Popular Science Monthly 



Modeling the big Coles devilfish in the American Museum of Natural History. The underside of 

 the fish measured eighteen feet from tip to tip of the large fins. The tail of the devilfish is normally 

 about as long as the extreme width of the animal. Rough plaster molds of the upper and under side 

 of Mr. Coles' big devilfish were made on the beach after it had been landed. These were sent to the 

 American Museum in twelve sections and after having been put together were used for the making 

 of a cast. The photograph shows Mr. J. C. Bell at work upon this cast perfecting it in detail. 

 After this another mold was made from the perfect cast and another light cast from the perfect 

 mold. This last cast was colored and the model is a lifelike representation of the great devilfish in 

 every particular. The tail has not yet been put in place on the model shown in the picture 



long, for as I threw back my hand to strike, the 

 male swept the embryo beneath the surface with 

 one of its fins. 



"I passed back the harpoon and seized the spade 

 lance, as I saw the wounded female, now on the 

 surface, charging down on us at highest speed. I 

 was forced to strike instantly and there was not 

 sufficient time to clear up the line attached to the 

 lance handle, so the point of the spade lance was 

 slightly deflected, with the result that the fatal spot 

 was missed by a few inches. However, the force of 

 the blow, which was delivered with both hands with- 

 out releasing the handle, was so great, that it de- 

 pressed the creature's head, and the head-on collision 

 did not crash in the side of the boat as it probably 

 would have done otherwise. The top of the head 

 struck the bottom of the boat, breaking the lance 

 handle short off against the side, and I was con- 

 fronted with a very serious defect in my equipment. 

 I had acquired, by years of work with the lance, such 

 confidence in my ability to place it where I desired 

 that I had not thought it necessary to provide more 

 than one spade lance; but now my fish was very 

 much alive and fighting mad and I was without a 

 spade lance. 



"With this gone the danger was much increased, as 

 the fight had to be carried on with the old-fashioned 

 whale lance, which I had made with the shank only 

 three feet long instead of five or six feet as in the 

 lances used on whales. The big drogue kept the 

 fish always near, and we had possibly the most 

 dangerous fight ever fought out successfully on the 



water with any living creature. The wounded devil- 

 fish kept plunging below, then throwing herself half 

 out of the water, and as she followed these maneu- 

 vers by short rushes on the surface, accompanied by 

 violent blows, I quickly realized that the safest place 

 for the boat was on the fish's back, and I directed 

 accordingly." 



The water was so thick that the devilfish 

 could not be seen until very near the sur- 

 face, but the slack of the harpoon was kept 

 hauled in and the line showed the direction 

 in w hich the fish was traveling under water. 

 So well was the boat handled by the helms- 

 man (Captain Jack McCann) that not once 

 in more than a dozen rushes did the devil- 

 fish reach the surface without finding the 

 boat on her back. Each time Coles drove 

 the lance to her heart or brain one or more 

 times, and after the fight she showed 

 twenty-three wounds. No attempt was 

 made to use the Winchester rifle or the big 

 whale gun. This Mr, Coles attributes to 

 every man's lust for blood in a fight. The 

 blade is more satisfying than the gun. 



The dying Manta finally gave up the 

 ghost with a loud harsh bark or cough. 



