3i6 



The Barracouta 



succession. When the mate returned to his line he 

 was astounded to see what kind of fish I had caught, 

 having no idea that they were a deep-sea fish. Much 

 to his chagrin no more were caught, either then or 

 afterwards. Not only so, but that was the only time 

 I have ever seen or heard of them being taken far at 

 sea. But, of course, I do not suppose ours was a 

 unique case. They must be a pelagic deep-sea fish, 

 only scarce in number, and consequently seldom seen. 

 After all, the opportunities that ordinary sailors have in 

 sailing ships (they have none in steamers) of becoming 

 acquainted with deep-sea fish are very scanty. And 

 if a man has no liking for natural history study he 

 may be like a man who sailed with us in the ' Cachalot ' 

 the whole voyage, and as he asserted afterwards, 

 owing to his being short-sighted, never saw a whale ! 



After that well-remembered encounter with the 

 Barracouta in the Indian Ocean, it was eighteen months 

 before I saw another. The next time was while I was 

 lamp-trimmer in a small steamer called the ' Helen 

 McGregor,' running between Sydney, N.S.W., and 

 Grafton, Clarence River. I had been told by a fellow 

 ' lamps ' who was in another ship of the same company, 

 the ' New England,' that if I got a long stout line and 

 good hooks I might get fish on the coast sometimes 

 by trolling, especially between the North and South 

 Solitary Islands. Always enthusiastic about fishing, 

 I obtained the requisite tackle at the first opportunity, 

 although I felt very sceptical as to any fish coming 

 near enough to the wake of our screw. 



However, that next passage, having secreted a 

 little white and scarlet bunting from the store in Sydney 

 I mounted the poop when the vessel was off Port 

 Stephens just after daybreak one morning and started. 

 To my great satisfaction after only a few minutes' 



