A2TGEL OR DEVIL FISH. 257 



them in vain he presently finds himself surrounded 

 by a flock of them. 



Directly the devil fish is struck with the harpoon 

 it starts away with unequalled rapidity, dragging 

 with it sometimes forty fathom of line and the boat 

 fastened to it. When this happens, the fishermen 

 take other boats in tow. When the fish has been 

 wounded by three or four harpoons, he fights like a 

 very devil, and the volume of water which he scat- 

 ters about him by his wings or fins is really amazing. 

 The sport is really a dangerous one, and it requires 

 no little skill and nerve to direct the harpoon with 

 a sure hand. The boats used in this style of fishing 

 are usually long and light, and are manned by six 

 or eight rowers. The practice of this fishing is 

 mainly confined to the shores of North and South 

 Carolina, where schools of the devil fish appear, 

 numbering from a hundred to a hundred and fifty 

 individuals. 



The devil fish is very rare on the French coast, 

 . and the capture of one is always made the subject of 

 a wonderful paragraph in one of the local newspapers 

 of Normandy or Brittany. 



Some naturalists mention that the devil fish feeds 

 upon the sea-weeds which float about in the waters 

 and upon all kinds of small fry. Their own flesh is 

 not very savoury, but they produce an excellent oil. 

 Marvellous stories are narrated of the immense 

 strength of this fish. 



