CiiAP. IV.] THE MUSICAL FISH. 46a 



111 the evening when the moon had risen, I took a 

 boat and accompanied the fishermen to the spot. We 

 rowed about two hundred yards north-east of the jetty 

 by the fort gate ; there was not a breath of wind, nor 

 a ripple except that caused by the dip of our oars ; and 

 on coming to the point mentioned, I distinctly heard 

 the sounds in question. They came up from the water 

 hke the gentle tlirills of a musical chord, or the faint 

 vibrations of a wine-glass when its rim is rubbed by 

 a wet finger. It was not one sustained note, but a 

 multitude of- tiny sounds, each clear and distinct in it- 

 self ; the sweetest treble minghng witli the lowest bass. 

 On appl}ing the ear to the woodwork of the boat, the 

 vibration was greatly increased in volume by conduction. 

 The sounds varied considerably at different points, as we 

 moved across the lake, as if the number of the animals 

 from which they proceeded was greatest in particular 

 spots ; and occasionally we rowed out of hearing of them 

 altogether, until on returning to the original locahty the 

 sounds were at once renewed. 



This fact seems to indicate that the causes of the sounds, 

 whatever they may be, are stationary at several points ; 

 and this agrees with the statement of the natives, that 

 they are produced by moHusca, and not by fish. They 

 came evidently and sensibly from the depth of tlie 

 lake, and there was nothing in the surrounding cu'cum- 

 stances to support a conjecture that they could bo 

 the reverberation of noises made by insects on tlie shore, 

 conveyed along the surface of the water ; for they 

 were loudest and most distinct at those points where 

 the nature of the land, and the intervention of the fort 

 and its buildings, forbade the possibihty of this kind of 

 conduction. 



Sounds somewhat similar are heard under water at 

 some places on the western coast of Incha, especially 

 in the harbour of Bombay. At Caldera, in Chili, 

 musical cadences are stated to issue from the sea near 

 the landing-place; they are described as rising and 



II II 3 



