INLAND FISHERIES. 15 



of the Carolinas," published in 1743, refer to its presence. In 

 "Bertram's Travels," published in 1791, "skipjack" is mentioned 

 as one of the most abundant fish at the mouth of the St. John's River. 



When blue-fish again became abundant their presence was first 

 noticed at the South, and they seem to have made their inroads from 

 that direction. The blue-fish was unknown to Schoepf, if we may 

 judge from his work on the "Fisheries of New York," published in 

 1787. Dr. Mitchell recorded their frequent capture about New York 

 in 1814, though before 1810 they are said to be unknown in that local- 

 ity. In 1825 they were abundant here, and in 1841 immense numbers 

 were captured in the Vineyard Sound, and about Nantucket they were 

 on the increase from 1820 to 1830. It is certain that they had not 

 reappeared in 1822 in Narragansett Bay, for in " Bertram's Travels " 

 it is stated that, though formerly abundant, they had not been seen in 

 that region since the time of the Revolution. 



The first one which was noticed north of Cape Cod was captured in 

 October, 1837, while we have no record of their appearance about Cape 

 Ann before 1847. 



Food and Voracity. — The blue-fish is a carniverous animal of the 

 most pronounced type, feeding solely upon other fish. In this connec- 

 tion it cannot be out of place to reprint Professor Baird's remarks upon 

 this subject, which have been so often quoted during the past ten years : 



" There is no parallel in point of destructiveness to the blue-fish 

 among the marine species on our coast, whatever may be the case 

 among some of the carniverous fish of the South American waters. 

 The blue-fish has been well likened to an animated chopping machine, 

 the business of which is to cut to pieces and otherwise destroy as many 

 fish as possible in a given space of time. 



All writers are unanimous in regard to the destructiveness of the 

 blue-fish. Going in large schools, in pursuit of fish not much inferior 

 to themselves in size, they move along like a pack of hungry wolves, 

 destroying everything before them. Their trail is marked by frag- 

 ments of fish and by the stain of blood in the sea, as, where the fish is 

 too large to be swallowed entire, the hinder portion will be bitten off 



