ANGEL OR DEVIL FISH. 255 



For five hours did the steamer patrol around Cape 

 Cod, and follow the windings among the islands and 

 reefs about the coasts of Massachusetts, but it was 

 only so much steam thrown away. The Sea-serpent 

 had betaken himself once more to his submarine 

 valleys, where there is peace. As for us, we were 

 fain to find our way back again to NcAvport. Fortu- 

 nately, it was two o'clock in the morning when we 

 arrived at the quay, and I was only too glad to dis- 

 charge my bill at the hotel and make my escape 

 quietly by the railway to Boston. There, at any 

 rate, I ran no risk of being chaffed about the Sea- 

 serpent which we had not caught. 



XV.— ANGEL OR DEVIL FISH. 



One of the most extraordinary fishes known is the 

 Diodon, which is called by certain naturalists, " the 

 Vampire of the Seas," {Cephaloptera vampirus). It is 

 also called both Angel and Devil Fish, and belongs 

 to the family of the Rays. 



It frequently measures from twenty to twenty-five 

 feet in length, and at the root of the neck it carries 

 ^ kind of caudal appendage about six feet long. It 

 is from six to seven feet in circumference, and from 



