked got tangled up with the four wicke d ones we had tied to the boat.
That was a mess. It must be understood that the four live sharks wer e tied on the opposite side of the boat from which I was hanging on to th e one I had hooked. My rod was bent double, mostly under the water. I ha d hold of my line with both gloved hands.
The men saved my shark, a good ten-footer, and lost Peter's, which h e said was a whale. This time Peter cut his hand on the leader, an d therefore let up on his hand-line stuff. He had lost four. This helpe d matters somewhat, for the next and sixth one I hooked was not so hard t o land. When he had been tied up on my side of the boat, the men tried t o call me off. I indeed was spent and panting.
"Not on your life!" I yelled. "Not while they'll bite and I can lick 'em."
"They're thinning out," said Bill, gazing deep into the water. "Bu t there's a big one, if you can get hold of him..."
Marvelous to relate, I did, and he felt as if he was the granddad of tha t school of gray nurse sharks. He kept away from the boat for a while. H e even came up, so that I could see all his wonderful silver-gray shape , his many fins, his gleaming eye and terrible shining teeth. This one wa s close to twelve feet long. He circled the stern, weaved to and fro, wen t under us time and again; in fact, he tried everything but to swim away.
That was the strange thing. I could not understand it, unless he wante d to stay there to kill the thing which had him.
The sun was setting gold and blazing behind us on the wooded bluff. Ther e were glorious lights and shadows on the Toll Gates. The water had a shee n of red, beautiful, though very significant of that afternoon's fight wit h man-eaters.
I was sure of this big one. Which conceit was foolish. I worked hard o n him. I stopped him, or thought I had, time and again. All of a sudden , when he was almost under me, he made a quick lunge. I heard snaps. I fel t released from a mighty pull. My tip, line, and harness strap all broke a t once, and I fell back in the cockpit.
Next morning we hung my six gray nurse sharks on our tripod on the beach.
I never felt such satisfaction and justification as that spectacl e afforded me.
They were sleek, shiny gray, lean and wolfish, yet somehow had a fascinating beauty. The largest two weighed nearly five hundred pound s each.
Their noses and small eyes and curved teeth fascinated me most. Ther e were six rows of these long curved teeth. Under the first row was th e second, ready to bend a new tooth up when one was lost. It horrified m e to think how often on Australian beaches this engine of destruction ha d buried such teeth in human flesh. Never again for one of these six, I t hought, grimly! I'd rather catch and kill such bad sharks than land th e gamest sporting fish that swims.
Lastly the many broad fins on these sharks nonplused me. There was a reason for them, but I could not figure it out at such short notice.
I regarded this catch as one of the greatest, and certainly the mos t worthy, that I ever made. And it was not until afterwards that I realize d the hazard of the game, and that I had really not appreciated being in a den of blood-thirsty man-eaters. But instead of making me cautious I gre w only the bolder, fierce to hook and fight the largest one I could find.
Chapter VII
Any book on the outdoors, at least any one of mine, should have as muc h as possible to say about trees, birds, and shells.
Our camp here is situated on a crescent-shaped bay, an
This will never happen again."
In less than a minute I was fast to another, and Pete's yell assured m e he was, too.
Then things happened so quickly, and I was so confused with blood lust t o kill sharks, and the excitement of the sport, that for a space I coul d not tell what was going on. There was tremendous exertion and much hoars e shouting, and especially a terrific splashing maelstrom when both m y shark and the one Peter had hooked got tangled up with the four wicke d ones we had tied to the boat.
That was a mess. It must be understood that the four live sharks wer e tied on the opposite side of the boat from which I was hanging on to th e one I had hooked. My rod was bent double, mostly under the water. I ha d hold of my line with both gloved hands.
The men saved my shark, a good ten-footer, and lost Peter's, which h e said was a whale. This time Peter cut his hand on the leader, an d therefore let up on his hand-line stuff. He had lost four. This helpe d matters somewhat, for the next and sixth one I hooked was not so hard t o land. When he had been tied up on my side of the boat, the men tried t o call me off. I indeed was spent and panting.
"Not on your life!" I yelled. "Not while they'll bite and I can lick 'em."
"They're thinning out," said Bill, gazing deep into the water. "Bu t there's a big one, if you can get hold of him..."
Marvelous to relate, I did, and he felt as if he was the granddad of tha t school of gray nurse sharks. He kept away from the boat for a while. H e even came up, so that I could see all his wonderful silver-gray shape , his many fins, his gleaming eye and terrible shining teeth. This one wa s close to twelve feet long. He circled the stern, weaved to and fro, wen t under us time and again; in fact, he tried everything but to swim away.
That was the strange thing. I could not understand it, unless he wante d to stay there to kill the thing which had him.
The sun was setting gold and blazing behind us on the wooded bluff. Ther e were glorious lights and shadows on the Toll Gates. The water had a shee n of red, beautiful, though very significant of that afternoon's fight wit h man-eaters.
I was sure of this big one. Which conceit was foolish. I worked hard o n him. I stopped him, or thought I had, time and again. All of a sudden , when he was almost under me, he made a quick lunge. I heard snaps. I fel t released from a mighty pull. My tip, line, and harness strap all broke a t once, and I fell back in the cockpit.
Next morning we hung my six gray nurse sharks on our tripod on the beach.
I never felt such satisfaction and justification as that spectacl e afforded me.
They were sleek, shiny gray, lean and wolfish, yet somehow had a fascinating beauty. The largest two weighed nearly five hundred pound s each.
Their noses and small eyes and curved teeth fascinated me most. Ther e were six rows of these long curved teeth. Under the first row was th e second, ready to bend a new tooth up when one was lost. It horrified m e to think how often on Australian beaches this engine of destruction ha d buried such teeth in human flesh. Never again for one of these six, I t hought, grimly! I'd rather catch and kill such bad sharks than land th e gamest sporting fish that swims.
Lastly the many broad fins on these sharks nonplused me. There was a reason for them, but I could not figure it out at such short notice.
I regarded this catch as one of the greatest, and certainly the mos t worthy, that I ever made. And it was not until afterwards that I realize d the hazard of the game, and that I had really not appreciated being in a den of blood-thirsty man-eaters. But instead of making me cautious I gre w only the bolder, fierce to hook and fight the largest one I could find.
Chapter VII
Any book on the outdoors, at least any one of mine, should have as muc h as possible to say about trees, birds, and shells.
Our camp here is situated on a crescent-shaped bay, an
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