FRAN^OISE PYRARD I 57 



(From the Voyage; Hakluyt Soc, trans.) 



TTERE you see a strange quantity of fish, about 

 as big as those called mullet, which have 

 wings like bats, by means of which, when pursued 

 by the larger fish, they dart out of the water and 

 fly a long way until their wings are dry. So, on 

 the other hand, when they are in the air, the sea 

 birds, of which there is a vast multitude, give them 

 chase and catch them, unless they first regain the 

 sea. Many of them fell on our ships, and when 

 once they fall on something hard where there is 

 no water, they cannot raise themselves again. 

 Thus we got some fresh food (and much pleasure 

 too in watching the chase), for this fish is delicate 

 and good eating. But it was a marvellous sight to 

 see in so deep sea and in this quarter so vast 

 a number of fish, that we might say we saw the 

 whole sea covered with them, and all in a turmoil, 

 though it was calm. There were also big ones, 

 such as bonitos and albachores, and many other 

 kinds, of which we caught with lines enough to 

 supply the ship ; and porpoises too, with harpoons 

 attached to pieces of wood, then lifting them by 

 strength of arm. I have seen these flying fish 

 everywhere near the line, both on this and on the 

 other side of the Cape of Good Hope, and both N. 



and S. of the line. 



Francois Pyrard. 



