Chapter 5, The Hildebrand Rarity, pages 142-168 Summary

Bond is in the Seychelles islands off the coast of Africa. His mission there has been boring and diplomatic, and the results entirely uninteresting. There is no security threat here. Bond is merely biding time until he can leave by ship to his next destination.

Bond swims in the warm ocean waters, tracking a deadly looking stingray. He hunts the creature, calculatedly, from a distance. Bond rarely hunts fish, but this fish is an enemy, with its evil stinging tail. The local men used to use stingray tails as weapons to control their wives, but the cruel practice has been outlawed. Bond finally finds his moment and shoots the stingray. The beast fights him, and Bond drags it to the beach.

As Bond is struggling with his prey, a local landowner named Fidele...