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 pounded his head to a jelly.

Old “Begum,” I must mention, witnessed my sudden departure from my canoe, and the dear old fellow arrived at Rocher Rouge at the same moment that I landed, so that we faced each other dripping wet in a most comical manner.  I sent “Begum” to fetch “Eddy,” and in the meantime emptied the canoe and put all straight, so that when the two animals appeared on the cliff, standing out in bold relief against the clear sky, I was in my canoe and on the way to the Cotills.  They followed me till I landed, and came and stood by me like two old comrades.  I had dragged the conger after me through the sea with a cord through his gills, and this cord I attached to “Eddy,” who dragged him home in triumph, while I sat on his back, a la conqueror, as I rode into my domain, tired and wet, and as hungry as the proverbial hunter.