There were no other fish like him. He was a real pilot fish (not the kind that accompany sharks and hide fin their mouths" when danger _approaches) and if you followed Jack you would keep in deep water and never get on the rocks.
There were many stories told about him. The most common was that if you were beating up the Sound and, because of a head wind you could not follow his course, he got very excited. He could not understand your manoeuvres crossing from one side of the Sound to the other—tacking the Reach. Jack would dance ahead of you, jumping out of the water in his anger at your strange behaviour and then rush out to the middle of the channel. He said ax plainly as actions could:
"where the devil are you goins—this, ts the course for Tasman Bay You're heading for the rocks and Shallow water. Follow me and You Silt be all right"
They said of him that he. would never pilot a man-olwar. He had been fired at by one of His Majesty's ships and had never forgotten or for~ given it. (I have heard the Powe—ful accused of the crime). Some seamen went #9 far as to say that Jack would have put any battleship on the rocks if he were given the. chance.
'(Continued on page 248.)
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.