ous and _ex pede Hercules_. I knew the body must be of gigantic
proportions too. That I had hooked one of Neptune's fiends seemed
certain, and I was some time before I hauled up again to see really what
I had captured. In came the line again, foot by foot, with great
difficulty, till at length up came the terrible head again. But this
time I was prepared, and setting my teeth, held on. It was a huge
conger, such as I had never seen before, and which came very near being
the last I might gaze upon, for suddenly it brought its tail up over the
outrigger, and before I could counterbalance my craft, seemed to swamp
the canoe by its dead weight and the power of its fins. I was in the
water in a second, but never loosened my hold of the line. Letting go
the loose coils I struck out for Rocher Rouge, only some fifty yards
away, and, landing at the foot of the great granite throne, commenced to
haul in my line. To my joy the canoe, which still floated with its
coamings out of water, although the well was full, followed my line. I
afterwards ascertained that in falling overboard I had dropped between
the canoe and outrigger, and had thus drawn the line through the
intervening space after me. To this fact I owed the recovery of my
craft, which would otherwise have floated away, as I should have been
afraid to follow it, although an excellent swimmer, as the currents are
here so strong that I should probably never have got back again.

[Illustration: "I WAS SWAMPED IN A MOMENT."]

The canoe came slowly in till it was within reach, when I seized it, and
with a mighty effort dragged it ashore undamaged. The lines I also drew
in and coiled tidily away, leaving the long one till the last, which, to
my great surprise, when I hauled in, still had the monstrous eel in tow.
I quite thought he had freed himself when he swamped me, but such was
evidently not the case. Having a firm footing I hauled in my line with
more confidence, and at length got my lord close to the rocks, and in
the clear water could see his huge length and thickness. He was a
terrible fellow, and if he had got my legs in his embrace might have
easily drowned me; but I did not give him a chance to use either his
tail or teeth, but getting his head close to the rocks I took a turn of
the line round a projecting crag, and proceeded to slaughter the monster
with my only weapon, the paddle. He took a lot of assassinating, but
gave up the ghost at last, after I had nearly po