25 BY THE DEEP SEA. 



vanish for a moment ; then out they come again, and slowly 

 approach until they reach your finger ; they attempt to bite it, 

 but their mouths are as yet too small, and then rush off 

 again. So you may keep them employed for some time, and 

 it will not be many minutes before several prawns join in the 

 fun. This may read like an ordinary " fish-story," but it is a 

 fact that may be verified by any visitor to a rocky shore. 



Next to the Shanny we shall probably find the most reliable 

 fish as a pool habititt is the Father Lasher, Horny Cobbler, or 

 Sting-fish (Cottus scorpio). Put but the point of a stick in the 

 pool where the Father Lasher has his retreat under a stone, 

 or drop a winkle or a pebble in ; in an instant he is out with 

 open mouth ready to swallow anything not too large for his 

 very capacious maw. His singular name appears to have 

 been given to him on account of his pugnacity and the 

 villainous expression of his countenance, which are supposed 

 to belong to a creature who would not hesitate to give his 

 own parent a thrashing. My own opinion, based upon con- 

 siderable personal acquaintance with the Father Lasher is, 

 that he is not nearly so villainous as he looks. His case is 

 similar to that of the bull-dog, whose face is no index to the 

 qualities of heart I am told he possesses. The artists have 

 not been fortunate in depicting the Father Lasher, and I am 

 not greatly surprised, for even the camera fails to give a 

 correct and life-like impression of him, which depends not 

 alone upon curves and lines, but upon colour also. 



In some respects he resembles the Shanny in build, but is 

 much broader across the head and shoulders. He has the 

 same wealth of fins, though the dorsal fins are not continuous 

 as in the Shanny, and the fin rays though stout are soft. 

 There is an inclination towards the tadpole form, especially 

 on the under side, and this tendency is exaggerated by the 

 fish puffing out his gills and sticking out his pectoral fins when 

 threatened or alarmed or when he wishes to inspire with awe. 

 Just behind each eye and at the top of each gill-cover he has 



