I t m ak e s m e sh iv er in my
sh o es w hen I th in k a b o u t
th* clo se sq u eak I h a d one
tim e w h ile flshln’ in a S o u th
S ea Is la n d lagoon.
O ne a fte rn o o n o u r tr a d in ’
s c h o o n e r d ro p p e d a n c h o r
n e a r one o f t h ’ P a u m o tu
Is la n d s . I t w as too la te to
s t a r t tr a d in ' w ith t h ’ n a ­
tives. no I g o t a b o a t over
t h ’ sid e an d pu lled fo r t h ’
re e f to see if I could s p e a r
so m e fish.
'
I d ro p p e d a n c h o r close
to t h ’ re e f, picked up my
j s p e a r, a n d took a sq u in t
d o w n in to t h ’ w a te r. J u s t
below , p a r t l y hidden by t h ’
seaw eed , I saw so m e th in ’
m ovin.
Down w ent my
| s p e a r. W e ll, s ’r. t h ’ bottom
of t h a t lagoon seem ed to
fly r ig h t up in to th* a ir and
e x p lo d e . A nd th e n a An
t h a t looked as big as a
h o u se c ra sh e d dow n o n to
t h ’ b o at, a n d m issed m e by
j u s t a b o u t t h ’ le n g th o f a
f ly ’s w hisker.
Down w en t t h ’ b o a t, a n d
th e re I wan, k ick in ’ a b o u t
in t h ’ w a te r a n d y e llin ’ fo r
h elp . A lm o st ’longnide o f
m e t h a t big devil-fish w as
s n a p p in ’ his ja w s a n d
w h ackin’ t h ’ s u rfa c e o f t h ’
lagoon w ith his g ro u t b a t­
like fins.
W h at w ith y e llin ’, an d
d iv in ’ u n d e r w a te r to keep
from bein’ sq u ash ed by
those fins, I w as j u s t a b o u t
all in w hen som e of t h ’ m en
fro m th ' schooner picked
me up in a n o th e r boat.
I»ater, as we w e re -w a tc h in ’
t h ’ a n tic s o f t h ’ big fish, we
saw him sh ak e t h ’ s p e a r
fro m his back, head fo r t h ’
b rea k in t h ’ reef, and t h ’
deep sea beyond.
A f te r
t h a t w hen I w e n t flshin’ I
w as p re tty c a re fu l n o t to
s p e a r a devil-fish.
I H M - M -M
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