394 TRINIDAD. 



Some of our fishes deserve peculiar notice on account of 

 their poisonous nature, or from their sometimes dangerous and 

 even fatal encounter with man ; I have already mentioned the 

 barracuta; the sharks are too well known to deserve any lengthened 

 notice. The fishes of the above description to be met in the 

 Gulf, and on the coast, are the common shark (Carcharias) , the 

 pantoufflier {Zygaena), and the rays. The number of sharks in 

 the Gulf is surprising, particularly during the whaling season ; 

 and they, at times, occasion great loss to the fishers, as many as 

 several hundreds being said to prey on a dead whale, so that 

 people are specially employed in killing them ; this is done with 

 a hatchet, or a sort of sharp spade, by which means the spine is 

 divided at one single blow; large numbers are thus despatched. 

 The armed, or sting-ray, is often the cause of serious accidents 

 The barracuta and a small fish called coulirou are occasionally 

 poisonous; but the only evil effects brought on are vomitii 

 and purging, accompanied with urticaria, and which easily yiel 

 to proper treatment. The scorpaena, or " Vingt-quatre-heures, 

 is also considered a dangerous fish, and is much dreaded 

 account of the accidents it causes. Dr. Leotaud was twk 

 wounded by the scorpaena, and thus describes the symptoms 

 felt : " on the first occasion, when wounded in the toe, the pj 

 was at first very severe locally, but soon retired to seize on the 

 ankle-joint, then the knee, the hip, and the shoulder, in succes- 

 sion — the pain gradually dislodging from the parts primarily 

 affected. From the shoulder, it extended to the corresponding 

 side of the chest, at which period the respiration became 

 laboured, the pulmonary functions apparently ceased, and I 

 fainted. A fever followed that lasted twelve hours, after which 

 health was restored by the entire cessation of the pain, which 

 disappeared in like manner as on its access, though following an 

 inverse course/'' On the next occasion, the scorpaena being of a 

 very small size, the symptoms were similar in kind, but much 

 less in intensity. 



The accidents brought on by the tetraodon, or "Chouf- 

 chouf," are of a different nature ; the flesh itself is poisonous, as 

 proved by the following facts : a large tetraodon having been 

 boiled, in order to get the skeleton, the flesh was thrown away 

 in the courtyard, and two cats, as many ducks and pigs, on 

 accidentally eating of the same, died from its effects. Again, 



