SEA FISHING IN THE BOCAS ISLANDS 29 



8 ft, or 10 ft. with their bat-Hke wings folded back; these 

 they gradually extend as they come down, reaching the 

 water with a loud resonant smack, followed by a boom like 

 the meeting of thunder clouds. They go through this evolu- 

 tion, I fancy, to rid themselves of the parasites with which 

 they are covered. There is a popular idea that the Manta 

 does this to kill his prey, and that he is dangerous to man, 

 will fold his wings over him in the water and descend with 

 him, but I have assisted at the post-mortems of several large 

 ones, and never seen the stomach contain anything but 

 sardines and such small deer. He is, however, an awkward 

 beast to tackle as he is immensely powerful and untiring, 

 and can haul heavy boats behind him for miles, so those who 

 hunt him should have a powerful steam-launch available. 

 I saw one get away with three ship-boats at Brighton, La 

 Brea, bristling like a pincushion with harpoons, and full of 

 rifle balls, and they would never have got him if he had not 

 chosen to beach himself. He was 14 ft. across and probably 

 weighed close on 2,000 lbs. Sharks, sword-fish, saw-fish, and 

 two kinds of porpoise locally called "marsouen blanc" (the 

 small one) and "marsouen canal," weighing about three 

 quarters of a ton, are plentiful, so the harpooner with a stout 

 pirogue and four good oars can get plenty of fun. 



In the months of February and March the Gulf of Paria is 

 invaded by a huge army, millions in fact, of jelly-fish of the 

 genus "Physalia," locally called "galere," and these are the 

 favourite food of the spade-fish, known in Trinidad as the 

 "paoua" and much esteemed as a table-fish in the United 

 States. The island fishermen angle eagerly for them in the 

 following manner. Half a dozen hooks, Nos. 6 or 7, gauged 

 with fishing line, are fastened in a bunch on a two foot length 

 of No. 20 brass wire, which is fixed on to a fishing line. Ex- 

 perience has shown that the Paoua bites at a depth of three 

 to four fathoms from the surface, so a lead pliimmet or 

 sinker about i lb. weight, is fixed parallel to the wire 

 and hooks. Galere for bait are caught when floating on the 

 sea with a small hand-net, a pointed stick, or even with the 

 hand. They are circular in shape and have a saucer-like 

 edge, so the hooks are passed through the jelly-like flesh 



