60 ANGLING FOE, THE DOLPHIN. 



groauing under her burden from tlie time she leaves 

 dock until the time she returns to it ; providing there 

 is breeze enough to keep her going. 



From this time until we reached the Cape of Good 

 Hope, little of interest transpired. Occasionally we 

 were called to look over the rail and see the fin-back 

 whale sending his spout in a spiral column towards 

 the clouds; or the blackfish, grampus, or porpoise, 

 gambolling amongst the great waves. At times the 

 scene was diversified by the appearance of the shark, 

 dolphin, benita, and flying-fish, each preying on the 

 other. The last three mentioned are easily caught, 

 and are eagerly angled for by seamen. The maiiner 

 of catching the dolphin and skip-jack is to bait the 

 hook with a piece of white rag, and allow it to sway 

 w^ith the vessel's motion. The fish thinks it a flying- 

 fish taking its flight, rushes towards it and gulps 

 it down. I had often heard stories of the dolphin's 

 extraordinary change of color when dying, but must 

 confess myself so unromantic as to say, I think there 

 is so little change in his colors that none but the most 

 acute observer could detect it. His beauty is confined 

 to the period when sporting in his native element ; 

 then his motions are full of grace and vigor; but 

 caught and landed on deck, he is a flat fish with a 

 round head, and great, goggle, staring eyes. His 

 flesh, however, is indifferent eating, as is that of the 

 benita. The latter, when caught, goes into spasms, 

 shaking like a man with an ague fit, sometimes dis- 

 jointing the vertebra in its throes. They are at times 

 60 violent, that if the fish is large a man cannot hold 

 one. 



The flying-fish, the last that I mentioned, has been 



