ade, and, flinging themselves upon it with the
utmost fury, gave themselves up to the task of tearing it to pieces, the
work being accomplished in the midst of a foaming, splashing turmoil of
water that was absolutely terrifying to witness, which caused the little
cutter to pitch and roll to such an extent that it was almost impossible
to retain a footing upon her heaving deck. Whether the creatures made
any attempt to devour the great lumps of flesh that they tore from the
violently swaying carcass it was quite impossible to determine, but in
any case the process of disintegration was a speedy one, for in less
than ten minutes from the moment of attack all that was left attached to
the hook was the head of the defunct saurian.

Justly vexed at this malicious interference with his plans, and
determined to save at least this last relic as a trophy of his prowess,
the young Inca gave orders for the head to be hauled inboard; but upon
the first attempt to do this, one of the monsters made a savage rush and
seized the head in its great jaws, worrying it as a dog worries a rat,
giving utterance as it did so to a succession of horrid grunting kind of
growls that caused most of the hearers to break into a cold
perspiration. So tenaciously did the brute retain its grip that for a
few minutes the onlookers were almost persuaded that it was hooked; but
ultimately it released the mangled fragment--which its powerful jaws had
by this time crushed and splintered almost out of recognition--and,
retreating some thirty yards, suddenly wheeled and came foaming back to
the yacht, at which it made a furious dash, with the apparent
determination to climb on board and sweep her deck clear of its human
freight. So resolute, indeed, was it in driving home its attack that it
actually succeeded in getting its two fore flippers in on the boat's
deck, scattering its occupants right and left, and almost driving two or
three over the side, while so heavily was the boat listed by the weight
of the monster, that Harry, sliding upon the steeply inclined deck, had
the narrowest possible escape of being precipitated headlong into the
creature's gaping jaws, and indeed only saved himself by stretching out
his hand and thrusting the snout violently aside, the violence of the
thrust luckily enabling him to recover his equilibrium. Then Umu--who
appeared to be the only native of the party blessed with any real
courage or presence of mind--seeing his belo