SEA FISHING IN THE BOCAS ISLANDS 29 
8 ft. or 1o ft. with their bat-like wings folded back; these 
they gradually extend as they come down, reaching the 
water with a loud resonant smack, followed by a boom like 
the meeting of thunder clouds. They go through this evolu- 
tion, I fancy, to rid themselves of the parasites with which 
they are covered. There is a popular idea that the Manta 
does this to kill his prey, and that he is dangerous to man, 
will fold his wings over him in the water and descend with 
him, but I have assisted at the post-mortems of several large 
ones, and never seen the stomach contain anything but 
sardines and such small deer. He is, however, an awkward 
beast to tackle as he is immensely powerful and untiring, 
and can haul heavy boats behind him for miles, so those who 
hunt him should have a powerful steam-launch available. 
I saw one get away with three ship-boats at Brighton, La 
Brea, bristling like a pincushion with harpoons, and full of 
rifle balls, and they would never have got him if he had not 
chosen to beach himself. He was 14 ft. across and probably 
weighed close on 2,000 lbs. Sharks, sword-fish, saw-fish, and 
two kinds of porpoise locally called ‘“‘marsouen blanc’’ (the 
small one) and “marsouen canal,’’ weighing about three 
quarters of a ton, are plentiful, so the harpooner with a stout 
pirogue and four good oars can get plenty of fun. 
In the months of February and March the Gulf of Paria is 
invaded by a huge army, millions in fact, of jelly-fish of the 
genus ‘“‘Physalia,” locally called “galére,”’ and these are the 
favourite food of the spade-fish, known in Trinidad as the 
“paoua’”’ and much esteemed as a table-fish in the United 
States. The island fishermen angle eagerly for them in the 
following manner. Half a dozen hooks, Nos. 6 or 7, gauged 
with fishing line, are fastened in a bunch on a two foot length 
of No. 20 brass wire, which is fixed on to a fishing line. Ex- 
perience has shown that the Paoua bites at a depth of three 
to four fathoms from the surface, so a lead plummet or 
sinker about 1 lb. weight, is fixed parallel to the wire 
and hooks. Galére for bait are caught when floating on the 
sea with a small hand-net, a pointed stick, or even with the 
hand, They are circular in shape and have a saucer-like 
edge, so the hooks are passed through the jelly-like flesh 
