578 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Used for catching other fish. 



of them on an even surface of glass, from which 

 he could not afterwards remove them. 



Among other absurd notions which the an- 

 cients entertained of this fish, they also fancied 

 that, in what manner soever it was administered, 

 it was fatal in affairs of love, deadening the 

 wannest affections of both sexes. 



The Indians of Jamaica and Cuba formerly 

 used the sucking-fish in the catching of others, 

 somewhat in the same manner as hawks are 

 employed by a falconer in seizing birds. They 

 kept them for the purpose, and had them regu- 

 larly fed. The owner, on a calm morning, would 

 carry one of them out to sea, secured to his 

 canoe by a small but strong line, many fathoms 

 in length ; and the moment the creature saw a 

 fish in the water, though at a great distance, it 

 would dart away with the swiftness of an arrow, 

 and soon fasten upon it. The Indian, in the 

 mean time, loosened and let go the line, which 

 was provided with a buoy that kept on the sur- 

 face of the sea, and marked the course the suck- 

 in"- fish had taken; and he pursued it in his 

 canoe until he perceived his game to be nearly 

 exhausted and run down. He then, taking up 

 the buoy, gradually drew the line towards the 

 shore; the sucking fish still adhering with so 

 inflexible a tenacity to his prey as not easily to 

 be removed. Oviedo says, he has known turtle 

 taken by this mode, of a bulk and weight that no 

 single man could support. 



