200 GIGANTIC SUDIS. 



from the canoe, and to which is attached a long 

 line to give the fish play, as they are so strong that 

 they cannot be hauled to be killed until they are 

 weakened. This is generally performed with a club 

 of hard wood, with which heavy strokes are inflicted 

 upon the skull. The canoes which are used in these 

 fisheries are sometimes very small, with only a 

 fisherman and a boy to steer. After the fish is 

 killed, they sink the canoe, put it under the fish, 

 and by shoving the canoe backwards and for- 

 wards, throw out as much water as allows it to 

 float, the rest is baled out with a calabash, and the 

 fish is transported to the place of rendezvous ; it is 

 there skinned and split to an inch thick the whole 

 length of the fish, when a small quantity of salt is 

 sprinkled over it, and it is put at once in the sun to 

 dry, without being allowed to remain in the salt, as 

 is generally done with other fish. In good weather 

 it dries in three days, but it takes much longer in 

 the rainy season, when the fish then cured is not 

 nearly so good or white. They are sometimes taken 

 with the hook and line, baited with other fish. 



" The intestines are short, forming only one 

 flexure, which, together with the stomach, are en- 

 tirely covered with fat. The liver is large and not 

 used for food, but would serve for oil, which it 

 appears to contain in large quantities. In the sto- 

 mach of one which we opened, several small fish 

 and a quantity of mud were found. It has no air- 

 bag, but a curious process like the lungs of birds 

 covers the spine inside, resembling the honeycombed 



