606 THE CARIBE. 



thirsty disposition. Its under jaw, lined • with a thick car- 

 tilaginous membrane, adds greatly to its strength, protruding 

 considerably beyond the upper, and increasing the ferocious 

 expression of its countenance. Large spots of a brilliant 

 orange hue cover a great portion of its body. Towards the 

 back it is of a bluish ash colour, with a slight tint of olive- 

 green ; the intermediate spaces being of pearly white, while 

 the gill-coverts are tinged with red. 



So sharp are its triangular teeth, arranged like those of 

 the shark, that neither twine, copper, nor steel can withstand 

 them. At the sight of any red substance, blood especially, 

 they swim forward to the attack ; and as they usually move 

 in swarms, it is extremely dangerous for man or beast to 

 enter the water with even a scratch upon their bodies. 

 Horses wounded by the spur are particularly exposed to their 

 attacks when fording a stream ; and so rapid is the work of 

 destruction, th&t unless immediate assistance is rendered, the 

 fish soon penetrate the abdomen of the animal and destroy it : 

 hence the name given to them by the Spaniards means " tripe- 

 eater." When a net is drawn on shore, numbers of these little 

 pests are seen jumping in the crowd, their jaws wide open, 

 tearing whatever comes in their way, and especially the 

 meshes of the nets, which they soon render useless. 



Some tribes of natives place their dead in the water, when 

 these creatures speedily eat the flesh off the bones, which are 

 then jDreserved in baskets. 



Even human beings, when bathing, or fording rivers, are 

 attacked by these terrible little cannibals ; — for cannibals they 

 are, as, whenever any of their own race are killed, they in- 

 stantly attack and devour them. 



There are other species of this fish, — among them the black 



