The * Guineaman ' 22g 



and white, while its fins are also black, with a trans- 

 verse band of silver. I feel some little hesitation in 

 speaking of the principal hue of this fish as black, 

 because it is by no means a jet black, or even an ink 

 black. But it certainly cannot be called anything 

 else but black, since it is neither very dark blue nor 

 deep brown. It is really a dull black, almost rusty, 

 but of course when it is wet it is brightened somewhat. 

 It grows to a length of twenty inches, and a weight 

 of over three pounds, but it is very seldom seen of 

 those dimensions by sailors. I believe its habitat 

 to be but a small strip (comparatively speaking) of 

 the North Atlantic, and I know that when one is 

 caught at Barbadoes, the irrepressible negroes always 

 allude to it affectionately as ' ole Guineaman,' showing 

 their belief in its origin being the Gulf of Guinea. 

 Whether that is so I do not know, having never been 

 there, and not being able to find any allusions to the 

 matter in books of Natural History, which, indeed, 

 contain very little reliable information about the 

 habits, etc., of deep-sea fish, however minute the 

 anatomical details they may afford about specimens 

 which have been captured, preserved and brought 

 home. 



There is a deeply rooted notion among seamen, 

 from whence arising nobody seems to know, that 

 in various parts of the world, regular fisheries of the 

 Exoceius are carried on, but in a most peculiar manner. 

 It is assumed that a glare of light is an attraction 

 irresistible to the Flying-fish, aiid, in consequence, 

 this failing of his is made use of to lure him to de- 

 struction. Boats go out at night, the darker the 

 better, propelled by paddles, as being the most noiseless 

 method, and having a net set like a sail upon a yard 

 hoisted upon the usual mast, with its foot also spread 



