AND STRANGE FISHERMEN 



British and Dutch residents in Guiana had at one time 

 ample sport in fishing the Essequibo for the dawalla^ a 

 scaleless fish, brilliantly marked with green, brown, and 

 crimson, two and a half feet long, with a head like our 

 jack ; but, as it has been hooked without mercy for the 

 sake of its delicate flavour, to catch one nowadays is 

 something for the sportsman to boast about. 



The coast fisheries of South America have, except in 

 the far south, ceased to offer anything particularly strik- 

 ing or unusual ; the seine, worked from the shore or from 

 small boats, is the most commonly used net. In it are 

 taken eels of various sorts, mackerel, a species of herring, 

 and an occasional sun-fish, globe-fish, sea-porcupine, or 

 diodon, as it is variously termed the most innocent of 

 creatures if left alone, and one of the most formidable to 

 interfere with, for it will bite like any wolf, and the 

 fishermen, though they are anxious enough to secure it, 

 for it commands a good price as a curiosity, allow it to 

 die in peace before attempting to carry it away. It is 

 about two feet long, very bulky and flabby, and has the 

 power of inflating itself till it is almost globular, when its 

 whole surface is seen to be covered with short spines. In 

 this blown-out condition it is incapable of swimming, but 

 comes to the surface lying on its back, and allows itself 

 to be carried along by the tide. Sometimes while in this 

 position it will shoot a jet of water some considerable 

 distance, at the same time making a curious grating 

 noise with its mouth. Sometimes a misguided shark will 

 elect to swallow a diodon, and in doing so inadvertently 

 commits suicide ; for in nine cases out of ten the smaller 

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