THE NOKTH AMERICAN FISHERIES. 5 



"Oil! raassa/^ replied he, "dat is de fish- what 

 sings. Some call it Syren or mermaid fish, and 

 others musico." A little way on, we heard a greater 

 chorus of these strange voices, reminding me faintly 

 of the music of church organs. 



I stopped the canoe, the better to study this 

 phenomenon ; when, at my request, my sable oars- 

 man threw a net into the water, and soon laid at 

 the bottom of the boat about a score of little fish, 

 each about ten inches long, resembling the grey 

 mullet very closely in outward form. '^Dese be mer- 

 maids, massa," said the negro ; " but in de name of 

 hebben, don't eat dem." 



"Why not?" quoth I. 



" Because they hab de lub poison." 



" Lub poison ! And pray, what's that ? " 



" Yes, massa ; when you eat one of dese fish, you 

 fall so deep in lub, you can nebber get out again." 



1 tried to laugh my black friend out of his notion, 

 but in vain. In spite of what he said, however, I 

 had my musicos fried that evening, and found, 

 as I expected, that I was none the worse for the 

 experiment. 



The musician fish is Avhite, with a few blue spots 

 near the belly. It is about sun-set when these 

 fish begin to sing, and they continue their music 

 during the night, imitating the grave and sonorous 

 droning of an organ, just as it reaches your ear when 

 3-ou stand outside a church. The presence of a 



