“I have seen them much bigger than this one,” observed the mate; “but it’s as well that we did not catch a much bigger fellow, for we should have had some difficulty in handling it. I have known these fellows attack a whale, and run their beaks right into its side, while the thrasher sticks to its back; and between them they manage to kill the monster, though I believe the sharks benefit most by the hunt. I have seen them caught in the Mediterranean by harpoons, especially off the coast of Sicily. The people in those parts are little better than idolaters, and when they go out fishing they sing some old heathen song which they fancy attracts the sword-fish. They won’t utter a word of their own language, for fear that the creatures should understand them; but certain it is that the fish follow their boats, when they stand ready with their harpoons to strike them. The flesh is good eating, and very nourishing when cooked; as we shall find it, I hope, though we have to eat it raw. There’s another sort of fish which I have fallen in with in these seas, and a curious creature it is. It is called ‘the sail-fish,’ for it has got a big fin on the top of its back which it can open or shut like a Chinese fan; and when it rises to the top of the water, the wind catches this sail-like fin and sends it along at a great rate; and at its chin it has got two long lines, which I suppose serve it to anchor by, to the rocks in a tideway, when lying in wait for its prey.”
“What a curious sort of creature it must be,” said Alice; “how I should like to see one!”
“Perhaps we may, when we get closer in-shore,” answered the mate; “and we will try to harpoon it if you don’t object to our eating it afterwards.”
“Oh, no, no; that I would not,” answered Alice. “I only wish some flying-fish would come on to the raft; I would willingly eat them raw. I remember what a foolish remark I made about the matter when we were on board the Champion. I little thought how very thankful I should be to catch some of the beautiful creatures for the purpose of eating them.”
“I no tink Missie Alice need eat de fish raw,” said Nub. “I manage to cook it.”
“How so?” asked the mate. “We have no hearth nor fuel.”
“I find both,” said Nub, in a confident tone. “Look here, Massa Shobbrok. We get some bits of board. I put dem down on de middle of de raft, and we damp dem well; den I take de skin of dis fish and put it on de top of dem, doubled many times; den I take some of de dry pieces of blubber, and I pile dem up; den I get some chips from de sword-fish, and fix dem close to de heap; and now I set fire to de heap, and de fish toast; and I give it to Missie Alice and Massa Walter to eat.”
“Oh, thank you, Nub; but Walter and I shall not like to eat cooked fish while Mr Shobbrok and you are eating it raw,” said Alice.
“We see, Missie Alice, if we got enough for all,” answered Nub.
“Your plan seems a good one, Nub,” said the mate. “We will try it, at all events.”