The Unintelligence of Fishes 307 



git rid of him, why don't you cut the doggone Hne an' jes 

 nachally get shut of him." 



Bob had one weakness of the flesh, and that was for 

 broiled barracuda, and it cut him to the quick to see a fish 

 escape; but I was the de facto " boss," and as a demonstra- 

 tion, I reeled my game in, unhooked him, and, to Bob's 

 absolute disgust, let him go. 



'' Why, that fish nachally don' know what to think, boss ; 

 look yander." Instead of dashing ofif, the barracuda swam 

 slowly away for twenty feet, then turned, poised on the 

 surface, apparently looking at us, occasionally shaking his 

 jaw. He did this for five minutes, then slowly swam away. 



" He's jest nachally 'stonished," said Bill, with a deep hurt 

 inflexion to his voice. *' Why, he's gwine to tell all the other 

 fish. You won't even get a grunt." Nor did I, and as 

 we moved down the reef, wading along, stumbling over the 

 coral rocks which made up the long irregular barrier to 

 the lagoon. Bill gave me a long dissertation, on how every 

 fish that got away told of his experiences to every other fish, 

 and the fishing in that locality was over for the day. Bill 

 thoroughly believed this, and so did several of his profes- 

 sional friends whose life work was hauling in red groupers 

 and other deep-sea vermin. 



If this was true, it would establish an extraordinary men- 

 tal standard for the fishes which, let us say quietly, are, as a 

 rule, very stupid indeed. I think the most impossible fish 

 I ever knew was, from a mental standpoint, almost as stupid 

 as the average horse. 



But there is something in this letting fishes go. I have 

 often noticed that it seemed to stop the sport for a while, 

 and after repeated watching through the crack of a float I 

 came to the conclusion that while fishes might have a very 

 elaborate language, the apparent cause of the trouble was, 

 that the peculiar action and movements of an escaped fish 

 alarmed the rest. Some followed the victim out of curios- 

 ity, and others to devour him, if he was small enough and 



