Page:Under Dewey at Manila.djvu/141

Rh "I guess it was narrow!" returned the boy, as he wiped the water from his eyes. "But what is it?"

"A sawfish, and a big one, too, according to Captain Ponsberry."

"I was afraid it was a shark," put in Striker. "Phew! the way he hit the jolly-boat was a caution! I'm afraid the boat is about done for."

But he was mistaken. During the week following, the boatswain, who was also the ship's carpenter, put several new planks and ribs into the yawl, as well as tarred and calked her, and then the small craft was as good as ever.

It was no small task to get the sawfish on board, yet by means of loops around the head and tail, made of strong ropes, it was accomplished, and the creature was laid out on the deck for the inspection of passengers and crew alike. The body was long and thin, and of a gray and white color, ending in a double fan-shaped tail. The saw, so styled, was a horny protrusion extending from the snout of the fish, several inches in diameter, and furnished along its length with long but somewhat blunt teeth, the teeth being quite close together near the point. It was not a fierce fish to look at, neither was it a handsome creature.