About a month after the appearance of the herrings we were favoured by a visit from other shoals of fish. Jack espied them first, and called to us that a lot of young whales were off the coast. We ran down and discovered the bay apparently swarming with great sturgeon, salmon, and trout, all making for the mouth of Jackal River, that they might ascend it and deposit their spawn amongst the stones.
Jack was delighted at his discovery. `Here are proper fish!' he exclaimed, `none of your paltry fry. How do you preserve these sorts of fish? Potted, salted or smoked?'
`Not so fast,' said I, `not so fast; tell me how they are to be caught, and I will tell you how they are to be cooked.'
`Oh! I'll catch them fast enough,' he replied, and darted off to Rock House.
While I was still puzzling my brains as to how I should set to work, he returned with his fishing apparatus in hand: a bow and arrow, and a ball of twine.
At the arrow-head he had fastened a barbed spike, and had secured the arrow to the end of the string. Armed with this weapon, he advanced to the river's edge.
His arrow flew from the bow, and, to my surprise, struck one of the largest fish in the side.
`Help, father, help!' he cried, as the great fish darted off, carrying arrow and all with it. `Help! Or he will pull me into the water.'
I ran to his assistance, and together we struggled with the finny monster. He pulled tremendously, and lashed the water around him; but we held the cord fast, and he had no chance of escape. Weaker and weaker grew his struggles, and, at length, exhausted by his exertions and loss of blood, he allowed us to draw him ashore.
He was a noble prize, and Fritz and Ernest, who came up just as we completed his capture, were quite envious of Jack's success.
Not to be behindhand, they eagerly rushed off for weapons themselves. We were soon all in the water, Fritz with a harpoon, Ernest with a rod and line, and I myself, armed like Neptune, with an iron trident, or more properly speaking, perhaps, a pitchfork. Soon the shore was strewn with a goodly number of the finest fish--monster after monster we drew to land. At length Fritz, after harpooning a great sturgeon full eight feet long, could not get the beast ashore; we all went to his assistance, but our united efforts were unavailing.