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AN OCEAN DUEL

("Glasgow Citizen.'”) Tha following account of a duel between CV whale and a swordfish is almost worthy of Frank Bullen. It is told by a tourist just back from a cruise among the Wind■ward and Leeward Islands: “We were steaming solemnly along the north shore of the island of Trinidad vtyrli'&n tinerei vras a cry of h ; o ! passengers hurried to the starboard bow and saw the leviathan a big old burl, the sailors told us. lying calmly asleep on the surface of the water less than half at mile •off. . "Suddenly he spouted, lashed furiously With his tail, and dived out of sight. "Directly over the spot where he das appeared a swordfish leaped, its terrible weapon of bone and gristle flashing in the eun like burnished steel. The whale soon rose again some fifty yards to the west, agitating the water until it foamed. "The swordfish’s movements through the water were as flashes of chain lightening. He seldom went so deep that we could not follow him. Our flesh crawled as we watched the whale lie there and take ©tab after stab. The water near him was crimsoned. "We begged the captain to shoot this member of the Mafia who used his stiletto so vigorously, but all he would do Was to order the engines to be reversed So that we might see the end of the battle.. I think I could have killed the fish with my rifle, but the weapon was Hot by me. , „ „ . "Darting off to a distance of from thirty to forty yards, the swordfish wheeled sharply about and sighted for his enemy. For an instant it lay perfectly motionless like a torpedo being aimed for a battle-ship to be destroyed. "Then wo saw a streak of yellow lightning making straight for the whale. There was a convulsion of the waters, the leviathan lifted up its head, sent up & spray of blood, quivered from nose to tail, and sank.”

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL19030708.2.173.35

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1636, 8 July 1903, Page 72 (Supplement)

Word Count
328

AN OCEAN DUEL New Zealand Mail, Issue 1636, 8 July 1903, Page 72 (Supplement)

AN OCEAN DUEL New Zealand Mail, Issue 1636, 8 July 1903, Page 72 (Supplement)

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