It Was At The Least A Hundred Pounds'
Weight, And The Bank Was Steep And Covered With Bushes; Thus It
Was Impossible To Land The Monster, That Now Tugged And Dived
With The Determination Of The Grindstone That His First Pull Had
Suggested.
Once I attempted the gaff but the trusty weapon that
had landed many a fish in Scotland broke in the hard shell of the
turtle, and I was helpless.
My Arab now came to my assistance,
and at once terminated the struggle. Seizing the line with both
hands, utterly regardless of all remonstrance (which, being in
English, he did not understand), he quickly hauled our turtle to
the surface, and held it, struggling and gnashing its jaws, close
to the steep bank. In a few moments the line slackened, and the
turtle disappeared. The fight was over! The sharp horny jaws had
bitten through treble-twisted brass wire as clean as though cut
by shears. My visions of turtle soup had faded.
The heavy fish were not in the humour to take; I therefore shot
one with a rifle as it came to the surface to blow, and, the
water in this spot being shallow, we brought it to shore; it was
a species of carp, between thirty and forty pounds; the scales
were rather larger than a crown piece, and so hard that they
would have been difficult to pierce with a harpoon. It proved to
be useless for the table, being of an oily nature that was only
acceptable to the Arabs.
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