SEPIADtE. CUTTLE. 263 



the sides of the boats, attract the Squids." They were 

 a species of Ommastrephes, usually called by the fisher- 

 men the Flying-squids, or Sea-arrows, as they swim very 

 rapidly over the surface of the water, in immense shoals. 

 Tliey were taken by "jigging." The "jig " is of iron, 

 and consists of a long shank, surmounted by a circlet 

 of small recurved hooks. These cuttles are favourite 

 articles of food, both with Japanese and Chinese, and 

 are carefully dried for the market, and sold in great 

 quantities. Near Hakodadi there is, we are told by 

 Mr. Adams, a small fishing village exclusively devoted 

 to the catching and curing of the Squid; and many 

 hundreds of thousands may be seen daily drying in the 

 open air, all nicely cleaned ; each kept flat by means of 

 little bamboo stretchers, and suspended in regular rows 

 on lines, which are raised on poles about six feet from 

 the ground. The open spaces, and all the houses in 

 the village, are filled with these squid-laden lines. 

 Squids everywhere form a novel kind of screen. 



Pliny speaks of the Springing loligo, and Trebius 

 Niger remarks that whenever it is seen darting above 

 the surface of the water, it portends a change ; and also 

 that they sometimes dart above the surface in such vast 

 numbers, as to sink the ships upon which they fall.* 



Another of the Teuthidce, which is rare on our coast, 

 but is common in the Mediterranean, Sepiola Rondeletii, 

 is eaten at Nice, and is called Supieta, or Sepiata, and 

 is said to be a very delicate morsel. The Italians call 

 it Calamaretto, Zottolina, Sepollna, and Seppietta; and 

 quantities are consumed at Genoa and Leghorn, and it 

 is also used as food in Sicily and Sardinia. 



Aristotle speaks of the Teuthis, which he says is a 



* Pliny, ' Nat. Hist.' vol. vi. bk. xxxii. c. 6. 



